Inside Scotland’s ‘restaurant of the 12 months’, which serves VERY contemporary seafood – employees use kayaks to gather lobsters from the adjoining sea loch. And the view is not unhealthy, both…
‘In Scotland, always seek out places at the end of single-track roads,’ advised sea kayaker David Johnson. ‘They’re always the best.’
David is the restaurant manager at Scotland’s Pierhouse Hotel, which lies at the end of a single-track road in the village of Port Appin, by the shore of Loch Linnhe and a tiny Victorian pier built to service steamboats that chuffed up and down Loch Linnhe between Oban and Fort William.
Today, the pier serves as the stepping-off point for the small passenger ferry that operates the 10-minute dog-legged crossing to and from the island of Lismore, with passengers in with a chance of seeing David showing off his sea-kayaking expertise at the 12-bedroom Pierhouse.
For when the tide is too high for the kitchen staff to fetch lobsters from the hotel’s pier-side creels, he paddles along the sea loch to unload the salty crustaceans himself.
Head chef Michael Leathley is a seafood specialist from the port town of North Shields in North East England.
His grandfather was an in-shore fisherman, and it was from him that he developed his love of cooking fish, something he does very well.
Indeed, the loch-to-fork Pierhouse restaurant was named Scotland’s National Restaurant of the Year for 2023/24. And my wife Jude and I can attest to the quality on offer – we sampled Michael’s seafood during an Argyll coast sea-kayaking odyssey.
But before tucking in, we enjoyed a five-hour learn-to-sea-kayak session further north on Loch Carron.
Carlton Reid visits the Argyll and the Isles region and checks in to The Pierhouse hotel and restaurant (above), which lies by the shore of Loch Linnhe
Head chef Michael Leathley is a seafood specialist who cooks lobsters caught in the restaurant’s pier-side creels (above)
The Pierhouse’s ‘table-defying seafood platter’ (above) comes with Loch Linnhe langoustine and lobster, sweet herring, Loch Leven mussels, and Loch Creran oysters. And an £80 price tag
It was led by Lee Woodward of Sea Kayaking Plockton, from the port village of Plockton (which doubled as the pagan village in 1970s cult horror movie The Wicker Man).
Lee is an outdoor activities lecturer at West Highland College based on the neighbouring Isle of Skye and, reassuringly, he has loads of expedition experience.
What do you do if one of us capsizes, I asked when out on the water.
‘I’d perform the X rescue,’ Devon-born Lee explained.
‘I’d ask you to stay calm and hold on to your kayak. I’d then empty the water from the upturned kayak by placing the bow across my foredeck [that crossover makes the X-shape] and roll it onto its side before asking you to slither back in. I’d be there to support your kayak.’
No doubt easier said than done, but we stayed upright, so we had no need for any rescue, X-rated or otherwise.
Lee stayed close to us throughout, watching how we coped with the sometimes choppy conditions. Pleased with our progress, we were given ship-to-shore leave, and I landed for a drone photography break on the small wooded island of Eilean na Creige Duibhe (island of the black rocks).
The loch-to-fork Pierhouse restaurant was named Scotland’s National Restaurant of the Year for 2023/24
Above is a bedroom at the Pierhouse Hotel. Overnight stays in peak season start at £200
The Pierhouse pier serves as the stepping-off point for the small passenger ferry (above) that operates the 10-minute dog-legged crossing to and from the island of Lismore
My drone captured its emerald-green waters, which, combined with Plockton’s swaying palm trees, warmed by the Gulf Stream, and the white ‘sand’ of the loch’s Coral Island, create a positively Caribbean vibe.
Through a camera lens. Temperatures were anything but tropical. And that white sand is actually bleached seaweed.
We landed on Coral Island nevertheless and nibbled home-cooked fruity flapjack while contemplating the short, against-the-tide return to Plockton.
The five hours had flown by, and by the end of the session, we were confident, albeit tired, paddlers.
Having entered the water at high tide, we had to plodge through Plockton Harbour’s slick mud to reach dry land.
At The Pierhouse restaurant Carlton and his wife, Jude, sample an Arbroath Smokie souffle starter, a grilled fresh cod in a burnt butter hollandaise and a fennel tarte tatin
Before tucking in at The Pierhouse, Carlton enjoyed a learn-to-sea-kayak session further north on Loch Carron, setting out from Plockton (above). The village starred in the 1970s cult horror movie The Wicker Man
The kayaking session was led by Lee Woodward of Sea Kayaking Plockton. Above – Carlton and Jude out on the water with Lee
Lee on Loch Carron’s Coral Island, which is covered in bleached seaweed
We could have helped kayak-in lobsters at The Pierhouse, but all the sea air and exercise had made us far too hungry.
I demolished a £17 Arbroath Smokie souffle starter and a main of grilled fresh cod in a burnt butter hollandaise (£30).
Jude, a veggie, had a fennel tarte tatin (£22).
Those who’ve worked up even more epic appetites might like to try The Pierhouse’s table-defying £80 seafood platter – heaped with Loch Linnhe langoustine and lobster, sweet herring, Loch Leven mussels, and Loch Creran oysters.
Carlton’s drone shot of Eilean na Creige Duibhe (island of the black rocks), which lies near Plockton, and its emerald-green waters. Two kayakers, in yellow boats, join Jude and Lee
Lee giving paddling tips to Jude at Eilean na Creige Duibhe
Carlton notes that Plockton has palm trees, warmed by the Gulf Stream
Carlton and Jude stayed in a self-catering cottage – Strathan Cottage, pictured here – on the 30,000-acre Attadale estate
As well as fully-catered The Pierhouse (with smoked kippers on the breakfast menu), we stayed in a self-catering cottage on the 30,000-acre Attadale estate.
Close to Plockton, Attadale has its own request stop on the Kyle of Lochalsh to Inverness rail line.
The cottages are converted 19th-century farm buildings and are part of the 100-year-old artist-planted, sculpture-dotted Attadale Gardens, a Scottish gem, three miles off the North Coast 500 route.
As we headed home from the Argyll and the Isles region – marketed as Scotland’s ‘adventure coast’ – we concluded that it’s as tasty and inviting as it is intrepid.
