Mountain Restaurant & Lodge in Highland

While I was not ejected in a place filled with XR and Greta Thunderbug badges about freedom, staff member was unpleasant towards me and made me feel very uncomfortable. Breaking the law by asking for proof of exemption and not knowing the disability act. I won't be back

Loved our visit, lovely coffee and superb scone. Local staff friendly and super efficient at dealing with queues. Its very popular. Some of the reviews on here make me sad. People think they are so important and critique every sad little part of their day. Its a cheery themed cafe and worth a visit

Young girls were lovely and pleasant. Coffees lovely. However... Food over priced and English woman Alison is very rude. Won't come again.

We arrived and were greeted in the coffee shop downstairs and quickly taken and shown to the room. It was spacious and very quirky,which my partner and I really like. Had a smashing breakfast in the morning and they were great at accommodating as we are both vegan (not the easiest diet on the NC500). Would highly recommend and we will certainly be coming back, hopefully, in the not so distant future.

Only cafe we found. Has good tea and coffee and fruit and nut bake. Home baking though the choice is limited. No scones for example so had the above bake which was lovely and moist.

Staff rude and place unkempt. They seemed to be redecorating their bookstore next door but no reason for the aforementioned failings. To be honest we felt like an inconvenience to the rude lady serving us. Seemed customers were secondary to the resident cats. We won’t be back.

We found this place by accident when looking for a quick coffee stop. The ‘coffee of the day’ was great and the cakes we ordered were enormous and filling enough for lunch! Staff were friendly and efficient. A quirky little place - glad we found it.

Was looking forward to a lovely selection of filled bagels then discovered only two fillings were available this was after we stood at the wrong bit to order with no one saying come down to the till to order. Then someone came to our table to say the food was ready so not sure why they didn't just bring it to us . It was all a bit confusing. Toilets weren't clean there was no paper towels or working hand dryer. The food we did get was lovely as was the coffee although a small packet of crisps costing £2 25 was a bit expensive I thought.

Leuke koffietent met aparte sfeer. Koffie en zelfgemaakt gebak zijn heerlijk. In de serre mooi uitzicht. Zit naast/verbonden aan een kleine boekhandel met ook leuke spreuken en soeveniers

Stopped here for lunch and were impressed by the quirkiness which promised more than what was delivered. There's a limited choice of hot food but we opted for the soup which was full of tasty vegetables. The attitude of the two young girls behind the counter was decidedly unwelcoming, no smiles and no acknowledgement that we had arrived. It's not difficult - I also had one of their big and impressive scones and a lovely coffee. I had eyed up a couple of books to buy but decided to get them elsewhere as poor service doesn't deserve added value.

Thought we would stop for a coffee here after driving for a few hours. Should have known from the sign on the door we were in for an experience.....upon entering to very loud music we are greeted with a display of loving looking cakes. 2 people in front of me, my partner went and sat down. after waiting for around 7 minutes a second person arrived and started taking an order. Turns out the first man was getting sandwiches made by the only other person behind the counter. The poor postie was gasping for a cuppa. Finally getting my order taken I asked what scones were available today. Opting for a citrus meringue pie and an apple scone with 2 lattes I paid the £13.85 and sat down, deciding not to put my change in the feral mountain cat tip jar!! My scone was beautifully burned at the edge and after peeling the greaseproof paper off the scone (note the scone didn't come wrapped in paper, it hadn't been removed after coming out of oven) I managed to eat the majority leaving the charcoal corner. The meringue on the citrus pie needed a sharp knife to cut as it was that rubbery it repelled the spoon and bounced back up.....the pastry was nice. Apart from the cats roaming about and the amount of stuff in this place the coffee was actually ok. Made to order food is not a good idea if you only have 1 member of staff. 3 people behind me actually walked out after waiting for so long.

We stopped here twice for coffee and lunch. We had the soup which was a vegetable soup with tomatoes, corn, peppers served with a spongy piece of fresh bread. My husband enjoyed his latte. Scones were very hearty and large. Enjoyed the chill atmosphere of the shop and loved, loved loved the bookstore.

Stopped here for lunch. Soup was apalling. The bowl of 'Veggie Soup' consisted of potatoes, potato skins, onions and a random piece of pasta in a sea of oil. It was inedible. I would not recommend anyone to eat in this restaurant. Poor service and a 'couldn't care less' attitude.

Poor service and unwelcoming atmosphere. Oddly ‘Breakfast Bagel’ not served until 12noon! And weak flavourless coffee and limited choices.

Lovely wee stop off point for coffee/cake....great wee location and lovely home baking. The book shop at the back is wonderful, so well stocked and served by a lovely man. Great find and consistently good.

We are back once again to sample the delicious scones of this interesting coffee shop and bookstore. We are pleased to report that standards are consistently good and the staff work very hard to maintain good service in a busy coffee stop. The scones are huge as my photo shows and come in a variety of flavours - including cinnamon and fruit and cheese. They are pretty expensive but one can easily be shared. The cafe also serves a variety of bagels and home made vegetarian/vegan soup. The adjacent bookstore has a great range of both fiction and non fiction that will appeal to a variety of reading tastes including environmental and conservation.

We have visited on a number of occasions over the years and have always found the cakes/scones delicious and of generous proportions. The added advantage is a browse through an interesting book shop afterwards.

This is our must-go café when in Gairloch. It's quirky and unusual with plenty of interesting books to browse and serves the most amazing plum-pie. We'll be back on our next trip to the area!

El café que tomamos era pésimo, muy fuerte y amargo, y las dos tartas que probamos tambien. El local es agradable.

I enjoyed my cappuccino and Millionaire shortbread very much. Coffee was smooth and the shortbread was a really good chocolate and caramel mix. Service was good, the decor is eclectic and overall I left a happy man.

Received lemon meringue pie and it was like rubber as if it was days old. We have been here before but never learnt. Don't expect staff or manager to smile or talk and you wont be disappointed.

Being a Monday, another local coffee house was closed, so we thought we would give this place a try for our afternoon coffee. A strange, heavily themed coffee shop behind Hillbillies bookstore, with lodge rooms available. I think the nerves increased with every step we took ... but the need for caffeine was too strong to turn and run when we saw the rag-tag stray cats hanging around outside, and the sign proclaiming 'Badger Day'. Where else will you find the baristas tripping up over each other behind the counter with faces painted as badgers (did we have dodgy mushrooms at lunchtime??)??

We really enjoyed a huge bowl of potato, onion and peas soup, it warmed the cockles and filled you with tasty nourishment a crusty bread roll would have been preferred to the sliced bread but overall a good meal..

Starving hungry, on a Saturday lunchtime, we opted for the Mountain Restaurant & Lodge as it was open! Unfortunately they didn't have much in the way of food there - no savoury food anyway and we were offered a choice of scones. This was a disappointment to our non-scone-eating daughter, who opted for crisps and a glum face! We bought two coffees, two enormous scones, a pint of diet cola and a packet of crisps for some unearthly sum of money and sat down in a cosy nook on low, comfy chairs. The coffee was show-stoppingly good - one of the best I've had and worth the money. The Scones were another matter: massive; stodgy and heavy. Not pleasant. My daughter liked her crisps and coke but we had to buy her something from the grocers, on the way out of town, as (and we all know this) crisps are not filling!

We were walking along the Gairloch on a breezy day in August and saw a sign for the Mountain Restaurant beside the "Budha by the Sea" shop. If the shop was hippy then the café was likely to be as well.

If you are looking for somewher to have a nice quiet coffee with a view and you like a good selection of coffee and cakes, along with a quiet read, then this establishment is well worth a visit.

This place is in a lovely location and the hot drinks and cakes were all really nice. It is let...

Like a previous visitor, we have visited this establishment over the years. However, this year was mega disappointing. The place staff and one good good have deprecated. The once pleasant relaxed atmosphere and popularity appears to have diminished.

we arrived in the village and was immediately drawn here by the coffee advertising. It was a very hot day and we wanted to sit outside on the balcony overlooking the loch but it was very confusing to see whether we could access this from inside or had to come back out and around so decided to ask when we were served. We stood in the queue, with someone already at the till and one couple in front of us (there wasn't much more room than this to queue) My husband went off to the toilet after about 4 minutes, leaving me in the queue. He returned about 7 minutes later having had a wee look around the book store, and the same person was still at the till and the couple in front of me still had not been attended to. There were 3 women behind the counter, one looking busy, think she was dealing with the person at the till, an older woman was shouting at a young girl who was starting to look quite frustrated and upset, I started to listen to what she was shouting at her - "I'm sorry but I'm really hot and this isnt enough information for me, I need exact measurements, go and do it again - now" At this point I realised that my custom was less important to her than whatever measurements she needed, as by this time I had been standing here for 10 minutes. I looked at the man at the till and he was still standing there, so decided that there were other places that would serve me and take my money, about turned and left

I first visited the Mountain Cafe Co. and attached book shop in about 1999 and it was a firm favourite for years. Quirky bookshop packed to the gunnels with interesting stuff, huge amount of choice cake-wise and was able to while away the hours drinking coffee in the conservatory bit whilst chatting and reading newly-acquired reading material.What happened to that beloved cafe? I don't even know where to start...Maybe it was the sullen staff that made me want to leave as quickly as possible, or perhaps the arrogance of the older lady (manager?) who thought it okay to shout (yes, she actually shouted) at her customers (you can't sit there, you're only 2 people, we need to keep that for larger parties - again shouting!!!) (or when a lady was reminding the waitress what she ordered, the "manager" butted in and said "yes yes, we only need one voice in here"- again shouting!!!).I went here as I had promised my kids a cake from this "amazing little coffee shop" but had such a shock in the five minutes I waited to be served. For children who are usually oblivious to anything bar fun and food, they were absolutely agog at the above interactions.I feel gutted at the demise of what was formerly such a treasure, a nurturing, warm nook on the wild north-west coast of Scotland.

If you are in Gairloch, this place is a must visit.Not only do they serve delicious cakes (and more) plus excellent coffee, but the associated bookshop has the best esoteric collection around.On my regular visits in Wester Ross, this is always on my list.

Stopped here for drinks and cakes. The hot chocolate was very nice and the cakes were delicious, however it was expensive and the staff weren't particularly welcoming.Had bars of chocolate on sale for £7 which seemed a bit pretentious and out of keeping with the intended vibe & location.

My wife and I called in here during a day trip to the West Coast. The last time we were here we both felt that their coffee was a little bitter, not so now all their coffee is now Fair Trades and is either Marley or Rogers. The Rogers is the strongest but lovely and smooth. The Marley less strong but still a smooth drink according to my wife. A fruit tray bake Scone and a Granola slice accompanied our drinks. We've visited this Café several times over the years, now with this coffee it's as good as ever. All served by very friendly staff. Highly Recommended

The lovely views and the cakes are the best things about this café. The place needs a thorough clean as it's diwn at heel and it needs staff with a friendly attitude.

Popped in here on a freezing November morning whilst walking my dog. The coffee was delicious, a plum crumble cake was very tasty and was a generous portion. The staff were nice, just left you to it nce were served. That suits me fine. And anywhere that welcomes me and my dog on a wet and windy winter morning gets my vote.

We enjoyed an excellent cappuccino and key lime pie here on a very blustery September morning. Friendly staff, and an attached bookshop - heaven for me!

The coffee was good but the staff especially what i thought was the owner or manager was very off putting, loud and not at all friendly. It is expensive for what it is. We then went into the bookshop and bought a book but had to find girl to take our money.

The whole place was in need of a clean. The food and drinks were made for very hungry people who had no taste buds - it was served in copious amounts but was the worse I have had ever. The cherry "scone" was massive, solid and inedible. We left having grudged the cost.

If you want great coffee then this is the place to come; it's excellent. We didn't try any food as our son is vegan and surprisingly for a place like this, there was no vegan option. It's a great place to enjoy coffee and visit the bookshop next door, and if it's sunny, then sitting outside on the terrace give you great views of the Torridon Mountains.

Not quite sure what to make of this place. Good selection of cakes etc but pricey. Small with outside tables in small village car park

Nice cafe although a bit too "hippie" for our liking. We visited on multiple occassions and the coffee was ok, cakes were really good and huge but not cheap. The cheese scone was also really big and not too bad but a little underbaked. Good place to hang out in Gairloch and the bookshop is worth a visit. A summer terrace available if you get lucky with the weather. I rate 4 stars as it is one of a few places around. Compared to other cafes, it is more average.

Great service from a young staff, delicious coffee but cakes could be a bit more interesting. It was late in the day when we visited so maybe when we return we'll try earlier!

Serverar olika sorter te och kaffe som tillfredsställer en kaffeälskare Starkt kaffe till skillnad från det urvattnade som serveras på andra ställen

I used to visit this cafe year in and out with my daughter and it was unique. Full of hill walking memorabilia and fascinating books, cards, decor. Who changed it all? So bland and the staff were extremely offhand. Expensive and certainly not worth it. Atmosphere has gone gone gone. The assistant in the book shop was very pleasant however. Thank goodness.

Me and my partner love this place, always great coffee (sustainable and organic!), and fab home cooked cakes and puds. It's the kind of place that takes you as it finds you because it is the same, friendly and unpretentious, with some great books to buy too. Lovely view sat outside too

Stopped for a coffee, quirky cafe/ shop. Lovely coffee, microwaved Cherry scone was massive but under baked and stodgy . Good book shop.

Interesting quirky place this. They serve really good coffee and lots of different sorts of tea. Cakes were good too. The soup was a wee bit salty for us but then we don't eat much salt. Friendly place.

The service was horrendous, the girls behind the counter didn't have a clue, the cakes were stale, the manageress/supervisor was rude and grumpy and showing far too much of her body, the tables were sticky, and when you went into the bookshop part if the books didn't have a cannabis leaf on or titles with the F word on them there was books about the Dali lama and Buddhism, I think they are a bit confused. Not a family place at all. My son who is 9 loves books so we took him in there, boy did we make a mistake......... Never again!!!!

We loved popping in here over our weeks holiday. Great welcome every time, and lovely cakes. Very friendly and were lovely when my 6 year old son wanted to order for himself.The bookshop was fab for a rainy day - we sat watching the rain in the conservatory, reading books and drinking delicious coffee, and babyccinos!

We visit Gairloch regularly and we are drawn back to the Mountain Cafe. Its a great location, has a quirky atmosphere and a nice adjoining bookstore. The coffee, the espresso in particular, is truly terrible - which is unfortunate given they claim coffee is clearly their forte. The service could be better - we didn't need to know quite so much scandalous local gossip and it would be nice if staff could raise a smile on occasion.

This is a combination bookshop-cum-coffeeshop which offers a great range of drinks and fabulous home baked goods. There's outside seating if the weather's OK, a conservatory if it's not and a fantastic view of the bay from either. The inside is really cosy and the whole place is decorated in a really quirky way which means there's plenty of fun stuff to look at as you sit. We found the staff to be very friendly, the whole place was really welcoming and was a real Gairloch highlight... went there nearly every day for a week and never had a bad time - the coffee, service and food were all excellent. The only bad thing that happend was when I noticed they had a copy of Lolita on the shelves (grooming is ILLEGAL people, you shouldn't sell books which refer to it even for artistic purposes) and I felt myself starting to become offended, but then I realised how silly that would be and got over myself.

We went for a light lunch and sat in the small conservatory. As a group of four we found it a bit cramped, but we did enjoy the soup and bagels, though we felt that £4.95 for soup, roll and butter was rather expensive. There was an older lady clearing tables who could have done with wearing a less revealing outfit in front of customers, but we only saw her once as we weren't there for very long. Overall impression was that the place was a bit cluttered, crowded and slightly weird, but the food was fine!

The young servers behind the counter were lovely and friendly, but there was a lady running around looking all stressed in inappropriate clothes, short jumpsuit not buttoned up and a bikini underneath, it was pouring of rain outside and not so warm that day so we came in for cake and a coffee, the bikini lady grumbled to us when we were almost finished "you finished with your mugs" no please, no thank you or how was your cake. Not one of the 9 in my group felt welcome. The book section looked interesting but we didn't hang around to look, used their loo and left.

We like our coffee. This looked promising. 2 types of bean on sale, a house blend and a strong blend for 20p a cup more. Even with an extra shot the coffee was insipid. Cakes equally bland. To cap it all staff not friendly. Here for a week but won't be back. Would have loved to spend an hour there each morning.

I had the most fantastic time looking around the books in this place, so was really looking forward to sitting down there for lunch. Unfortunately it was absolutely packed with a huge queue and a chaotic feel about it. We ended up having to share a table with someone else, I felt the food was over-priced for what it was, and in the end we felt really uncomfortable and left without finishing it. A big shame.

After a disastrous experience in another Gairloch establishment that same afternoon - our faith in Highland hospitality and

As frequent visitors to Gairloch, we've been in the mountain coffee shop several times. It's a pretty informal place with a range of sofas and chairs interspersed with shelves and piles of books (which you're not allowed to read) that overspill from the attached book shop. It has a relaxed atmosphere but I have to say the overall impression is of being a bit run down and chaotic due to the masses of goods piled around. The staff aren't overly friendly either as others have reported. However, the cafe does sell good coffee with a wide selection of cakes and enormous scones. The latter are well worth a try but I've found that you have to be a bit picky and not be shy of refusing any that are a bit burned. I've ended up with very burnt scones on two occasions that have made their way onto my plate. All in all its a decent place for a coffee, but having found the Steading, I'd be more inclined to take my custom there in future.

What a lovely warm friendly space to relax and enjoy a good coffee. You feel enveloped by books, memorabilia, witty postcards and quirky objects scattered throughout the cafe and bookshop. We ordered bagels and coffees which were thoroughly enjoyable and reasonably priced followed by homemade cakes....delicious. Worth a visit every time

Very friendly and cosy place to sit and enjoy reading or drinking teas/coffees. Staff are attentive and happy to please their customers

May not have best choice of food, however the cakes are to die for and coffee really delice, staff very friendly and book store excellent

A visit is well worth while.....some interesting Scottish / local books, too. There is handy parking, and other interesting places nearby

Poor qualiity and loud dialogue between the two women working there spoiled our visit. Not good valuue for money.

We can well understand how this establishment has had bad reviews. For a start, the name of it is greatly misleading....we would expect a 'restaurant' to have a substantial menu. This cafe seems to specialise in coffee and scones/cake. We arrived for lunch one day at 1.00pm which is not exactly late, and asked for soup. They had run out. They said they had filled bagels so we ordered from the bagel menu but they had run out of the one we wanted (!) So we had a second choice which was described as tuna mayonnaise. It was so pouring with mayonnaise the whole thing became a semi-liquid meal. We were extremely disappointed both with the choice of food available and the quality of what we had. There are much better places to eat in Gairloch.

Just a note to point out that this is the same place as also reviewed under Mountain Coffee Company.

Good spot for good coffee and tea with a home made cake/scone. Also very cosy place to get out of bad weather if need be, Seating is getting a bit tatty, but everything else fine for an afternoon tea stop.

Nice cafe attached to a bookshop where you can while away the weather and browse to your hearts content. The staff were friendly helpful but a little slow when we visited but the atmosphere was one of chilling out combined with big cakes and warm drinks. One downside for us is there is no area that allows dogs in (something all Scottish cafes in remoter places should try to cater for) I never like leaving the dog in the car especially because if there is a corner for a pooch somewhere we tend to stay longer, eat and drink more and spend more!!! After a brew, a quick browse and a look at the art upstairs we took the cakes to go as a result.

Arrived just before 2o'clock on a sunny afternoon. Staff member who dealt with us made it pretty clear that we were not welcome. Wouldn't let us sit in the overflow area. Had to squeeze 4 of us into small table, when we tried to order were given a list of the things that were off the menu which outnumbered the items which were actually available. In general their attitude was very snooty, so went to local hotel instead.

in der lodge kann man für wenig geld sehr gut übernachten. das personal ist sehr freundlich. in dieser gegend ist die lodge das billigste, was man finden kann. 39 pfung für zwei personen, kleines zimmer mit bad. frühstück im restaurant einzunehmen, nicht im preis. die selbst gebackenen scones waren gut.

The place itself is very inviting, however we felt that the food and drink was way overpriced. In particular, we paid £2 for a coke which was served in the smallest cardboard coffee cup imaginable.

Having seen the latest reviews about this cafe, I have to admit that I totally agree. We have, in the past, really enjoyed the atmosphere and food here but on our most recent visit, we were apalled at the service and quite frankly, I'll not go back unless it changes significantly and I'll not recommend others to go either - it's embarrassingly bad. I'm not sure if the management or ownership has changed in the last few years but in such a small place as this, where they obviously only rely on the tourists, the least they could do is offer a good degree of service, let alone food etc! We were met with a snotty reply when we asked about something that was advertised on the menu and the girl in the bookshop should simply should not be allowed anywhere near customers - her attitude and general demeanour was shockingly bad. As a business owner myself, I'd not have any customer left if I treated them in the same way that people seem to be treated in the Mountain cafe and bookshop these days, which is such a shame, as it used to be worth a visit. I wonder if they also own the fish and chip shop over the road.... the service is pretty poor there too.....?? And it's bloomin' expensive!! Don't go there either!

I wouldn't touch their vile coffee with a bargepole!

Looks a great place for a coffee and some food/cakes. If you go here you will be sadly disappointed. I have never tasted such a horrible cappucino, in fact we took it back only to have it replaced by an equally disgusting Americano. Pretending to do good coffee we spotted them spooning out stuff from an industrial sized container. Costa prices but not costa quality. A bagel with marmite was £3.45! The locals avoid this place like the plague and the owner, when challenged by locals over the appauling prices and food, said he didn't care as he wouldn't see them again. Take your money and just go to one of the bars or the local cafe down at the harbour. People like this should not be allowed to rip off tourist. As a Scot I am embarassed by this place.