Isle Eat in Shetland Islands

The absolute best place for breakfast in Shetland. The food and drinks are delicious, and beyond that, the people have hearts of gold. I stopped in one morning before a tour, wanting to get a Diet Coke and the credit card machine wasn’t working. Christiane gave me the Coke anyways and said don’t worry about it. Me! A complete stranger. And when we went back for another breakfast (and I was able to repay her), I bought a bunch of scones for our travels the next day. As luck would have it I lost them somewhere during that day. I went back to Pete’s to ask if I had left them there. No joy. After re-walking the entire town I gave up and came back to buy a sandwich for the next days travels. When Christiane give me my bag she said I’m out of the kind of scones you bought this morning, but I put in another one with jam and cream to make up for it. They are so kind.

Having walked up to Sumburgh Head lighthouse on a cold, rainy and windy January day, there was nothing more welcoming than the sight of Katja's coffee and cake bus. As it was just the two of us, we actually sat inside and spent a very pleasant half hour chatting to Katja and enjoying the good strong coffee and the very lovely cake as we sheltered from the weather. If you are visiting the lighthouse, definitely grab a coffee here, it's quirky, she's lovely and the coffee and cake are top notch.

We found Hand Made Fish, the croft smokehouse of David Parham, a true delight. David smokes salmon that he carefully selects from Orkney and Shetland fish suppliers. He is passionate about smoking salmon to perfection, and what counts most is to always improve. Our visit to his smokehouse in Bigton, Maywick, was a unique food experience. He told us stories, explained the smoking process and offered us a fascinating tasting experience that learned us how different the pieces of his artisan salmon taste: tail, head, side, body. What a discovery! Everyone of our family, adults and kids, really enjoyed David’s stories and his wonderful smoked salmon. Simply the best salmon we ever had! A few days later we had the luck to also taste David’s smoked haddock he was so kind to deliver us in Lerwick. We poached it in butter and milk, ate it with potatoes and poached eggs, and loved it!

Its a great wee stop on the road north. The cafe is cosy, quaint and full of nice cards and gifts. There is a nice range of different herbal teas and the usual teas/ coffees. The cakes all looked fab, and we had the fluffiest lightest fruit scones I've ever had the pleasure to eat - the portion of cream was generous and the locally made rhubarb jam was delicious too!

An excellent evening, superb food and pleasant attentive staff.