I would walk 233 miles from Edinburgh to revisit this dreamy Scottish cafe
This destination is the perfect pitstop
Most visitors to Skye have probably wondered which of its villages they’d most like to live in.
It’s hypothetical, as I’m a Tarmac-hearted city girl, but I’ve decided that mine would be Carbost.
It wasn’t the yeasty smell of the distillery, Loch Harport’s titanium glow, and the walk to the grey sands of Talisker Bay, Caora Dubh coffee’s excellent outpost and the caffeine buzz that ensued, or even the generally peaceful vibes as if you’re tucked into the island’s cosy oxter, it was mainly the four-year-old Cafe Cuil.
Owned by VisitScotland chef ambassador and Cafe Cuil cookbook author, Clare Coghill - who closed up her London Hackney cafe when she felt the call of home in 2020 - this vast red outhouse is a siren for hungry walkers. It’s like Skye’s answer to Uluru. You really can’t miss it.
As well as the cafe space that seats up to 80 diners, there’s also an adjacent shop and deli, which sells artwork from local designers, souvenirs and merch.
If you want to visit, chop chop. Though the Cuil Kiosk will remain open, the cafe will be closing for winter from November 8, this year, until March 2027.
The huge car park was almost full, when we visited for a weekend lunch. It must draw in the tourists who’ve come to visit the Glen Brittle Fairy Pools, which are just eight miles away.
There’s no reservations, as it’s walk-ins only. Thus, in the busier months, expect a small queue, before you’re led to a table in this canteen-like space, with its comfy seats and cheese plants.
The food list is relaxed and hearty, with a focus on lunch and brunch.
We started with a couple of their Snacks. It was not my first rodeo, when it comes to her iPhone-sized slice of banana bread with miso butter, maple syrup and sea salt (£5). Coghill did the catering at the launch of Edinburgh’s excellent Cookbook Shop, and they were serving this stuff, which was being swiped willy-nilly by hungry paws. I have never forgotten it. The software for a new craving was installed that day.
We also tried the two croutons (£6.50) that were topped with light and fresh whipped smoked mackerel, and a squeeze of lemon, like fancy amuse bouches to get your appetite revving.
Next were a few all day brunch items.
If anything is going to give you a Burt Reynolds-style chest rug and matching ‘tache, it’s the Lochalsh beef brisket rarebit (£17). There was a hot pile of soft meat, plus a melted smoked cheddar and stout sauce that clung to the crusts of a sturdy thick slice of sourdough, a perfect poached egg and a flurry of chives. It was pillowy, salty and so rich. The perfect protein fix. This felt like a panacea to cure my aching post-walk Achilles, as well as crush my hypoglycaemia as if it were nothing but a runty midgie.
The same goes for the Isle of Skye crab (£18), served as a sweet dollop on top of a cloud of chilli-laced scrambled eggs, with abacus of charred sweetcorn, as well as coriander and more sourdough toast. Total joy. You’d have to have hollow legs to manage something else, after those portions, but, thankfully, we’d packed four of those to bring to Skye.
Thus, we also tried the Scotch pancakes with strawberries (£13). Pancakes are always a menu item that work better in the imagination, as opposed to reality.
However, these warm drop scones were absolute beauties - as thick and bronzed as a professional bodybuilder, with three that were balanced Jenga-level high, along with layers of a lush and baby pink whipped crowdie cheesecake cream, and a deconstructed cheesecake base in the form of malty brown butter saturated crumbs. What a birthday-ish treat.
We also had excellent flat whites (£4), served in cups that look like volcanic rock, and their own balmily sweet and sunset-coloured Cuil-Aid (£6.50) made with meadowsweet and strawberry.
There are lots of other fancy drinks, like a machair matcha (£4.20), and you can add a shot of calming reishi powder for £1. Maybe we should’ve gone for that, because we couldn’t stop giggling at the collie that was sitting in the driver’s seat of one of the campervans parked outside. (It is dog-friendly here, but maybe he couldn’t be counted on to behave).
I would’ve been happy to stay here all day, pup-watching and trying everything on the menu, as I’d say the food and drink here is magically mood-enhancing.
It was definitely the very modern Cafe Cuil that gave us our Carbost wings. No trip to the Fairy Pools required.
Cafe Cuil, Satran, Carbost, Isle of Skye (01478 640575, cafecuil.com)
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