I visited this enchanting Scottish island and had a dinner that I'll never forget
This luxury hotel restaurant is an essential on your itinerary
There are many bucket list activities on Skye.
The fairy pools, for example, which are so hyped up that the fairies have had to change their identities. Or, the Quiraing and the Old Man of Storr.
However, if you’re a foodie, the four-AA-rosette restaurant-with-rooms Edinbane Lodge, which is owned by chef and proud local Calum Montgomery, should be equally important.
We ditched our gorpcore, and dressed up for the experience, though I’d packed a frock that inadvertently drew attention to all my midgie bites as if they were Chopard diamonds.
There was quite the sense of anticipation, as we drove 20 minutes along the snaking road from the centre of Portree.
On arrival at the 16th-century hunting lodge, we settled into their intimate dining room, with tartan carpets. If accents are anything to go by, we were the only Scottish diners in a restaurant full of Americans.
Currently, there’s no a la carte, just a tasting menu for £160pp. Usually, I’m not a fan of this style of dining, but Edinbane’s version has the perfect rhythm. It lasts two hours, so you don’t have to take a sleeping bag.
First, the snacks. Apart from the snappy and salty seaweed and scallop roe crackers with a slick pearlescent dip of oyster emulsion, they all come at the same time, and are presented in sculptural crockery, for a table scene that reminded me of Jupiter Artland.
We both took one of each, from the middle out, and downed them like shots.
The venison tartare was iron-y and buttery, on a fairy-sized hash brown plinth. Then there was a mixture of chopped langoustine, mixed with fresh-tasting blue mussel chantilly, and a daube of tawny Oscietra caviar. This is served in a delicate sea urchin bowl from Edinbane Pottery, which is practically next door. As well as the crockery, they also take their local ingredients seriously. Alongside the menu, is a list of all their suppliers, from the mussels sourced from Calum’s cousin, to Ryeland Lamb from just eight miles up the road.
Our third snack was a feral little vol-au-vent of black pudding croustade, which was filled with black pudding mousse and topped with feathery reindeer moss and a dusting of chanterelle powder. Finally, the oozy “brie-oche” - a warm puffy bread filled with melted Clava Brie, local honey and apple. Fill a ball pool with these, and I would happily chomp the lot, while making happy snow angels.
The post amuse-bouche starter course was like nothing I’ve had before, in 19 years of restaurant reviewing.
Calum came out of the kitchen to introduce us to this dish. (I love that you get to meet almost all of the staff, as part of your munching journey).
This dish was a fragrant and meaty consomme, which, as well as chanterelles and wild garlic oil, contained chopped up Plockton oyster that had been topped with aged beef fat and cooked on the barbecue, so it had imparted a rich tone. It was moody and soulful, like this island.
And, after a fluffy bread course with a beautiful whipped black garlic butter, we were onto the scallop.
These were absolute beasts. I made an involuntary “woah” when they landed. It’s like they’d been taking creatine. Other lesser examples are gone in two bites. These were eight mouthful affairs, with seared edges and a smoked dulse and cucumber sauce. I’m sure the depth of the Loch Ainort will have dropped, when these fellows left.
Our third fish dish was a comparatively dainty plate - a pad of steamed cod and Trotternish lobster in a light frothy sauce of peas, pureed carrot, and nasturtium leaf.
After that airy and breathy lightness, we had a sucker punch of Perthshire wagyu beef. This was a matchbox-sized piece of red clover coloured sirloin, and some shin that was encased in a hurricane-shaped potato cage. It came with an oval of potato dauphin and pickled leek bulbs.
Before pudding, there was a palate-cleansing pre-dessert of strawberry and meadowsweet sorbet, with all ingredients sourced from the lodge's grounds. It made my dining partner chuckle and purr like a happy hen.
Then, the proper dessert, which is one of Calum’s signatures and something he made when he appeared on BBC programme Great British Menu, back in 2022 (he was also on the show in 2024). It’s named for and inspired by falasgair - the agricultural practise of heather-burning, as a waiter kindly explained.
It featured heather ice-cream, whisky gelatine, a caramelised Valrhona white chocolate tuile, almond sponge cake and matching tuile, as well as a skoosh of Torabhaig Whisky - the most peated on Skye - that was delivered via a perfume atomiser.
What a magical experience, with an absolute sense of terroir.
Skip the fairy pools, and add this to your Skye bucket list instead.
Old Dunvegan Road, Edinbane, Portree (01470 582217, www.edinbanelodge.com)
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