Out for dinner(s)

Local food can also be described as pretty darn good. Opening hours may be a little restricted (this is rural, out of season and many businesses are family run) but get over it - the effort folks put in truly needs to be respected.

So here, in no particular order is the run down:

Fyne Raja

When we first bought the house, the local curry house was Dunoon (not highly rated) or even further away at Inveraray (better rated), so it was a bonus to hear that just down the road in Tighnabruaich Fyne Raja would be opening November 2023. It gets great reviews and we headed on down between Christmas and New Year with the family. Curry, with a Scottish twist (Haggis pakora), a small restaurant with the kitchen visible in the restaurant - always a good sign! We're been back since and can highly recommend it. The fish pakora with really fresh fish is going to be a favourite!

The Colintraive Hotel

After church we popped in and had a bar meal, which was 'ok'. Liz's fish and chips were nothing special, not even tartare sauce on the side, but John's cullen skink (smoked haddock soup) was pretty fine. Lacking a bit of atmosphere, we're not sure it will be a regular for a meal, but maybe for a quick pint after a walk or trip across the ferry at Colintraive to and from Bute.

The Coylet Inn

A surprise and delight, on the way back home from Dunoon(ish) is this quaint coaching house style pub on the main road going up Loch Eck. Great views and a lovely snug bar area serving really good quality food, carefully presented. John is on their Facebook group and they look to have great live music (guy with a guitar) at the weekends .... well worth another visit we think! For avoidance of doubt, being a former coaching house, there is a sign above the front door saying 'No Horses'. The barman was very friendly and the portions were generous and delicious - we've never seen such a great spread for baked camembert.

Tide and Thyme

It took us a while to be able to find a time to visit Tide and Thyme with someone who had come to visit. Kathryn was the lucky one. The restaurant is only open Thursday, Friday and Saturday. During the winter they do various themed menus using the freshest local ingredients. The three of us chose six dishes between us and shared everything from the middle of the table. The pork belly was the standout dish of the night with beautiful crackling. We finished off with affogato and sticky toffee pudding. Every dish was lovely and the small bistro restaurant was full. We will be back!

The Oystercatcher

So far, this is the favourite. We first went with mum and dad in April 2023 and the range of home cooked food both meat and fish was truly excellent. The beers, from Loch Fyne Ales, are also pretty groovy! We've been since for drinks and more food and we're booked in again for Burn's Night. It's a warm and cosy place with friendly staff and a loch side location. They seem to put in a great effort and its amazing to be able to benefit from that without too much of a drive - only 8 miles mainly on a single track 'C' class road - watch out for deer on the way home.