Delicious Local Produce

Many of our seafood restaurants have been well-received by food critics.

This part of the world takes its food provenance and quality very seriously.

Writing for The Independent, Travel Writer Jenny Rowe, described a chat with Richard Young, Head Chef at Loch Melfort Hotel:

Richard tells us who is responsible for every single ingredient on the menu. There’s Rob Cameron, the venison man; Duncan, who brings the game; and Ewan and Flo at Balvicar Farm, who supply the eggs – you get the idea. Of course, he continues, they don’t shop local for the sake of it. Everything still has to be the best.

The Times Travel Writer, Robin McElvie, echoed these sentiments describing The Etive Restaurant in Taynuilt as “a genuine foodie oasis and arguably the finest place to eat in the region” writing that “sound provenance ripples through the Etive even as far as breakfasts, where local fish stars”.

Writing for The Guardian, Food Critic, Jay Rayner, advised fans of fresh seafood to drop everything and head for Oban. Describing The Seafood Hut, he wrote that “scallops the size of a Labrador’s paw are served in a puddle of salty garlic butter”. Of the nearby Ee-Usk, he wrote “Dover sole is the kind of offer guaranteed to make this jaded, surrendered and over plundered Londoner sigh. It’s a meaty, properly trimmed specimen, the flesh coming away from the bone with a single pull of the knife’s flat, eventually to leave a clean skeleton like something that’s been scarfed by the Top Cat crew. There are tranches of perfect halibut, oven-baked with creamed leeks, and more heaps of langoustines and fishcakes, all served with bowls of rustling deep-fried squared potatoes and salad. Which is really all you want.”.

Eating at The Skipness Seafood Cabin, Richard Coles in The Guardian wrote that “The gravadlax serves a special mention, well balanced with crunchy little hot seeds to cut through the clagginess” and concluded that the cabin “has got it exactly right”.

And visiting the Cattle and Creel in Helensburgh, Travel Writer for The Independent Jenny Rowe wrote “Our first stop, Cattle & Creel, is no elementary affair. The hot seafood platter is enormous, chargrilled and garlic-powered. We’ve skipped breakfast in preparation, and devour every last langoustine claw, mopping up the rich, citrussy juices with ciabatta and chips as we go. Friendly barman Tom assures us everything on our plates has come from ‘just around the corner’”.