Earlier this year Edinbane Lodge took the title of Restaurant of the Year at the Scottish Excellence Awards.
The result was another triumph for 33-year-old Chef-Patron Calum Montgomery, who was born and raised on Skye, and has overseen the restaurant's range of accolades over the years, including being awarded four AA Rosettes. On our trip we gained a little insight into his sense of humour, alongside all these awards proudly displayed in the reception were the awards for the worst potatoes (tatties) on the Isle of Skye! It's Calum's way of staying grounded and humble.
Edinbane was a 16th-Century derelict hunting lodge until Calum and his family bought it in 2017 and transformed it the following year into a 32 cover restaurant with four bedroom rooms. It's about a 15 minute drive from our cottage, and high on the list of places we wanted to dine at on our regular trips to Skye. The warm welcome we received inside made up for the rain and wind outside.
The dining room was comfortable, with tables a reasonable distance apart. This is fine dining, but definitely not stuffy. The staff were clearly knowledgeable about the menu and gave great description of each dish. We'd opted for the full tasting menu (£125), but not the matched wines (£80), as one of us needed to drive home and Scottish drink driving laws are very rigorous. The matched wines seemed a particularly good choice for the groups of 4 or more people, as we could hear them comparing tasting notes and the match to the dishes. I had a cheeky glass of lovely English fizz to start. Cheers!
The set menu met all our expectations and then some. The ingredients are carefully sourced from the kitchen garden, and often from family and friends on the Isle. The ingredient which had travelled the furthest was the Wagu which had come from the mainland. Please note that the menu we ate was in the autumn, and will change regularly throughout the year.
Whilst the crackers were all delicious, the scallop roe crackers just zinged with flavour. The dainty amuse bouche did their job perfectly, setting us up in anticipation of the dishes to follow.
The Oyster Beignets were a revelation to me, I haven't eaten cooked oysters before only au natural. The light batter encased the oysters but didn't smother them. Utterly delicious.
Served in a sea urchin shell, these were a hidden taste bomb, the mussels had taken on a wonderful smokiness off-set by the creamy whipped potato.
I usually try to avoid filling up on bread, but this selection of freshly baked, still warm bread was just too much temptation to resist, and anyway it was needed to mop up the last drops of those amazing sauces.
Just look at the caramelisation on that succulent scallop. Perfection on a plate and as delicious as it sounded.
Monkfish is one of those fish that's very difficult to get right, it takes a lot of preparation to get all the membrane off. Clearly, that's no obstacle to Calum and his team, this monkfish was perfect, served with yet another stunning sauce.
The tenderness of this beef was amazing, and look at the clarity of the jus. A deceptively simple (it obviously wasn't) dish. I had a glass of the matched red wine with this dish, the Sommelier really knows what he's doing, it was amazing.
This was far from the normal cheese and biscuits, it was a proper sharp cheddar offset by the local honey and the revelation of celery sorbet.
I have to admit that I can't really remember this dish that clearly. It's very pretty though!
This was as rich and decadent as you'd ever want a chocolate dessert to be. What a way to end this meal!
Calum is indeed a chef with great talent, and if budget allows, this really should be on your list of where to eat in Skye.
https://www.edinbanelodge.com/restaurant
Edinbane Lodge , Old Dunvegan Road, Edinbane, Isle of Skye IV51 9PW
