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Whether you’re looking for excellent Scottish cooking (traditional or modern), for a tasty bar supper, an Indian, Italian or good old Fish & Chips we know where you should go – we’ve tried almost all of them! (An arduous job but somebody had to do it). For the places marked * its best to book – we’ll happily do this for you.
In the nearby towns of Newtonmore & Kingussie, just a few minutes drive away, there’s a choice of places to eat, as follows:
Newtonmore
The Glen Hotel: Chris & Kim provide a good value, menu in a relaxed atmosphere - choose your table in either their bar or their dining room & order everything at the bar. Don’t forget to look at the Specials Board before you order!
Letterbox. We enjoyed a nice lunch but haven't yet made it back for dinner. Folk we know have been since and enjoyed the food, despite the somewhat "idiosyncratic" service on occasion. Please note, though, that they do not take credit cards.
The Braeriach Hotel: Del & Sam serve good, honest “Pub Grub” in a friendly atmosphere.
The Pantry: A nice wee place to get a nice cuppa, a sandwich, snack or cake.
Kingussie
The Cross: Really special food for that really special evening out – a rare treat lies in store for you in Katie & David’s caring hands. Reservations are essential; just let us know when you want to go.
Happy Haggis. The newly refurbished, more local, branch of Simon & Amanda's business. As with their Aviemore branch, they serve superb Fish & Chips and lots, lots more in really great surroundings.
Aviemore
Travel just 20 mins north of us and you’ll find a good selection of eateries:
The Druie Cafe Restaurant (At Rothiemurchus Visitor Centre): A super place, interesting menu, reasonable prices, magic coffees, stunning scones and lovely lunches daily.
The Mountain Café: Owned & run by Kirsten Gilmour, an excellent chef, this is another really nice place for a coffee, a snack, one of her sublime cakes or for lunch.
Happy Haggis: Simon and Amanda’s Fish & Chips & other things, all par excellence.
Royal Tandoori: Excellent Indian with a large menu of great dishes to suit all tastes. In our view, the Royal is the better of Aviemore's two Indian Restaurants, by far.
La Taverna: Established now for over 30 years & counting – a very popular Italian.
The Skiing Doo: We enjoyed a very good lunch here recently, it seems to us that its as good as ever.
Cairngorm Hotel: A good reputation for food both in the bar & restaurant.
Old Bridge Inn: So, so much better now and well worth a visit.
Further afield
About 30 to 45 minutes to the north of Crubenbeg House there are 4 restaurants that are worth the journey and well worthy of a mention here:
Anderson’s Restaurant, Boat of Garten: A really great place for lunch or dinner, run by Steve, a young but well experienced chef and his wife, Claire. Super menu, ace cooking, great ambience and very reasonable prices too. (Closed Tuesday except July & August when they're open 7 days).
Craggan Mill at Craggan nr Grantown on Spey: Graham & Sheila offer a top notch, interesting & varied a la carte menu catering to all tastes in the really relaxed atmosphere of their old watermill. 1, 2 or 3 courses – the choice is yours, all at very reasonable prices too.
Tigh na Sgiath at Dulnain Bridge: A former Victorian Hunting Lodge, Tigh na Sgiath has oodles of period atmosphere for an elegant, quiet night out. Their daily menu offers you the best locally sourced meat, game, fish & seafood. Iain & Elaine are also more than happy to cater for special dietary needs. (Usually closed Tuesday or Wednesday.)
Also, at last, we have found a couple of places in Inverness that we can recommend, either for lunch or for dinner.
Cafe 1: Great food, friendly & efficient service, central location and superb value for money. What more could you ask for?
The Mustard Seed. Super food, nice friendly, efficient service and excellent value, all in a lovely old riverside building
