Dinner and Pub Time in Ullapool Scotland

Following our little Highland Platter (charcuterie) at the Seaforth and my ferry boat adventure fantasy, it was time for dinner.  So we went to one of the highest rated restaurants in Ullapool.

This is the Arch Inn on West Shore Street.  This establishment opened in 1973 on the site of the first building that was constructed by the British Fishing Society at the time that Ullapool was founded over 200 years ago.  Originally it was an inn and store for fishermen and fish curers with stabling through the archway for the horses that carried goods overland to the village.  The actual entrance to the Arch Inn’s restaurant is through the arch and to the right…

This board displayed the Arch Inn’s specials for the evening.  You don’t see items like this in an average restaurant in the USA!  Hot Smoked Sea Trout is something that we didn’t even see on other menus around Scotland.  Warm Marmalade Pudding with Contreau Crème Anglaise is something we’ve never seen before either… (Spoiler alert…We were too full after our earlier ‘snack’ and our entrées at the Arch Inn to try that dessert)

These photos show both the bar or pub area of the Arch Inn as well as the general dining room. 

In addition to dining, (lunch and dinner), and the pub with a broad selection of single malt scotches, the Arch Inn also has 10 en-suite rooms available and they frequently feature music in the evenings.

Up until now, I hadn’t really included any information on the beer we’d been enjoying.  The quality of beer during our entire trip (Scotland and Ireland) was excellent.  In this instance we enjoyed a pint of two of Scotia Lager and Belhaven Best.

Scotia Lager is brewed right in Ullapool at the An Teallach Brewery.  That small brewery was opened in 2002…and I really liked this beer!  On the other hand, Bellhaven, another fine brew, is Scotland’s oldest working brewery, having been established back in 1719!  Their beers range from clean crisp pilsners to a rich sticky oat stout.

 

They don’t have a website…but for more about the An Teallach Brewery, go to http://www.scottishbrewing.com/breweries/highlands/anteallach.php. To learn about the Belhaven Brewery and its products, just go to https://www.belhaven.co.uk/age-restriction?destination=node/1.

Once again, a very nice fish and chips offering was selected at our table.  This is Beer Battered West Coast Haddock with chip (fries), peas and homemade tartare sauce. ($11.95) The fact is that all of the fish and chips we had anywhere in Scotland were very good!  

This was one of the specials listed on the board for the evening.  It’s the Pan Fried Monkfish well plated and accompanied by cream potatoes and vegetables in a veloute sauce. ($17.95 PS/$23.50 U.S.) It was very nice…

I opted for another of the specials.  This was a fish that I’d never heard of.  It’s the Baked Filet of Plaice (a mild flavored flatfish) with Lemon Crushed Potatoes and Vegetables with Caper Sauce. (16.95 BP/$22.20 U.S.) It was another attractive offering and it was very good indeed.

This large home is just a little obscured by foliage…but it’s still quite handsome.   FYI…those are not palm trees!  They are Cordyline Australis or New Zealand Cabbage Trees.  The North Atlantic Drift passes Ullapool and it moderates the local temperatures. 

Notes:

·         The North Atlantic Drift is actually an extension of the Gulf Stream that flows up into the North Atlantic from the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.  

·         New Zealand Cabbage Trees are known to New Zealand’s Maori as “ti kouka”.  It was used as a source of food, especially on the South Island in areas where other crops wouldn’t grow.  It provided durable fiber for textiles, anchor ropes, fishing lines, baskets, waterproof rain capes, cloaks and sandals.

…just an early evening view of the harbor and surrounding mountains from over Ullapool’s rooftops.

This was our destination for the evening.  This is the Argyll Hotel.  We’d learned that there would be live traditional Scottish music in their pub this evening.

The Argyll’s pub was just about standing room only when we arrived.  We managed to grab a couple of stools in the immediate bar area…but you couldn’t see the action from here…

Bill did a fine job of scoping out the room for any seating that opened up and it wasn’t too long before we moved to the second table on the right, only one table from the action! 

There were 4 or 5 different musicians taking turns playing and singing traditional music, Scottish ditties and sea chanties.  Our favorite was the gentleman in the striped shirt.  He had a lot of the really old songs and ditties down pat!  After a few more pints, we returned to our bed and breakfast for the night.  It was a pleasant relaxing evening…

The Argyll Hotel is indeed a hotel with 8 en-suite rooms and a bunkroom.  It also features the Argyll Seafood and Steak Restaurant.  The rooms come with a full breakfast.  Their breakfast options sound good to me…including a full Scottish breakfast with local sausage and free range eggs, local haddock with poached eggs, scrambled eggs with Ullapool Smokehouse salmon or porridge with cream and a nip of whisky.  I would have gone for the haddock or salmon options!

For more information about the Argyll Hotel, you can check out their website at http://theargyllullapool.com/index.html.

We move on from Ullapool in my next posting… Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing our evening with us!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave