From ancient inns offering pub food and myriad whiskies, to Michelin-starred fine dining, there's a restaurant for every weary traveller on Skye.
Here we, and our friends at the Good Food Guide, round up our pick of the best places to eat on the island.
Picture: Neil Hanna.
Listed by the New York Times as one of the few restaurants in the UK worth travelling a long distance for, The Three Chimneys is renowned for its fish and seafood and stunning location.
Fine dining set in a modern dining room, the restaurant has been wowing critics for decades since it was opened in 1984 by Eddie and Shirley Spear.
Head chef Scott Davies has built on the restaurant’s reputation, with a tasting menu exploring the taste of Skye, costing £95 per person and featuring delicious Dunvegan crab, langoustines, scallops, monkfish and beef.
A cheaper lunch version of the tasting menu is also available at £55 per person for two courses and £68 for three.
Picture: Scorrybreac
The name 'Scorrybreac' translates as 'speckled rock', referring to the rugged landscape this fine dining restaurant is nestled in.
Situated above the harbour in Portree, the eatery run by chef Calum Munro serves up fresh seasonal Scottish produce, such as local wild venison, freshly caught seafood and locally grown Glendale salad leaves.
Grouse & Hare with Chanterelles, Brambles & Pickles. #autumn on a plate. #localingredients #foraged #scotlandslarder #seasonal pic.twitter.com/6hyM8UGHEE
— Loch Bay Restaurant (@lochbayskye) September 8, 2018
The only Michelin-starred restaurant on the island has garnered excellent reviews from critics and punters alike.
Set in the pretty village of Stein, the restaurant describes its food, prepared for you by chef Michael Smith, as contemporary Scottish with a French twist.
With a smorgasbord of quality seafood to get your mouth watering, three courses will set you back around £45 before wine.
For the fullest experience, a ‘Skye Fruits de Mer’ seafood menu is available and is perfect for diners who love nothing more than diving into quality lobster and oysters.
Picture: Kinloch Lodge.
Located at the edge of a native birch forest on the shores of Loch na Dal, Kinloch Lodge is headed up by chef Jordan Webb , who pays tribute to traditional Scottish ingredients.
Another excellent fine dining spot which used to have a Michelin Star, the daily set menu is £95 per person including canapés before and coffee, petit fours and vanilla fudge after.
Edinbane Lodge’s four, six and ten course tasting menu celebrates the Isle of Skye natural larder together with an appreciation of culinary traditions and heritage.
Head chef Calum, who was born and raised on Skye, sources produce from a community of family and friends, who share the same values and commitment to the produce and make the most of the island’s crofts, seas, and artisan production.
The Good Food Guide says this of the restaurant: "The Lodge's kitchen brigade also mucks in by foraging for seaweed and obscure wild pickings, while the resident groundskeeper is responsible for herbs and edible flowers.
"It’s a tightly knit network founded on trust, kinship, skill and enterprise. Every dish on Calum’s regularly changing tasting menus features something proudly local, and readers have been quick to applaud the ‘astonishingly good food’, ‘masterful presentation’ and sheer excellence of the results.
"Meals begin with a trio of home-baked breads and different butters (including an ‘incredibly intense’ mushroom version) ahead of, say, mussel and oyster beignets with scurvy grass, Kinlochbervie halibut with smoked seaweed butter sauce or venison (from Edinbane itself) served with black garlic and Rooster potato.
"Elsewhere, ‘accomplished’ dishes such as Elgol scallops with fennel and brown butter or glazed Speyside beef with peas and tarragon dressing tell their own story.
"To conclude, there might be a rhubarb tartlet with Rora Dairy yoghurt or a chocolate riff involving sea buckthorn. Above all, this is a set-up where local and regional ingredients are treated with the skill and respect they deserve.
"Service is also just right – ‘knowledgeable, relaxed and friendly without being intrusive’. True to form, the drinks list has a strong Scottish bias, although wines are a well-chosen international bunch."
Sticky Toffee Pudding at The Old School on Skye.
A mid-range option for the discerning Hebrides traveller is family-run eatery The Old School.
Originally built in 1870 as a school, it was refurbished in 1985 by Maryann and Hugh Mackenzie, who passed it onto their son John.
Mains such as Beef cheek in Old Bridge beer or traditional beer battered haddock will set you back no more than £18, with starters affordable at around £6 each. Open from the middle of March, it’s a popular place so booking in advance is recommended.
Picture: Sea Breezes.
A mid-range option, Sea Breezes specialises in the very best of Skye’s seafood with plates piled high with langoustines, mussels and oysters.
The building is small and cosy, overlooking Portree and the bay, making it the perfect place to drop by as soon as you arrive on the island at the ferry terminal in the town.
If you’re not a big fan of seafood, there are options for meat lovers and veggies too.
Another repurposed old school - this time in Breakish - Red Skye has transformed the former primary schoolhouse into an excellent restaurant.
Another one to book ahead, starters are around £7.50 and mains between £17 and £23, with the restaurant focusing on seafood and traditional Scottish options such as Cullen skink and mussels. Venison, pork, beef and red lentil burgers are also available.
Picture: Stein Inn
The oldest inn on Skye, dating back to the 18th century, The Stein Inn is the perfect choice for the weary traveller since it has rooms too.
Utilising local produce from Skye and Lochalsh some of the items you might find on the daily changing menu include West Coast mussels, venison pie and Scottish salmon.
There’s also a lunch menu of light bites and sandwiches available in the bar as well as an affordable pub supper menu of classics such as steak, burgers and macaroni cheese.
The inn houses 130 whiskies so you’ll be sure to find the perfect dram to accompany your meal.
(Carbost Beag, Isle of Skye IV47 8SE)
Picture: The Oyster Shed
The Good Food Guide has this to say about The Oyster Shed: "Make no mistake, this is not a café or a restaurant. It's a shed, a big, draughty shed where you queue at the counter for whatever has been landed that day.
"Paul McGlynn is the man behind the counter, shucking oysters. Until 2011, he was selling two million bivalves a year to restaurants, then his oyster beds were decimated by a bacterial infection that wiped out the business.
"Now he's started again in this no-frills outfit overlooking his oyster beds on Loch Harport, selling his crop direct to the public, individually or by the dozen or half dozen.
"He also doles out grilled lobsters with garlic butter, hot-smoked trout, cold-smoked salmon, dressed crab, kippers, scampi and even the odd bowl of venison chilli – all served with chips.
"Prices are a steal. It has been so successful that even with no bookings and a cramped car park, it's now a Skye destination.
"Lucky visitors will grab one of the benches and sit outdoors or, in poor weather, stand in the lean-to shack with nothing more than a big old beer barrel to rest on. Tea and coffee come in paper cups, otherwise it’s BYO."
Picture: Coruisk House
There’s more than one reason for taking the winding single-track road to Elgol in the south-west of Skye, say the team at the Good Food Guide.
A climb to the summit of Blà Bheinn, one of the island's most spectacular mountains, a boat trip to the lovely Loch Coruisk within the magnificent Cuillin range, or simply a shoreline walk with views to Canna and the smaller isles.
And then there is Coruisk House, the boutique hotel with five immaculate bedrooms, warm fires and a set dinner every night for both residents and non-residents alike.
In this wild corner of Skye, Clare Winskill and Iain Roden have created a magical retreat where cocktails can be taken before dinner in one of their ‘rustic chic’ lounges ahead of a five-course menu that changes from day to day, season to season.
Begin, perhaps, with a fluffy little celeriac zabaglione, follow with an intense shellfish bisque served with Clare’s own walnut bread, then a dish of sea trout alongside a plump Skye scallop, a trout and pepper mousse and sweet pickled cucumber to cut through the richness. Loin of Hebridean lamb arrives with a serving of slow-braised shoulder, fennel purée, wild chanterelles and – the highlight – a mini shallot tarte tatin.
The one unsteady note comes from a coffee and Laphroaig whisky soufflé (two flavours fighting each other), though it is saved by a splendid cardamom ice cream.
The thoughtfully composed (and pricey) wine list includes some fine Burgundies, selected by Iain and Clare during their travels across Europe in the closed winter months.
