The Three Chimneys Restaurant, Skye, Scotland

Today, dear reader, we will be travelling by car to the remote north-west of the Isle of Skye, to my favourite restaurant of all time. Come along and tell me what you enjoy the most.

Views along the way. Isle of Skye near Corbost

The Three Chimneys Restaurant has always been famous and deservedly so. It is situated nearby a Loch in Corbost near Dunvegan, in an area that is surrounded by cliffs, green wet hills, sheep and distant white stone houses. Despite its rural location, it is well-known and popular so a booking was made many months in advance.

Simple and Scottish, a vase on our table, Three Chimneys, Skye

Inside the metre thick stone walls, even at lunchtime, the lighting is moody and dark, and a small candle glows in the nearby fireplace. A beautiful smiling woman who looks uncannily like Geillis Duncan brings bread. Her eyes sparkle, and her sweet sounding Scottish accent is beguiling, while the breads take me back in time. Freshly made each day, there are three different types- seeded, dark and oat coloured. They are soft and evocatively celtic, and come with different butters, one containing salty sea flecks of dulce seaweed. More arrives without question.

More courses arrive, mysterious little bowls of land and sea, brought by the amber haired Geillis. For me, a Peat Smoked Haddock Ravioli, leeks, a quail egg with Smoked Sea Dashi, the latter poured at the table by a chef’s assistant, transports me to another heaven.

Peat Smoked Haddock Ravioli, leeks, a quail egg . Smoked dashi broth.

Something for him with seaweed so nice.

For main course, we choose beautiful seafood caught from that Loch just outside the window. For me, a roasted Salmon with fennel, Sconser scallop and lemongrass, and for him, the Three Chimneys Seafood Platter, consisting of West Coast Chowder, Dunvegan Dressed Crab & Langoustines, Sconser Scallop,  Loch Harport Oyster, Lemon Mayonnaise and Bridget Glendale Salad.

The seafood platter attracts a 15 pound supplement.

Some things never change. Shirley’s signature dish, the Three Chimney’s Marmalade Pudding with Drambuie custard, is still available. We first tried this in 2000 and even though I vowed to make it at home, I never did. It was time to try it again. The weather in the Isle of Skye goes very well with an old-fashioned pudding, a traditional ending to a modern Scottish meal.

As I wandered out to the bathroom, I noticed three long hooded capes hanging on pegs. Simple in style and made from Harris Tweed in muted tones, I’ve been dreaming about those Hebridean capes ever since. I wonder if I’ll return to the beautiful stone buildings of Corbost, the Lochs and the green hills, the sheep on roads, the superb but invisible attention, and the glorious food of Three Chimneys, and to Skye, my beloved Skye.

Those capes

The Three Chimneys has been named UK Restaurant of the Year for 2018. It won a similar award when we visited in the year 2000. Booking well in advance is essential. https://www.threechimneys.co.uk/

Over the sea to Skye

My other Skye posts.

Skye boats to Elgol

Speed Bonny Boat

In my Skye Kitchen

36 thoughts on “The Three Chimneys Restaurant, Skye, Scotland”

  1. This was so evocative of the mood , textures and beauty of this part of Skye and brought back some happy memories which , of course, made me cry! A very special,place…

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  2. Oh! The very romantic me has always, but always wanted to go over the sea to Skye . . . . so this unexpected post has made me shed a tear also . . . what draws me: everything, because everything fits so well together, belongs to the place . . . and I have never sighted a seafood platter such as your beloved enjoyed . . . and whereas marmalade pudding seems a natural, to read of dashi broth is somewhat strange. . . A peculiar statement I know: I can see how they deserved the Restaurant of the Year title, but part of me wishes the place had remained less known and that the ‘hordes’ to come would not inevitably change its nature . . . .

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    1. But Eha, it hasn’t changed- that’s the beauty of it, just adapted. There was always a booking list to get in because it’s small. And the very remoteness ( and exclusivity) keeps the hordes away. There’s nothing else there, just beauty. And I think it’s quite a natural thing for the Scots to adopt dashi- since it’s made from smoked fish and seaweed- the things that those Scots have been doing forever in their own cuisine. They have been UK’s top restaurant, on and off for 20 years. I just love the place. I think the food was even better when I was there last September. The current chef is Scottish but well travelled- with a long stint in Melbourne of course but Shirley Spears still runs the place and the old is still present with the new.
      You must go there one day Eha.

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  3. Am not speaking of the present adaptations but somewhat worried that it will become one of the ‘smart’ places to go, remote or not . . . . I shan’t speak of ‘bucket lists’ but the Isle of Skye has been on mine for eons . . . ever since I learned some history pertaining . . . . take your dashi explanation on board: had not thought of it like that . . . . (the Boat Song is playing naturally . . .)

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    1. You need a long time on Skye for her to reveal more secrets. Ah yes, Cullen Skink- I learnt about that in Cullen, over on the East coast. It is indeed hauntingly beautiful.

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  5. I always wanted to visit the Isle of Skye. It was on my list in 1976, howeveer when I asked to purchase a bus ticket I was promptly told, ‘….. och, ye cann go there! It’ too far….! That was in Glasgow. 🙂

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  11. What a fine-looking meal and such a wonderful part of the world to dine it in. I particularly enjoyed dreaming about how the Peat Smoked Haddock Ravioli on leeks and in a smoked dashi broth would land on my taste buds. We occasional make a smoke salmon ravioli in a similar fashion with dill sauce, but now I’m wondering about trying a dashi broth. Was the quail egg inside the ravioli with the smoked haddock?

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    1. Hi Ron, I must say that a smoked salmon ravioli with dill sauce sounds wonderful. I’m trying to remember where the quail egg was – perhaps it was inside too. The Dashi stock brought this dish together beautifully and although a Japanese concept, it ended up tasting like Soctland. As I mentioned to Eha in a previous comment, the Scots love smoking fish and eating seaweed so it fits quite well here. I love the peaty flavours of Scotland-the strongest being in a glass of single malt Laphroig! I hope you make this dish Ron- and let me know if you do. There are plenty of Dashi stock recipes online.

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    1. The three Chimneys often wins that award. It’s the combination of all those things- food, service, setting, the taste of Scotland in a modern way. Must get to Scotland Julie. I would say that is the most beautiful country in the world, ( with NZ a clsoe second). And the food on Skye is good- not so good though in the UK generally.

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