Ralia Cafe in Highland

Every time Ive called in there on my way north the staff have always been very friendly and pleasant, coffee and sandwiches are good and tasty The only thing Ive ever found wrong with it are the very occasional overly entitled and moaning customers who expect five star service from a roadside coffee house. Have they ever tried smiling and being pleasant to the staff or do they just expect them to be grateful for your presence amongst them?

I forget how poor this place is & then I call again & am instantly reminded of previously visits. If you arrive after 2pm, there will be no sandwiches left, ever. Had the soup which was tasty, served with a crust off the bread end. It’s a great location, it could do so well. Inside is cold & drafty as both doors are left permanently open. It’s like a small motorway service station. I would recommend you stop to use the loos (30p) & then continue your journey to somewhere better, to get food & coffees .

Lovely staff, really good food and cakes right on the side of the A9. Well worth a visit.

Had the best chicken noodle soup I've ever tasted along with some fabulous homemade bread just to die for.

Tucked out of the way, but an excellent little stop off point. Amazing food and coffee.

Delicious soup, fair pricing. Great place to stop

Lovely staff and great food, perfect on a stormy day on the A9

Toilets Ample east parking Restaurant Seating gor picnic break

Always stop here for a coffee and a cake. Lovely friendly staff. Thank you.

Excellent pit stop cafe on the A9. Just tried a flat white and shortbread but the food looked good.

It's a great place to stop off for a coffee and a cake 🍰

Pulled into this place, and it looked quite dark, but wow, we were impressed once inside great friendly staff ,really tasty homemade soup and a warm atmosphere.

This place is an amazing little stop with lovely hot chocolate. Really warm and friendly

Nice place to stop for a piddle and a coffee

Great place to stop on way to and from Scotland. Great place to walk the dogs too.

Great sandwiches and good value.

Great spot for coffee and a break, friendly staff and clean toilets. Also good for stretching your legs.

Great place to chill out for a coffee.

Good sandwich and friendly service, toilets could do with some attention.

A good stop off on the A9 the food is good plenty of parking.

Great cheery service and delicious fresh food.

We had a coffee and hot chocolate very reasonable price and tasted good should of had food looked lovely

We travel down A9 from Tain several times each year and our stop here is one of our Highlights. Toilets always clean, charge is optional but I am happy to contribute. Sandwiches are the best anywhere and smoked salmon especially a delight. To run such a wonderful facility out in the wilds must take huge effort and I congratulate them.

Coffee is very expensive for what I would class as a small cup. But thankfully tasted ok.

Nice placed to stop, just off of A9 on way to Inverness, plenty of parking

A great location in the cairngorms for a bit of a break. Great gluten free options as well. Lovely hot chocolate and very reasonable prices.

Great place to stop off on A9. Lovely cafe and great area to sit and walk dogs

The hot coffee was not hot. Over all ok ok

Great for a quick break ... Good coffee and clean toilets... with a quirky gift shop ..

Only had coffee but the place is nice quite and clean, would I go again. Yes

Only used the public toilets. Clean and up to scratch

Just used the toilet on the ground floor. As of 21 Sep 2024, it is £0.30 for entry and you can pay by contactless card only.

Not huge choices of food but what they have is nice enough. We always stop here when we travel. Option to eat in the cafe or the benches outside. There are stairs up to the cafe. Toilets are on the bottom so easily accessible. The cow metal sculpture is right at front so folk can take piccys.

Good Pitstone travelling on the A9

써소(Thurso) 올라가는길에 휴게소로 들른 시골에 편안한 휴게소..?

The very opposite of a cosy cafe - cold, bare, soulless, awful piped musak. £3 for a cup of tea. The latte was luke-warm at best. The staff seemed stressed and disorganised - maybe at the prospect of 3 coachloads who arrived just after we did. The 30p charge for the toilets seems to be optional now. We'll go to one of the nice little teashops in Kingussie or Newtonmore next time.

Decent roadside shop, nothing fancy. Good for a quick coffee.

Nice little cafe to stop off at while travelling on the A9 Plenty of choices for food and drink Toilets could be a little cleaner but do the job

We stopped off in middle of the night to use toilets. They were spotless open 24hours a day. 30p to use toilets (cash or card) but worth the price. Beautiful hamish statue by car park. Had lights outside building but very dark from car park best to use torch, I used my phone torch which was sufficient untill by building block. Would definitely recommend. We hoping to go there next time when cafe open.

Coffee good, location great.. but when offered regular or large, they really mean small and regular and pricey!

Lovely cafe, nice break off of the motorway.

Clean tidy, with good coffee and a wide variety of sandwiches

A small pitstop for a coffee and loo break, nice little place plenty of parking 👍

Large car park coaches also use it. Lovely little cafe plenty of soups and sandwiched, cakes also hot and cold beverages.

Coffee was awful , service ok but the outside was lovely

Pleasant little stop along the way - the coffee was so good!

This is a brilliant spot to stop off and have a break. I will be recommending it to friends.

Very Good tasty. Maybe it will be best restaurant in the SKY

Freshly made sandwiches very tasty nice cup of tea great little stop over

Just stopped for coffee. Their house blend was well made, with sweet notes. Glad for a little sleep on the grass while the coffee dropped. Baby changing has instant hot water. Willie's chocolate! Free internet on desktops. Lovely staff. Burts crisps. Hummus sandwiches. And rarely enough good rich hot chocolate. Plus tea comes in decent size pot.

Nice place to have some food and coffee while traveling.

It was a bit Meh. Felt expensive for what I got.

Favourite place to stop in this area. Heartily recommend!

Very good cafe for food with good service

Great cafe with fabulous views Highly recommended 👌

Nice little cafe on the way to northern Scotland off the A9. Cafe, toilets, large carpark and gift shop. I had the crayfish sandwich. It was really nice for a prepacked butty. My only criticism was there could have been more variety of food. Maybe pies & sausage roll options.

Disgusting - stopped off for a break from driving - toilets were horrible went upstairs to the cafe to get some drinks and they were charging £2.00 for a can of Pepsi or can of Irn Bru - taking advantage of travellers in a remote location.

High praise for the staff at Ralia just now. They were queued out the door but continued to work with a kind and patient manner whilst efficiently serving everyone. Provided extra assistance to those who needed. Thankyou, it makes Ralia a haven on the A9!

Excellent sandwiches and coffees. But why oh why did you stop selling Guiness Crisps??? They were delicious

Onverwacht terecht gekomen tijdens onze road trip en zeker een aanrader. Lekkere latte.

Leuke tussenstop om iets te drinken en een kleinigheid te eten.

Nettes Café mit vielen Parkplätzen. Sitzmöglichkeiten drinnen und draußen.

I have been visiting Ralia cafe on lots of times and service is fabulous fantastic there also lots of information leaflets it also has a hairy coo shop for a fine range of Scottish gift's

After a very long and tedious journey up the A9, we made a stop here. Quick, friendly service and tasty food. We had THE most utterly delicious Indonesian tomato, chickpea and coconut soup - I’d love the recipe!!! The lemon muffin was also beautiful.

Can't really say, stopped but found it very busy, so didn't stay for anything to eat or drink, used the toilets facilities (disabled available on ground level). Will go back another day.

Lovely place to take a break with long green lawned area for children to gave a good run around

Smashing coffee and great well filled sandwiches.

Bardzo dobre kanapki. Cappuccino też spoko. Zazwyczaj w takich knajpkach przydrożnych jest słabo, ale tutaj wszystko na plus. Polecam

It was just a quick stop but a pleasant break on my journey

A welcomed area to stop for a break in driving. Good food and refreshments available and a perfect area outside for dog walking. It was busy when we arrived and had to queue for a while.

Good place to break up your journey.

Just a quick stop for lunch. Lovely soup and sandwiches, good value

Stopped here on route to Inverness. Had a delicious sandwich and a cuppa. Lovely pitstop.

Best stop for dog walks, really lovely. Sandwiches fresh and lots of filling.

We just stopped here to take some rest here. So i don't know about the food and all.

Considerando che non esistono autogrill lungo le autostrade scozzesi, questo Raila Cafè è una sorta di benedizione lungo la A9 (tant'è che ci siamo fermati due volte, all'andata e al ritorno!). Per una sosta veloce caffè + pipì o per un pranzo, questo posto è raccomandatissimo!

Visit this cafe everytime on nc500, great staff great food and fair pricing, plenty parking. Great wee place to visit. Always got to get a toasted bacon sandwich and coffee for a road break.

Pulled in here for a bacon sandwich for breakfast, easy parking, clean, nice staff and good food.

It's a useful stop on the A9 but it's not as cosy as a teashop in one of the villages, being a touch utilitarian.

Great re fuel stop on route to the highlands, clean toilets, plenty of parking, a cool highland coo, and plenty options on the cafe!

A really good place to stop on the A9. A nice selection of sandwiches. The coffee was really good. Staff were very friendly. Perfect for a stop when needing a break on a long drive. Toilets were good and clean. We were driving a minibus with a trailer and had no problem finding a big enough space to park.

Pooring with rain, on my motorcycle,and out of no ware a sigh saying "Ralia Cafe" what a gem ,don't drive past, you will be missing out on some good coffee and the rest.

Nice sandwich or soup stop on way north or south on the A9. Stopped as a family and had lovely fresh sandwiches. Nice coffee, facilities and a small shop.

Stopped for sandwiches, snacks, and beverages on our way to the highlands.

will refill reusable cups got 30p off tea

Stopped of for a coffee and to use facilities we were absolutely disgusted at the state of the toilets ...

Can't really comment on the cafe itself as stopped to let the dogs out and use the toilet. Only had a cold drink. Little gift shop here too which seemed nice.

À welcome bathroom break and let us stretch our legs as well as the dogs.

Limited options for coeliacs, my wife had a bag of crisps and a piece of Lazy Days millionaire shortbread which isn't nice, so no healthy option. I had my favourite lentil soup though and a right chunky hunk of bread so well pleased. 2/3s staff were smiley which is good. I think the signs for "Ralia Highland Gateway" set you up for a fall. They should read "Ralia, Cafe and Gift Shop"

Good stop if you are heading to the north of Scotland

Lovely home made soup and bread definitely worth a visit

We use reliable cafe as a stop as our little girl is 20 months so she's needs a break from the car seat nice size car park picnic tables prices are good but they do charge for the toilets but not alot so worth a stop coffees.are good and so os the bacon sandwich

What a great wee place. Sandwiches are just the best. Ploughman's lunch - loads of cheese, fantastic bread and delicious chutney and coffee to die for. Do yourself a favour and visit Ralia for its great food, and lovely peaceful surroundings.

Stopped off on way to Aviemore. Lovely setting. Nice cup of tea and a muffin. Definitely recommend stopping off. Nice little gift shop on site too.

Very nice stop off on way up to Inverness.

The Ralia Cafe didn't look much from the outside. Go through the door that says Cafe and walk upstairs. That opens up to the Cafe on 1st floor. There's no wheelchair access here for the Cafe. We didn't see full meals being served here, it's more sandwiches, toast, soups and cake or biscuits. A range of coffee and many different teas. Having said that, the BLT sandwich was very good, fresh ingredients, on soft brown bread, made same day. Was in fact the best BLT I've tasted anywhere, bar non. They had crawfish sandwiches too, amongst others. There are some gluten free options. There's a warm welcome waiting for you. Carpark onsite, spaces aplenty. There's a gift shop at the side of the cafe, located on ground floor but a separate building. Lovely gifts, scarfs and purses and more.

Best sarni and soup ever loads of fillin, the malt bread was ace and the shops were wholesome and fully of flavour

Excellent position on route, very relaxed peaceful location

Fantastic place to stop and unwind on your journey

Love the toasted bacon sandwich and coffee