The best restaurants in Highlands and Islands

Great wee cafe in the centre if town. The breakfast was huge and very tasty. Best flat white I have had in ages too.

I cannot recommend the Oakwood Restaurant and the Highland Lassie enough. Calling ahead to make a reservation and preorder the food was a minor struggle for me—doesn't seem like the cellular reception is great there—but it was absolutely worth the small effort. Bring your own wine if you want it, Oakwood has no liquor license. Also of note: you're on a boat, the small dining room has only one table that seats six. Perhaps we should've expected it, but we were surprised to arrive and find that we were sharing the table with two sets of strangers. Don't shy away, lean into this! We all got to chatting and sharing stories of our lives and experiences, and it made the meal so much more memorable, enjoyable, and special than it would've been otherwise. The food is fantastic, I don't think there's a bad item on the menu, everyone exclaimed about how delicious their meals were, we all cleaned our plates and made room for the fantastic desserts as well. If you have dietary restrictions, let them know when you call, Gus & Gaby will find a way to accommodate you with something special. Gus was very attentive during the meal trying to make sure that everyone was happy. If you have an appreciation for boats, especially wooden boats, dining on the Highland Lassie is an extra special experience. My partner grew up on a wooden boat and knows the craft that goes into them and how much work they are to maintain. We got to talking with Gus and Gaby and they revealed the time and effort they personally put in to restoring the boat (formerly a fishing trawler), designing the wooden decks, rails, and cabins, the types of wood used, and Gus very kindly gave us a tour of the boat after dinner to show her off. She is an absolutely stunning lady with an amazing character and history. The rooms are quite nice, too, if you're considering sleeping on board or taking a cruise! Wonderful experience all around, definitely a memory we will treasure and a highlight of our trip to Loch Ness and the Highlands! Mahalo nui Gus and Gaby, from Angela and Forrest! Aloha from Hawaii and Orkney!

A set price of £43 (plus a 10% service charge) gets you a nice 3 course meal. That works out at £9 for a starter, £9 for dessert and £25 for fish & chips (with peas). £7 will get you a pint of ale at the bar or £7.70 if you order from your table. £29 (plus 10%) will get you the cheapest bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. We’ve eaten here a few times over the past 4 years simply due to there being no competition for miles around. It’s always been decent but overpriced. We ate on a Friday evening and despite being told it was probably going to be busy, only 7 tables out of the available 17 were occupied. The staff were friendly and pretty efficient. Would we go again? Probably, because there’s nowhere else locally. The location and view are excellent, if you go during daylight. At night you won’t be getting any sort of view whatsoever! I know they took some flak in the press for their prices a couple of years ago and reduced them slightly. I’d love to give the place 5 stars and wish them the best but it’s simply too expensive for what it is. Wouldn’t like to see it closed down and derelict though.

Die Muscheln waren ausgezeichnet. Die Hauptspeisen alle sehr gut. Die Nachspeisen hervorragend. Das Personal sehr freundlich. Der Raum nett.

Great cafe with really nice staff. Cater very well for vegans and gluten free

Absolutely fantastic! Food is extremely tasty fresh, a nice simple menu with a few specials all perfectly cooked. The service was excellent, warm, and friendly. Will definitely be back

We enjoyed the food and service, with just a couple of small complaints. Our reservation was for 7:30 pm and the email confirmation said they wanted the table back at 9:00 pm. One and a half hours is just not enough for such a restaurant. We probably could have decided on what we wanted a few minutes faster, but we eat fairly quickly, and were mainly limited by how fast they brought out the various courses. They let us order dessert at 8:52 pm, and by the time we paid the bill it was 9:15 pm. Had we wanted coffee or tea afterwards we would have been even more overtime. Had I wanted to have two drinks of alcohol, it might have been close to not having metabolized enough at the end to safely drive to the hotel. I understand the need to turnover tables, but I think they should give you 2 hours. Perhaps they plan for that and just say 1.5 hours to make sure it doesn't go past 2 hours, but when I mentioned it to the waitress before ordering dessert she went back to check to make sure it would be ok. And for those who like to use American Express, make you bring another card, because they don't accept Amex.

Lovely coffee and cake with sea views. We also enjoyed a lovely meal there and the staff were very accommodating regarding my wife’s food allergies.

Work at sullom voe. Like most guys don't get finished till 7pm. Missing out on big sales as they close at 7pm. Don't know chippy that closes this early. Big loss...

Can’t say the curry wasn’t good. We ordered the Cranachan it was £9:50 ahead. It was a bowl of cream with a few berries mixed in with a little raspberry sauce and about 10 oats sprinkled on the top!! To say this was Cranachan was just wrong. It was also a rip off. What we were served would have cost max £3 for all desserts. We did ask the Irish waiter about it but he was absolutely not interested. Won’t be back!

We visited The Pier on a recommendation from a friend and we certainly weren’t disappointed! Incredible food, great varied menu and huge cake selection. Coupled with a beautiful view and friendly helpful staff. Highly recommended!

Great friendly place to bring your dog. Food and coffee excellent also 😃

This is such a lovely restaurant, where good service is clearly a priority. The quality of the food is excellent and the staff are attentive to their guests. We had a very good dinner there during our brief stay in Thurso. The menu contains some great locally sourced options. The Salmon is particularly good and the Creme Brulee is probably the finest example of this I have had outside Paris. I’d highly recommend this restaurant but would book ahead as I understand it can get busy during the tourist months.

As we were in the area, we booked an early dinner for my birthday. We were not disappointed. It was quite busy, but the three ladies were friendly and efficient. I had the rib eye steak, and my partner had steak pie. The portions were plentiful. I mentioned it was my birthday and they gave me a free drink. I opted to take the pudding with me, to which they obliged. Thank you for making my birthday a good one.

An absolute gem of a restaurant looking over the harbour. A warm welcome on arrival and an extremely good dinner. The scallops and smoked salmon starters were superb and we followed up with cod, halibut and pork belly every one of which were genuinely delicious. I can’t recommend a restaurant more highly.