Argyll And Bute Restaurant Guide

“At the end of very tough roads” that lead to “wonderful views of Loch Fyne and the ruined Lachlan Castle”, this “haven of wonderful and inventive cooking” (set in former crofters’ cottages) was taken over by Noma alumni Pam Brunton and Rob Latimer in 2015. It’s “justly famous for seafood of course” (featuring on an “elaborate” tasting menu and the à la carte), but their ‘Kate‘s salad’ is the “best vegetarian dish” one reporter has ever tasted (and “grown along the road in Kate‘s polytunnel”, part of a focus on local/seasonal ingredients reflected in their Michelin Green Star). Stay overnight to profit from the “record players and vinyl in each room”.

“Very fresh fish and seafood” – much of it caught in the waters it overlooks – is the USP of this long-running operation from the MacLeod family, set in a “modern building on Oban’s North Pier” with epic loch and mountain views.

2021 Review: A take-away and 40-seater restaurant lauded by Rick Stein that “goes way beyond what you might expect from a chip shop”; there’s “some great cooking on display – no wines but for a first-class fish supper you can’t go wrong”.

2022 Review: This squat former croft with a red tin roof overlooks the Inner Hebrides from the Knapdale peninsula and hosts Clare Johnson’s “brilliant” cooking of the wonderful ingredients on her doorstep: game, rare-breed meat and most of all seafood fresh from the famous surrounding waters such as Isle of Gigha halibut and lobster, crab, scallops and langoustines landed at Tarbet. Clare and her partner David Wilson moved here in 2004, and quickly established an enthusiastic following.

2022 Review: “A shack at the pier head” in Fionnphort at the far end of the Ross of Mull, “selling the freshest seafood” – most of it caught by owner Alex Cameron’s husband, Andrew, and other divers in the sea immediately behind. “We only had a lobster sandwich, but both bread and lobster were good. It’s not a restaurant because there’s only some outside seating – but on a good day, what’s not to like?”.

2021 Review: It spawned a national chain, but there was curiously little feedback last year on this popular stop-off on the A83. Originally little more than a shed (started in the 1970s), it has been refurbished in recent times to provide a more comfortable bistro-style experience, with views of the loch, but the focus remains on simple fish and seafood, much of it from its in-house smokery.

2022 Review: “Worth the journey” to this far-flung Inner Hebrides island – this whitewashed eighteenth- century hotel offers “amazing views” out to the neighbouring isle of Jura. The “lovely” dining room is more gastropub than formal restaurant, but the locally sourced food is no less “great” for that.

2023 Review: “Lovely small restaurant” in an old bank building that’s carved a niche for itself over the past two decades with “great cooking” that makes good use of Argyll’s “local and seasonal produce” – with seafood, meat and game all featured. Chef-patron Richard Fowler and his wife Nicola are “lovely people” and offer “great service” – “we dropped in for an impromptu lunch and it massively exceeded our expectations”. It’s “good value too”.

2023 Review: “A beautiful and romantic setting” – this small hotel and golf resort has an idyllic, away-from-it-all location on a small tidal island at the entrance to Loch Creran. Still too few reports for a rating, although such feedback as we have on Ernst Van Zyl’s cuisine is upbeat.