Achiltibuie: The Summer Isles Bar

You've hopefully read the review of the Caberfeidh in Lochinver. Now for The Summer Isles Bar. The Hotel restaurant has a Michelin Star, but we weren't going there. Still, I was hoping for a good lunch in the bar. Sadly the experience did not live up to my expectations, although I have to say that what food we did eat was excellent.

Atmosphere

Somewhat lacking. The bar is very small (some might say intimate). There were a couple of local beers on tap, which is good, but nowhere to sit and eat. Instead the tables were in an adjoining area (fairly open plan) which had little atmosphere and reminded me of a clean roadside café.

Food

Make no mistake, the food was excellent. We had a smoked salmon sandwich and a steak sandwich. Both were high quality: the salmon was delicately smoked and melted in the mouth; the steak was top quality.

My reservations on food came with the choice: sandwiches; a bowl of soup; salads; seafood platters. That was it - and of source a dessert menu. True: for dinner there were a couple of hot meals (literally 2 plus vegetarian) - but they're not served until 5pm. Good for the waistline though, as this is possibly the first 'pub lunch' I've had where there haven't been any chips available.

Overall Rating

Tricky. I expected a good range of pub food: I didn't get it. I expected high quality tasty ingredients: they were there all right. I expected all the best things about a good highland pub: maybe a real fire; relaxed atmosphere; comfy chairs; eating in a pub. I got to eat in an annexe to the pub with little atmosphere on metal chairs. I hoped to be able to drive up there, spend an hour or two relaxing, perhaps even drinking a pint, letting the alcohol wear off, and, eventually driving back home. Instead I had a quick half and a sandwich.

Disappointed? Yes. Would I go back to the bar? No - there are far better bars out there for my taste. Would I consider going to the hotel? Undoubtedly yes, at some point - but I think that at the end of the day, a bar is a bar - it should stick to doing what bars do well: serve a good range of hearty food. In a bar affiliated to a Michelin starred restaurant, you might expect that food to be of a higher quality, but it should still be bar food - not just salads and sandwiches.

Lochinver: The Caberfeidh Restaurant

I'm just back from a week in Ullapool. We were self catering - in these crunchy times it's a good way to keep costs down. We didn't go out for dinner at all but we did venture out for lunch a few times (when it was too wet to walk). Coming soon a review for the Summer Isles Hotel bar (importantly not the Michelin starred restaurant - crunch, crunch). But first the Caberfeidh in Lochinver - so good that we went back for seconds.

We'd been to Lochinver for lunch a couple of years ago, and our choice of venues was decided by going to somewhere we hadn't been before. Fortune, as they say, favours the brave.

Beer

There wasn't a huge selection on tap, but all I really want is a good guest beer or two - and the Caledonian XPA on offer certainly met my expectations.

Food

On our first visit we had a light lunch of a couple of baskets - small portions, but only £6. Scampi and chips and home-made fishfingers with tartare sauce (also home-made). Both were delicious and the tartare sauce was stunning - this from someone who is not a fan in general.

Later that week, when finishing a short walk in Lochinver, we returned. I suspect this visit was prompted by the mouth watering sight of fish and chips at tables other than ours ... I was happy to agree though! Funnily enough fish and chips (beer battered haddock to be precise, with lashings of tartare sauce) was ordered, along with catch of the day - monkfish wrapped in parma ham. Once again the food was delicious. We left quickly before the table next to us had their sticky toffee pudding delivered as our resolve to skip pudding might not have lasted very long.

Overall Rating

This is a great pub and I would highly recommend it: there were locals there both days we visited, as well as tourists; the riverside view is great and on a summers day I can imagine the beer garden would go down a storm; the service was fantastic - the staff made us feel welcome from the moment we stepped through the door, and looked after us superbly. This last quality is something which can be sadly lacking in some highland establishments we have had the misfortune to visit.

If you happen to be in the area, this is a great pub for lunch - they do dinner too. The nearby Michelin starred Albannach also does dinner (we didn't go there either - we must try and make time for fine dining in between walks ...)