Edinbane Lodge (Isle of Skye, Scotland)

Returned from a two week trip to Scotland and reviewing some restaurants I haven’t seen much of here!

Edinbane Lodge is is Edinbane, a village on the northern side of the Isle of Skye. About 20 min from Portree, the main town on the isle. It is listed in the Michelin guide.

Decor is very on brand for a fine dining restaurant in Scotland – upscale rustic, plaids and local art, dark wood and stone. Tables were not crowded together so it felt quite private.

Service was truly lovely – friendly and still professional. The Somm in particular was great, engaging with us about our wine experiences and sharing his. The wine pairing was one of the best of our trip – wines and food highlighted each other very well.

Food was focused on local produce and comes with a list of all the farms/ providers and their location for the ingredients used. Whenever possible, ingredients were from the isle, and it was super interesting to know that the scallop you were eating was hand dived 12 miles away.

Overall the food was excellent. Not pictured was chips and dip – seaweed and roe chips with an oyster emulsion. Starter was 4 canapés – oyster, cured halibut tart, beef tartare, and cheese onion brioche “toast”. Fun bites based on local food.

Second course was scallop – amazing! Dense and meaty with a sweet flavour, complemented by the smoked dulse sauce and pressed cucumber. This was quite rich.

Third was steamed lobster and crab topped with caviar, pea, and nasturtium. It’s not my favourite texture but was well done, with good chunks of lobster and nicely balanced with the green elements.

Fourth was highland wagyu with spinach, potato, and chanterelle. The wagyu was the best I’ve had outside Japan, with an amazing texture and marbling, melt in your mouth. It was well complemented by the salty potatoes and slightly bitter spinach. The portion was too small, however.

The cheese course – local Brie – was next. A fine interlude before moving to dessert, but has nothing on proper French Brie.

First dessert was inspired by the start of summer on the isle – heather, peat, and smoke. This was unique and lovely, refreshing but a depth of flavour from the smoke and peat from the whisky.

Final course was a strawberry and white chocolate mousse. Strawberries were wonderfully sweet but I feel like this dessert has been done a million times before.

Overall this was a great experience, but I would say it was one course too short, and the main was too small. I wasn’t hungry at the end, but the progression just felt a bit rushed. The three course menu they offer would have been too small, which isn’t acceptable at a fine dining restaurant.

Great food, great wine pairings, great service, but just a bit missing. 8.5/10