eating out in Beauly and beyond
If you fancy something different, we offer food and drink events in our restaurant space in the Downright Gabbler. Dinner, lunch or afternoon tea – celebrating our history and culture through wonderful Scottish food and drink. Great food and drink and fascinating stories. You’ll receive a discount on dinner if you’re staying in one of our apartments. Please note we are not a traditional restaurant and we can’t guarantee events will be on during your stay.
We’ve listed below, some recommendations of places to eat in the area. Some only open part time, and many get booked up well in advance. It is best to check direct with any restaurants before travelling any distance and try to book if possible.
In the village
Corner on the Square – terrific deli and café serving breakfast, light lunches, snacks, coffee etc. Also has excellent selection of deli food to buy including cheese, pates, salads, fresh bread and good choice of wines and spirits. They also own the greengrocer’s shop next door. Open 7 days a week. They do pizza nights and occasional events.
Café Biagiotti – great café serving breakfast, light lunches, snacks Italian style – focaccia, soup, cakes, coffee etc. You can buy the food to take away, and they do some fabulous microwave meals. Closed Sunday and Monday.
Priory Hotel – employee-owned hotel which serves breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea. Open all day. They have a great carvery on a Sunday. Reasonably priced. Has an outdoor area at the back.
Shimla – the local Indian restaurant is good and does takeaway.
Lucky Ly Chinese and the Friary fish and chip shop are also both excellent takeaways.
Within a fifteen-minute drive
Cnoc Hotel – “up the glen”, head towards Aigas and Cannich. Cnoc Hotel is about 10 minutes up that road, just before Struy. It’s a lovely traditional country hotel with a small bar serving meals, as well as a restaurant. Good quality food using local produce and reasonably priced. Tel 01463 761264
Just along the road is Estate of Ord – follow the signs for Glen Ord Distillery and you’ll see the entrance road just before the turn off for the distillery. It has a fairly limited lunch menu, more extensive for dinner. And it’s a lovely setting looking out across fabulous gardens.
There are plenty of superb places to eat on the Black Isle. Head towards the A9 and take the road to Fortrose and Cromarty at the Tore roundabout…
IV10 on Fortrose High Street is a wonderful place to stop for lunch, just a snack or dinner. Open Wednesday and Thursday 10am – 4pm, Friday and Saturday 10am – 10pm. Last Sunday of the month 12pm to 4pm. Closed other Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays. It has a range of quality local food, tapas style, and is also a deli. Fortrose itself is a lovely place to walk around, with a ruined 13th century cathedral. It’s also home to The Anderson a quirky restaurant combining American and Scottish food.
Neighbouring Rosemarkie has a beautiful beach and a couple of good cafés – the Crofters Café on the beach front and the community owned Beach Café.
And if you make it to Cromarty (and it’s well worth the drive) try Sutor’s Creek. Its award-winning food includes great wood-fired pizzas and seasonal produce such as locally caught langoustines. Eat in or sit on the sea wall and enjoy your takeaway food in this picturesque Highland town.
Heading from Beauly in the other direction – heading towards Inverness on the old road, rather than going towards the A9, you’ll find Bunchrew House Hotel. This is a place for a special meal – the food is fabulous and the restaurant is beautiful and historic. And they do a wonderful Afternoon Tea in the lounge too.
In Inverness
Inverness has an outstanding choice of restaurants – better than most of Scotland’s cities. As well as the usual chain restaurants such as Zizzi . Bella Italia and Pizza Express, it’s known for its great selection of locally owned and managed places to eat.
Some favourites are listed below. Most are modern European/Scottish, unless it says otherwise.
There are a host of good restaurants on both sides of the river – a short walk from the station. If you eat early you can get there and back on the train but double-check the times as they do change.
Rocpool Just to confuse you there are two – but our favourite by far is the one in town on the river. We’ve never had a bad meal there. Interesting dishes, great service, brilliant produce. We love it!
The second is Rocpool Reserve. In a hotel up from the Castle, it’s an Albert Roux restaurant. Good but pricey and not a patch on the original one on the river in our humble opinion. Check in advance for this one as sometimes they only seem to be open for residents.
Contrast is the restaurant within the Glenmoriston Hotel and has a great view across the river. Excellent food and good value at lunchtime. Lots of local produce – venison, seafood etc, with a bit of an Eastern Fusion feel. Has a big outdoor seating area.
River House, this restaurant, specialises in fish, and they really know how to cook it to perfection. As a bonus, it’s next to one of the oldest and loveliest buildings in Inverness – Balnain House.
Prime is a pretty good restaurant with emphasis on local produce – steaks and seafood.
The Mustard Seed and The Kitchen, two restaurants with the same owner on opposite sides of the river. The Mustard Seed is a fabulous conversion of an old building and worth going for that alone. In the summer, you can sit out on the balcony looking out across the river. In contrast, the Kitchen is a stunning modern building. Great food with local produce and everything from seafood to burgers.
Ness Walk is Inverness’ only 5 star hotel and the restaurant has a fantastic tasting menu. It’s not the cheapest place, but the food is excellent.
There are some good places to visit in the city centre itself:
Café One Bistro is on Castle Street and offers good local produce, some direct from the owner’s croft. Their Malteser crêpe is a bit of a local legend. Lunch is particularly good value.
Fig and Thistle on St Stephens Brae has great value, Scottish food with flair. The staff are always great, and their puddings are exceptionally good.
Also, on St Stephen’s Brae is the Velocity vegetarian café, Cheese and Tomatin pizza and Little Italy – all excellent in their own way.
Sam’s on Church Street is the best Indian restaurant in the city. Great food, great service, great décor and Sam himself is a well-known character in the town.
Black Isle Brewery Bar, also in Church Street, has the best pizza and is a really friendly place – lots of shared tables, and they have a rooftop bar which is fun.
McGregors Bar at the foot of Church Street and Academy Street and has good food and regular music. It’s owned by Bruce McGregor of Blazin’ Fiddles fame if you enjoy Scottish traditional music. Has an outdoor courtyard seating area.
