Boutique hotels
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Pool House
- Style
- Eccentric, dramatic and homely
- Setting
- Loch on the wild side
Wester Ross Eating, drinking and dancing
Restaurants
(+44 (0)1445 741255)
Badachro Inn
A water’s-edge pub in Badachro on the south shore of Loch Gairloch that serves tasty fresh prawns and salmon. Get a table outside if it's fine, and watch boats and birds puttering back and forth across the water.
Badachro, Gairloch, Ross-shire IV21 2AA
(+44 (0)844 493 2225)
Inverewe Garden Restaurant
The self-service restaurant set in the stunning Inverewe Garden is ideal for afternoon tea or a light lunch after visiting. Open 31 March to 30 September, daily 10am–5pm; 1–31 Oct, daily 10am–4pm. The restaurant is occasionally still open in the winter months: ring to check times and dates.
Inverewe Garden, Poolewe, Ross-shire IV22 2LG
(+44 (0)1520 733240)
Kishorn Seafood Bar
In summer, enjoy a lunch of mussels or scallops with garlic butter at this unpretentious licensed restaurant, housed in a wooden structure. It does get quite busy in high season – thanks to its deserved reputation for deliciously fresh local shellfish and fantastic loch views – and is not always open in winter, so ring to check before you set off
Kishorn, Strathcarron, Ross-shire IV54 8XA
(01520 744440)
The Potting Shed
Don't let the apparent simplicity of this little eatery put you off, there's culinary wizardry at work here. Set in the pretty walled garden of Applecross House, this café/restaurant sources all its food from the local area – veg from the kitchen garden, muchrooms and venison from the surrounding forest, fish and seafood from the Sound of Raasay – and the versatile chef has worked alongside Marco Pierre White and Michel Roux.
Applecross Estate, Applecross, IV54 8ND
Bars
(+44 (0)1445 712006)
The Old Inn
A former coaching inn right on Gairloch’s fishing harbour, where you can catch live, local music on weekend evenings. Local West Coast seafood and Scottish game such as wild venison dominates the hearty, traditional menu. Real ales are also a speciality - they even have their own brew, dubbed the Blind Piper of Gairloch (blind drunk?).
Gairloch, Wester Ross, Ross-shire IV21 2BD
Cafés
(+44 (0)1445 731618)
Aroma Café
The licensed café at the sensational Perfume Studio is open 10am–6pm throughout summer (closed January to March). The tasty soups, door-stop sandwiches, home-baked cakes and aromatic coffees and teas will counter any chills; in fine weather, head to a picnic table for some otter-spotting.
Mellon Charles, Loch Ewe, Wester Ross IV22 2JL
(+44 (0)1445 781335)
Bridge Cottage & Café Gallery
Around the corner from Pool House on Poolewe’s Main Street, this a friendly little stop-off for home-made soups and cakes. The small gallery sells jewellery and art by local craftsmen.
Main Street, Poolewe, Wester Ross
