Three Chimneys on Skye: Delicious Tastes of the Land and Sea

There are some phenomenal restaurants on the Isle of Skye.  For example, Michelin-starred Lochbay Restaurant is supposed to be wonderful, as is the Kinloch Lodge, located on the Southeast side of Skye.  I didn’t get a chance to eat at either of those restaurants.  But luckily my stay at Carter’s Rest on the Duirinish Peninsula was a 10-15 minute drive from another award winning restaurant – The Three Chimneys. 

I would suggest making reservations, especially if you travel to Skye during the peak tourism months of April – September (ish). 

Even though I was visiting during the off season, I made a 6:30 dinner reservation to make sure I could eat at this amazing restaurant, especially since it was so close to where I was staying.  If you stay at The Three Chimneys hotel, they automatically give you dinner reservations during your stay.  The hotel portion looks lovely from the photos online.

I arrived at the restaurant at 6:20.  There is a small parking lot across from the restaurant.  I imagine that lot would get full very fast, and the overflow parking is merely parking on the side of the road, which I am always loathe to do, for fear of parking badly and having another car hit me.  I digress. 

When I arrived at the restaurant, it was completely empty.  I was literally the only person there.  The wait staff were extremely friendly, and I asked them if it was normal for the restaurant to be this empty.  Apparently people in the UK enjoy later dinners, and the waiter said by 7:30 or 8 pm, the place would be completely full.  And sure enough, it was.

There are two dinner menu options, the dinner tasting menu (3 courses for £69) and the Skye Land and Sea tasting menu (8 courses for £98).  The restaurant requests that the diners at the table order the same tasting menu, probably to alleviate timing issues of one person having three courses and the other having eight.  But, why eat three courses when you can easily have eight?  So obviously, I selected the Land and Sea menu. Everything on that menu was either caught in the loch (lake) outside of the restaurant or farmed on Skye or in the Scottish Highlands.

Bread

First, they brought me some bread and butter.  Full disclosure, even though I told myself I wouldn’t eat all the bread, I really couldn’t help myself.  Foreshadowing: that was my mistake and I should try harder in the future not to stuff myself on bread and butter.

Two different types of sourdough bread and a rye + dark ale bread. There were two flavors of butter – the left was a claret or carrot butter (sorry, I really didn’t hear, but my first guess was claret. but I can’t be certain). the butter on the right was a delicious seaweed butter. Both were actually delicious, but I still couldn’t figure out what the first butter was.

1st course: Dunvegan Langoustine

Langoustine from the loch, with smoked cod roe, and a variety of carrots (dehydrated, pickled, and crisped). Side note, you’ll remember that langoustine is a favorite in Icelandic cuisine.

2nd course: Dunvegan Crab

Foam from the roasted Dunvegan crab with horseradish, dunvegan crab with salt baked turnip, and almonds. Delicious!!

3rd course: Sconser Scallops

Roasted scallop, on pork belly, with celery and grapefruit. with shrimp chip crumbles on top

4th course: Halibut

Seaweed wrapped miso halibut, with mussels, cockerels, and a fried oyster, on leek. This was probably my least favorite course, mostly because of the giant leek that the mussel was sitting on.  I didn’t feel that it worked very well, and I don’t know – the leek flavor was a little too much for me.

5th course: Mallard Duck

Roasted duck, topped with coriander seeds. rhubarb and spring onions, on the side For me, there was a bit too many coriander seeds on top, but then again, I am the type of person that thinks there is too many coriander seeds in Italian sausage.

6th course: Skye Red Deer

Skye red deer, with roasted beet root, with ash sprinkled on top. a side of haunch hot pot (not pictured).

This was my least favorite plating – it makes a great photo, but it felt morbid, with the beetroot sauce splattered on the plate and the ash sprinkled all over.  I’m not sure if my photo does it justice, but it felt like a vampire fantasy on a plate.

7th course: Lemon Cream

First dessert course – pistachio bread, with lemon cream sorbet, goat curd mousse, and burnt yogurt.

8th course: Baked Apple

Final course – second dessert – donut, with baked apple slices with java pepper crumble and cider cream.

I am usually one to finish everything on my plate, even if I am too full.  But the above donut hole wasn’t anything particularly special, and after one bite, I decided to leave it be.  The java crumble, however, was a surprisingly delicious peppery addition to the baked apple. Nice touch, Three Chimneys!

Parting Thoughts my dinner at Three Chimneys Skye

Although I was completely bursting by the end of the 8th course, the waitress came by with a box of chocolates.  We both looked at each other, her seeing me miserably full, and began to laugh.  But she told me, she understood, but I really had to try some of these chocolates.  Her personal recommendation was the chocolate truffle and the sea salt caramel chocolate. 

And although I thought I was so full that I could not bear it, it turns out there is always room for chocolate. 

All in all, Three Chimneys offered a very unique and delicious tasting menu – the Tastes of the Land and Skye. It’s a wonderful introduction to local wildlife in Scottish cuisine.  Definitely don’t eat too much of the delicious bread that they give you in the beginning, and you may stand a chance.

For other fine dining experiences in Scotland, be sure to check out:

• Monachyle Mhor – spearheaded by Chef Tom Lewis, tucked away in the Trossachs;
• Inver – Chef Pam Brunton’s Michelin Green Star winning dining experience in the heart of Argyll on the west coast.

Restaurant Information for the Three Chimneys Skye

Three Chimneys | map
Colbost, Dunvegan, Colbost,
Isle of Skye IV55 8ZT, United Kingdom
Phone: +44 1470 511258
Reservations Required

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Lannie

Lannie is a perpetual wanderer and loves to share her travel adventures and the food she eats along the way with everyone.  She works during the day while bouncing around the world and dreams about new places and faces at night!  She has a home on the magical Isle of Islay in Scotland, where the whisky flows freely and happily.

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