Cafe at Taigh Chearsabhagh in Eilean Siar

Very clean cafe. Lovely food. Homemade baking done daily. All staff are very polite and professional, very helpful. Has a shop and museum attached to it and an art gallery.

Fantastic Victoria sponge cake and coffee. Staff lovely and friendly. All table immaculate. Real coffee which was spot on and needed after looking for Broch sites.

Had a great toastie and soup from here. Very nice venue and the shop is also quite nice. Didnt have time to visit the exhibition would have a look around the next visit!

I dropped by while waiting for the ferry to Skye. Tea, really nice cake, friendly service and a decent gift shop attached too. Ticked the boxes!

Enjoyed a lovely lunch. We both had Paninis and hot drinks. Generous portion size, tasty and good value. Made to order but didn’t have to wait long at all, absolutely delicious. Staff were friendly and the cafe area was clean and a lovely place to eat.

Enjoyed a cuppa and a cake. Scone was tasty and husband enjoyed his cake. Wifi did not work which was disappointing as we had no signal and had our car on charge at the pier and could not check on progress.

Nice cafe in a busy museum and arts centre. I had a lovely broccoli soup with a roll and a really nice scone with jam and cream. Well priced. Stayed to look around the small "Ceòl - Uibhis a Tuath" exhibition (music of North Uist). Really very interesting and well worth the £3 entry fee.

An excellent café with a good selection of cakes, sandwiches, soups and small meals. Seating inside and out with excellent views over the water. Also a really good shop here with books, cards, local art, sculpture and jewellery. Lots of handcrafted products.

Good stop off, for lunch. Good menu choice, and wide range of cakes and backing. Panini’s are lovely, and reasonably priced. Cafe is part of the museum.

Friendly and efficient service and lovely food. Highly recommended. There is also a shop and post office in the same building.

Lovely little cafe attached to the arts centre with friendly staff and a good range of basic refreshments. Superb cheese scones which are freshly made every day: light and delicious. Worth travelling to North Uist just to have one. Not quite sure why the staff are still made to wear masks when the rest of us has moved on. I didn't come across any other staff wearing them in restaurants or cafes we visited.

we went here because everywhere else was closed. relieved to have another option as i hadn't seen this place online but glad we found it the girls were really nice and warned us there was a big bus tour due so we ordered quick. just basic food here, we both got paninis, but both were very nice :)

It's located across the road from the Lochmaddy Hotel. Check opening hours before planning to go. You have to walk through the shop to enter. There is an exhibition area attached to it. Tables were well spaced and service was fine. You order at the counter. Overall a quiet and relaxing place for coffee and snacks after a day out.

After quite a long journey, it was lovely to find the cafe and enjoy the potato and leak soup, our paninis, followed by home made cake and a very welcoming cuppa! The owners are two lovely young women (twin sisters), who are both friendly, hard working and focused - excellent role models! We would definitely recommend for a nice lunch.

Disappointed in my visit to Taigh Chearsabhagh Cafe. I stopped on my way to the ferry at Lochmaddy, was rudely chastised by a gentleman (assuming the manager) for standing the wrong side of the 'wait here' sign and then ignored by the waitress until I had to ask to order. It was a long wait for service and only had time for coffee and cake instead of a substantial lunch as planned.

This is a nice place for a snack or lunch. The food is good, sandwiches and paninis (etc) prepared fresh, and a good selection of home baking. The service is prompt and prices are cheap.

Dropped in this afternoon for a cup of coffee and perhaps a snack. On arriving at 2.40 pm, I was pleased to see the notice confirming that the cafe was open until 3 pm. However, when I approached the counter to order I was told that it was already closed as the member of staff needed clear up time. Need to decide when the really close!

Called in for a light lunch. Chicken, cheddar and chili jam wrap served with a small salad was tasty. Child’s ham sandwich was served on fresh bread also accompanied by salad. Home made cakes are worth a try- lemon cake, carrot cake and scones. Worth a visit an reasonably priced. Recommended.

This is community run and is in the same building as the museum. It has a good menu which is freshly made, much of it locally sourced. It has a good selection of locally made cakes. It is well used by locals as well as being a good place for visitors to make use of. It also has an outside decking area which goes round the 2 sides of the building that face the water. This adds a sizeable extra seating area when the weather is decent.

stopped for morning coffee and cake, lots of choice. staff were friendly. plenty of seating with windows over looking the water. has a shop too.

We came here more than once. Busy cafe with decent coffee. The crab salad was out of this world, best I have ever had. Nice place also for arts and gifts. Menu is varied and mostly low cost. A gem

This place is just across from the port. Modern, airly, spotlessly clean and comfortable inside, a reasonable range of lunchtime toasties, sandwiches and soup plus some very appetising-looking baking set out at the counter. The soup was exceptionally tasty, toasties had plenty of filling, and staff were friendly and helpful. It got pretty busy while we were there which I am sure relates to the comings and goings of the boat.

The gallery had an interesting exhibit about a project to re-discover old videos of the islands on, as well as some beautiful local art. The cafe itself is as you'd expect but everything is to a high standard and I'd highly recommend finding the terrace on a nice day!

Home baking particularly the scones are very good. Lunches are very reasonably priced. Service is always with a smile and staff are obviously hard working which is appreciated with such a good menu.

This place was a surprise. The exhibition/museum itself is not anything special but the cafe is lovely with great food. We had a crab sandwich and it was delicious, the cakes looked yummy too. Nice cafe with a lovely vibe.

Stopped here for breakfast during a recent visit to North Uist.Staff were friendly and service was good .Nice coffee and both our filled rolls were excellent.

Whilst reluctant to single out individuals when reviewing establishments on this occasion I will make an exception. An extremely hard working young man on the counter who was coping very well with a busy cafe taking orders and making drinks, was bullied by a rather dour faced woman in the kitchen who loudly berated him for perceived wrongdoings when he was in fact coping very well. He had rushed his own lunch to get back to serving and seemed to be working very well. The woman then appeared in the cafe and demanded in a loud and aggressive manner to know who had ordered soup and interrogated a lady demanding to know where she was sitting. This kind of behaviour is embarrassing to witness and the staff clearly need retraining.

Nos ciclistas hambrientos aficionados para una comida y así paramos en la cafetería para el almuerzo. La ubicación en Lochmaddy es muy bonito y te puedes sentar fuera (limitada) y disfrutar de las vistas.

Good food at a café which gets very busy, particularly before the ferry leaves. Also an interesting local history museum here.

Paramos aquí para un buen almuerzo. El sandwich de salmón ahumado contenía una porción muy generosa de frío" caliente - salmón ahumado" - delicioso! Las tartas eran deliciosas. Es un buen estilo café abierto, y la tienda adyacente tiene un montón de cosas interesantes para la venta. Una gran ventaja de wifi gratuito (es difícil conseguir un buen señal en otro lugar de la isla). Sin duda un lugar agradable para visitar.

Disfrutamos paseando por el museo nacional antes de visitar la tienda de arte local de enfrente. La comida estaba deliciosa con comida cocinar en casa. Realmente disfrutamos hablando con el personal local en todos los lugares de un tres sugerencias diferentes tienen de lugares para visitar e información sobre la zona.

Estuvimos aquí para el almuerzo. Tuve tomtao sopa y roll, este estaba bien caliente. Hay mucho donde elegir. Una buena variedad de tés y bebidas y tartas caseras. Muy limpio y agradable. Las atracciones añadido es que está en el museo y una pequeña galería de arte.

Nos detuvimos en un almuerzo ligero y usar wi-fi. El café es luminoso y ventilado, aunque muy ocupado cuando nos fuimos.

This is a great centre with a café, gift shop and post office. It has lots of local information and the staff are very friendly. There are local exhibitions of art etc. The café offers a variety of food and has a lovely area outside...

Great place to call in at after a day walking.Tasty snacks good soups and bakes.A good shop for gifts etc,and usually a display.Handy if going for the ferry.

Gran Café de detenerse para una sopa y sandwich. Probamos el queso brie, arándanos y tocino paninis... eran cargadas con queso y fue fabuloso! El personal es muy amable y atrayente!

Estaba lloviendo, así que el café era muy popular y concurrido por los visitantes. La tripulación llevaron la gente bien y los menús simples permite que el servicio sea mantenido.

Have called in many times but this is my first report. Service is always welcoming and a good selection of tempting items to eat. An added bonus is the wifi as Lochmaddy has poor cellular coverage. The museum is always worth a visit

Last orders for food 15:30, in the middle of summer. As one of few places for a coffee on the island, it could have stayed open a bit longer, say until 18.00. We felt we were under pressure not to hang around. If they had planned the place better they could have provided a cafė with beautiful views. But it is very much enclosed inside the centre. Coffee was average, nothing to write home about.

Interesting place with good cafe and staff.Enjoyed the food and coffee and pottering around the exhibits and gifts.

Nice cake and tea / coffee in an interesting mix of cafe, craft shop, studio and exhibition area. We pain the £3 to view the exhibit - bone to wool - which was an interesting history of the island and wool production. Toasties etc available, pretty popular stop with locals and tourists alike.

Friendly staff and tasty snacks. free WIFI a bonus! My coffee and cake were lovely. I have had soup and light meals here on other hilidays.

Waiting for the ferry, I called in at lunchtime and really enjoyed a very reasonably priced, well filled salmon sandwich, but was very surprised by the differing reception which I recieved from the counter staff, varying from one being very friendly and helpful, another with even a smile apparently being impossible!However the place is spotlessly clean, airy and relaxing but with typical snack bar atmosphere, OK for what it actually is!

A great little café with a fab range of local food - just what's needed after time exploring the Islands, whether on car, foot, canoe or bike. Always great soup and fantastic local smoked salmon sandwiches to die for. Fine gift shop and museum attached. Welcoming and friendly. Can't beat it.

Modern, nüchtern und doch mit allem ausgerüstet.Hier trifft man wohl am meisten Einheimische auf einem Haufen zur Mittagszeit.Suppe, Lunchgerichte, homemade cakes und gf-Kekse. Alles war vorhanden.Ideal für einen kurzen Zwischenstopp mit WLAN-Halt.

We had a substantial meal here, and an illuminating chat with a local policeman about our experiences of Berneray. Service was friendly, and the coffee and cake were good. There's a nice gift shop in the same building. A good place to while away a few hours while it rains.

i have visited the cafe and adjoining museum and shop r er peazedly over many years from its start in a small building to its today's dimensions. The food is always great, the home baking in particular. The internet connection has been improved radically :-)The choice of books and gifts and music is note-worthy.Great place to wait for the ferry with a cup of tea, a snack and e.g. a great display of Runrig Tour Posters from MANY years ...

We visited Taigh Chearsabhagh to take advantage of the café as it opened at 10.00. It was very busy as everyone seemed to want to take advantage of the free wifi. The museum and gift shop were excellent but the café is not as good as we had experienced in other parts of the island. My wife had a cup of tea and a scone, but she had to leave half the scone as it was so dry and hard. I had a coffee and that was OK but they do not have an expresso machine. There is however an excellent selection of gifts in the museum shop.

The Café serves excellent soup Michelin* ---the best bacon roll I have eaten and the paninis are pretty good as well--- didn't get around to the cakes that looked good as well this is a great place to stop and look around as you will always find something interesting in the shop or in an exhibition that you often wont have seen elsewhere, Its not pretentious like cafes on Harris and its what the Uists are like. Great home baking and good basic food at realistic prices.

A hidden gem and a view into culture on North Uist- well worth a visit- good cafe and full of island culture

The choice of soups with the cheese scones were a big hit. The home baking was too good! No wonder I put on weight with choices like these - the air sure gives you an appetite and this place does not disappoint.

Great exhibitions of St Kilda and lovely art work from around the Uists. We visited on a damp day so decided on eating there too and loved the Soup homemade and very flavoursome, served piping hot, we also had a toastie sandwich which again was hot and tasted lovely with a little side salad. But possibly the best tray bake was a chocolate cherry and coconut (&raisin) slice. The best cake/bake I have tasted and homemade too. Loved the whole ethos of Taigh Chearsabhagh from the culture to the cuisine. We're from North Wales and although we have museums and cafes it is nice to have both together, best of noth worlds, will definitely visit again when we are up that way. Service was lovely and all staffvinformative and friendly

Its a handy café in a place where there is really not much else, but neither the café nor the arts center were really exceptional. Tea, coffee, light meals and WiFi

Tiagh Chearsabhagh is a very nice centre near the ferry. However, on different occasions I have been a bit disappointed with the cafe. This week it was the scones, which were very stale, and should never have been served. On other occasions the cakes have not been fresh. I'm not too impressed!

I went to see the well set out exhibition on St. Kilda.There was a good selection of cards and books on sale.The cafe provided excellent coffee with a view over the loch to dir for.

Nice food, reasonable prices. It would benefit from offering a slightly wider choice. I had a lovely conversation with the lady on reception who was very friendly and helpful.

I visited this cafe with my family on Thursday 10 July 2014. We were hugely disappointed. The staff who were serving seemed disinterested in being there and presented the island in a very poor light. One lady in particular was very rude to my wife when it appeared she had queued up on the wrong side. The fayre on offer was limited and pricey. Compared with the experiences we had a few years ago this is really poor. Staff re-training needed urgently if this cafe is to make a positive contribution to the Uist economy and reputation for hospitality and a warm welcome. In the meantime better to avoid this cafe.

I am cheating slightly as this is a review of Taigh Chearsabhagh itself rather than the café - although I have used the café and it was fine. Taigh Chearsabhagh is well worth a visit for its interesting exhibitions. I was surprised to read another reviewer's comment that the shop has a limited selection - I certainly managed to spend a lot! Harris Tweed bags, toiletries, sweets (if you like ginger, the Ginger Tablet from the Hebridean Kitchen is heavenly) and an excellent selection of books. Friendly staff. Don't miss the mosaic mackerel by Ros Wates (one of the UK's leading mosaicists), which is part of the Uist Sculpture trail and is hugely impressive. It is on the shoreline immediately outside Taigh Chearsabhagh - a walkway leads to a viewing platform.

Have visited this place many times over the years. However, it has definitely gone downhill from what it was. Friendly, warm welcome of old not there any more. Gift shop has limited selection. Toilets were not clean and tidy. Last orders in café at 4pm - so that the staff can make sure they are all packed up to get out the door at 5pm.This is the height of the tourist season and a place like this should be open until 6pm with last orders say at 5.15 / 5.30pm.Interesting exhibition on St Kilda which I did enjoy, but for the rest, I would suggest a root and branch review of the facility to make it a lot more tourist friendly.

Nice surroundings and a good selection of sandwich fillings etc. The soup was very salty though, and the service was a bit unsure - we didn't get the glasses of water we asked for, and when we went back a bit later for cakes and tea, the lady serving us didn't know what she was doing, so the last two cherry slices (which we had asked for) ended up being given to someone behind us in the queue. Not the end of the world, but very annoying. It wouldn't put me off going back again (hopefully it was just an off day!)

Had lunch on a couple of occasions recently. Very nice building and exhibition spaces, good location and very handy for the ferry. Food ok. but uninspired and a bit limited.

Good wholesome food, lovely home-baking and friendly staff.Could do with a bigger dining area - always a good sign when a place is frequented by so many local people!!

Just a short stroll from the ferry queue this centre as well as having various exhibitions has a really nice little café. We had mushroom soup followed by cake and tea. All nice and tasty and has a really nice atmosphere.

Plenty selection on the menu, wonderful home baking made by wonderful friendly staff. The place is run efficiently by the lovely staff who always have a friendly smile and nice they make you feel welcome.

Limited menu and overpriced although a lovely clean building and staff were very pleasant. Will return again next visit!

I could never leave lovely North Uist without calling in to this very nice Arts Centre with its high quality book and gift shop. Café is not bad either and handy when you're waiting for the ferry or on a dreich day.North Uist gift mugs and quality Western Isles 'stuff' and good history and other such books. Great relaxing place to take kids too. One day, I'll manage to nab the cafe table with the excellent view out over the loch.Someone always gets there first and it's not a spot you'd want to give up too soon.

Great sandwiches, tea and coffee, in a nice cafe inside some kind of museum, shop, gallery combination. Well placed for the ferry terminal, bank, ATM, and buses. Friendly and attentive staff and service. Great value; was surprised how cheap our order came to. Highly recommend.

Popped in on a rainy day for tea and cake. Shop is full of holiday trinkets and local produce which is lovely to see. As a party of 5 we struggled to find a table as all the larger tables were taken by couples, leaving lots of empty seats and only 2 tables of 2. We sat down, not too bothered about being split up and perused the menu. Our son (aged 8) loves hot chocolate but we were disappointed to see that they only served instant hot chocolate as well as instant coffee and the scones were tiny. The place was well staffed but not one person acknowleged us or made eye contact and we were left waiting around at the counter. In the end we decided we would rather drive a bit further round the island and go to Claddach Kirkibost Cafe where the hot chocolate comes in massive soup like bowls and the scones are to die for. It is also priced the same as this place but so much better. My advice- don't bother!

Stopped off for a fly cup. Tea was good. Coffee in a cafetiere which was nice. They made it quite strong too. Coffee & walnut cake tasted good & so did the scone. Reasonably priced too. It was self service & took a bit of time standing at the front to get served. Toilets were clean. A few bits & bobs in the shop too. Worth a little look. There's a museum there too but I didn't venture in.

Ordered some tea and cake; both excellent and served quickly. Cheap, too. Staff serving gave us some good tips on where to go, and seemed pleased to see us. Nice to have lots of other amenities literally feet away, so were able to do some good shopping.

It's always good to find somewhere to have a snack on these islands and this is a pleasant enough spot. Not particularly restful as doors to toilets and exhibition area lead from the cafe space so it's a bit of a thoroughfare. That said, there aren't that many people on North Uist! My cake and coffee were fine and service (at till) was pleasant.

Nice place to have a quick snack and conversation in Lochmaddy.Used bt the locals too must be good!

The cafe is part of a community centre complex at Lochmaddy, North Uist. Its in a great location, convenient for the ferry and with pleasant (albeit not spectacular considering the situation in the Outer Hebrides) views. There is plenty of parking and it is easy to access from the main road. As well as a cafe, there is a small art gallery and museum, a shop and some large rooms for groups or talks. The cafe is situated at the centre of the complex and feels like a kind of hub.The atmosphere is nice, with high ceilings and pleasant decor. Plenty of tables and big windows. We popped in for cake and coffee before getting on the ferry and the cakes were very nice. The service was the down point. We stood at the counter for several minutes, and even though members of staff looked directly at us, they did not acknowledge our presence or make any effort to serve us until they had finished whatever it was they were doing. No one even said 'hi'. Service was abrupt when someone eventually did come to us, and we felt like our presence was an inconvenience to the staff.

Called into the Cafe at Taigh Chearsabhagh, Lochmadddy with my family for lunch after viewing the current Art Exhibition. Hot and cold food, delicious soups, tasty snacks, cakes and beverages are served, the best dish for us was the local smoked salmon with salad! The staff were very friendly and our table was served quickly. This award winning Gallery, Shop, Post Office, Cafe and Museum is a real Arts hub for the Uists! Fantastic craft and gift shop, selling books, cards, jewellery, etc. Just a pity it is closed on Sundays!