A luxury langoustine quest – but will Scotland deliver?

GIVE yourself goals on a road trip but be prepared to be disappointed. At the end of an epic circuit of Scotland’s far north, our travellers’ expectations turned out a dram half empty … or should that be half full? South of the border the Northern Lights were being recorded nightly while across a whole week in Aurora Borealis Central we had seen nary a wee glimmer.

Stand-out was a double-dive Sconser scallop roasted in the shell with hazelnut and gooseberry sauce

Langoustines too had proved elusive. After driving 550 miles – no hardship, through some of the most beautiful landscapes in Britain – my personal quest for my favourite crustacean had yielded just one bijou raviolo filling, at the legendary Three Chimneys’ Talisker offshoot on Skye. No consolation that a fresh batch of the shell-on lovelies would be landed that afternoon. Under lowering skies we had to hit the road.

All now hung on our journey’s end – The Pierhouse, Port Appin. Crowned Scotland’s ‘National Restaurant of the the Year' for 2023-24, it had a reputation for seafood that pre-dated its Michelin mentions and two AA rosettes.

The hotel began its life in the 19th century as the base of the Port Appin pier master, servicing the steamboats puffing their way up Loch Lynne between Oban and Fort William. Today the hotel jetty accommodates the ferry out to Lismore. On that little island my langoustine hopes rested. It’s from there that Eoghan Black uses sustainable creel baiting to provide the Pierhouse with 60kg of langoustines each week. 

And yes, Eoghan has been over this morning we are told as we check into a gleaming white hotel that feels more Cape Cod than the Argyll coast. Glencoe is just 20 miles away. It’s hard to believe that even that gloomy spot will be wreathed in mist on an October day like this. Out on the Pierhouse terrace with views of distant Mull under a clear blue sky we order Guinness and a Picpoul de Pinet. Still this is Scotland; we are wrapped up warm.

We are not alone in loving this hideaway. International hotelier Gordon Campbell Gray was living just a 20 minute boat ride from the Pierhouse, where he was a seafood-loving regular. When the owners hinted it was up for sale he took the plunge. And down-sized. No more globe-trotting between his five star properties in Beirut, Antigua and Bahrain. Instead the aptly named Wee Hotel Company was born. 

Small is beautiful. Both the Pierhouse and The Three Chimneys, which he swiftly added to the roster in 2019, are signed up to the Green Tourism scheme, which promotes a more sustainable industry. Those langoustines and their fellow lobsters, mussels and oysters are eco warriors; the daily mission at both hotels is to reduce food miles, combat waste. All set against hospitality standards of the highest level.

The Three Chimneys – curating a legendary destination

Unlikely but true. A converted crofter’s cottage in a remote corner of Skye listed at no.28 in Restaurant Magazine’s Top 50 Restaurants In The World? That was The Three Chimneys back in 2002. El Bulli, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and The French Laundry occupied the first three slots. None of these was accessed by a single track road across bleak moors, the black rocks of the final stretch lapped by choppy Loch Dunvegan. It didn’t deter celebs who suddenly started to flock to the flavour of the moment. At least one helicopter ‘short cut’ was involved and a certain Madonna was turned away because it was fully booked.

Back in 1984 it must have been even more of a culture shock for founders Shirley Strong and her husband Eddie when they swapped Croydon for uncompromising Colbost with infants in tow. The croft cost just £47,000. It was the springboard for self-taught cook Shirley to open a restaurant championing Scottish ingredients. Which it does to this day under enlightened new ownership. 

In the wake of world fame Shirley eventually handed the cooking over to Michael Smith, who earned the Chimneys a Michelin star in 2014. Now after Smith’s long term successor quit this summer Paul Green has been parachuted in. Manchester Confidential readers might know that name. Still in his thirties, Green came down from L’Enclume in Cartmel with Simon Rogan when he took over the Midland French and for eight years he served as head chef under Rogan’s successor, Adam Reid.

Still building his team, Green is determined to put his own stamp on the menus. En route for the mothership we sampled the first that is entirely his own – less fussy, very seafood led – at The Three Chimneys at Talisker,  an on-site collab with the world-famous distillery 25 miles to the south. Our lunch was in a laid-back Scandi-style timber dining space with a terrace overlooking Loch Harport that will be heavenly in summer. 

Heavenly describes our £80 a head six course ‘Made by the Sea’ tasting menu. Stand-out was a double-dive Sconser scallop roasted in the shell with hazelnut and gooseberry sauce, but the execution of each dish was faultless. Across from us a young couple had ordered a seafood platter to share, chilled folk at the bar slurped oysters with a glass of local beer. We were driving, so sipped South African Grenache Blanc by the glass.

Hard to tear ourselves away, but the House-Over-by called. That building hosts the six suites created in 1999 to qualify the expanding Three Chimneys as a restaurant with rooms. Under the new regime they are more luxurious than ever. Multi-level, restrained luxury, the best of showers. On our first visit to eat at the restaurant two decades ago they were booked up, so we had to stay at a local farmhouse B&B. Shades of Madonna, though I expect on the rebound she didn’t rough it locally.

Dinner is across the courtyard  – four courses for £100. The dining rooms are much as we remember them, though now there is also a ‘Kitchen Table’, a £140 eight course communal dining experience that can be reserved for up to eight guests. Hard to resist, off either menu, the Glendale Estate venison main with salt-baked celeriac and mushroom ketchup. 

Afterwards tear yourself away from the settees and log-burner in the lounge to take in the fresh Dunvegan air and cherish the lack of light pollution unleashing an abundance of stars (but alas, no Northern Lights).

There aren’t any immediate walks from The Three Chimneys but within half an hour you’ll find spectacular cliffs with amazing birdlife, beaches with otters and seals, while hardcore outdoor types can tackle the Black Cuillin mountains.  

If a view across to that jagged range suffices, drive down Glen Brittle to the volcanic sand strand, visiting en route the waterfall-fed Fairy Pools. On the way back grab a coffee and Lochalsh beef brisket rarebit at the smart Cafe Cuill. Award-winning chef Clare Coghill has transplanted a cafe space that began five years ago in East London back to her native Skye.

The Pierhouse – did my langoustine dreams come true?

Robert Louis Stevenson’s ripping yarn, Kidnapped, was based upon a murder in the Appin area in 1752 that led to a notorious miscarriage of justice. It would be criminal to visit these parts nowadays without eating at The Pierhouse. The new owner has invested substantially in the kitchen, giving chef Michael Leathley, whose grandfather was an in-shore fishermen, the equipment to make the most of some fantastic raw materials.

So much to anticipate, but first a walk. It’s an easy hourlong trek to the tidal inlet of Loch Laich, off the road back towards Glencoe. The big attraction is the picturesque four-storey medieval tower house, Castle Stalker, accessible from the shore at low tide. Wary of trying, we chose a shorter stroll around the Port Appin headland and were rewarded with a glorious sunset.

We could have squeezed in a ferry ride across to Lismore but we’d been before and exhausted its possibilities, as they say. Legend has it that back in the sixth century both St Columba and St Moluag coveted this slim eight mile long outcrop as a missionary base and as the holy duo sped towards it Moluag cut off his own finger and flung it onto the island, claiming it for himself.

Lios Mor means ‘great garden’ in Gaelic and indeed the inhabited island is lush and fertile with an almost Postman Pat charm to it. Yet it is the panoramas of much grander landscapes that make the expedition worthwhile. 

At the Pierhouse we were staying in a Sea View Room, much simpler accommodation than at the House Over-by, but it fitted perfectly as a prelude to a memorable final meal of the trip. Loch Creran oysters au naturel we had and scallops baked in the shell, topped with puff pastry. To pour over it a little jug of ‘roast roe jacqueline’, a buttery jus made from the orange  coral. Our mains were half a Loch Linnhe lobster for me, grilled hake with burnt butter hollandaise and tarragon gremolata for her.

And in-between to share, with the same whack of garlic butter that would dowse my lobster, a large £40 pile of Eoghan Black’s finest. My hand was trembling as I took my shot of the most succulent langoustines I’ve ever eaten. It doesn’t do them justice. So alongside I’m using the Pierhouse’s own image. Ours came, lobster-style, split down the middle for ease. We should have demanded bibs. Such a mess was made, prising flesh out of every last crevice, garlic butter dripping down chins. 

Who needs the Northern Lights?