Western Isles Travel & Food Diary: From Flooded Tents to Hebridean Feasts

Just outside Castlebay

An arrival on a campsite, this summer, at the immaculate Borve Camping and Caravan Site on Barra, oft visited by dolphins, is always a public event. And the putting up of a tent, especially by two older women, is I’m sure, a spectacle! Very much on view, we completed the task however, efficiently and without much ado. Guy lines taut and looking good; a fine job indeed. We ate a dinner of Sardinian fregula with lightly cooked tomatoes and green beans and turned in.

However, sensing something was amiss we stirred around 6.30am on the first morning to find ourselves in a river of water, dousing sleeping bags, clothes and camp beds too. Our camping idyll, two weeks of slothfulness, suddenly morphed into finding at very short notice, a roof for our heads and places to shelter, since magical North Uist was also in the plan and the campsite prepaid. We were lucky then, to find a beautiful little flat in Castlebay; and we hastily changed onward plans for a mix of bunkhouse and hotels. 

Once warm and settled, we started to see beyond disaster, the tent written off, to an upside. We had a cooker, we had an oven; a range of cooking utensils and with a kitchen available we could now take advantage of some of the fresh produce available as well the various cafés and community hubs, fresh baking and wondrous hearty soups that is the hallmark of food, so traditional in the Western Isles where hardy skilful women still take so much pride in their kitchen skills. Not a Greggs to be seen!! Here are some of the foodie highlights of the trip.

In the fridge at Barra Atlantic

For freshly landed fish and seafood, the pride of Scotland and the envy of Europe and beyond, visit the small shop attached to Barra Atlantic. This tiny space teems with monster scallops (both king and queen) chunky langoustines and mussels, cockles; pristine lemon sole, monkfish, hake, and much much more; a wide selection of preserved and smoked fish too. We bought half a side of salmon which, fresh and delicate, required only the lightest of treatment…just a smear of olive oil in the pan to colour it; then white wine and finally some stock added for gentle poaching. The hot smoked salmon on another occasion was equally excellent, smokily soft and moist, still flaky and not over-treated or oily.

As an accompaniment for both meals we found Garadh A Bhuagh A Tuath, a local community garden with café attached and a local treasure. In this light-filled airy space, if you can manage to find a seat, friendly volunteers serve hearty soups, wraps and delicious home baking with vegan options: the  homemade banana bread and rich, ample date slices are especially recommended. While outside after a little discussion, the gardeners picked for me, green beans, mange tout, pea greens, kale and tomatoes and all for a few pounds. 

The Fish Box Kitchen, a well regarded pop up outside Castlebay is also worth a stop for something different and my locally caught scallops were delicious; chorizo and garlic a good pairing. The coleslaw and Marie-rose sauce are house made, as is the nori-seaweed sourdough but the langoustine tails were disappointing as were the reheated roast potatoes which came with my partner’s haddock fillets.

The Vatersay Community Centre is located opposite a stunning beach and  magnificent sand dunes. Outside seating makes this a lovely eating experience or somewhere to spend time: my lentil soup was deep and rich and the ample scone I enjoyed on one occasion and  rocky road slab on another, straight from a Hebridean homestead nearby no doubt were so generous, I was unable to finish either.

On the many occasions I have camped on North Uist I have always stopped at The Wee Cottage Kitchen on the road to Berneray, mostly for a bacon roll… a bap filled to bulging with quality bacon on a bed of butter, enclosed within a yielding and very ample white bap. Another pop up, this not-to-be-missed pit stop has evolved over the years. This is honest cooking; borne out by the number of cars, motor bikes and camper vans which now surround it at whatever time of day. On this occasion, breakfast over (they finish serving breakfast rolls at 12pm) I chose a North Uist Prawn Roll from the Hebridean Menu; also available were lobster, North Uist Crab and Stornaway Black Pudding; as well as toasties, panini and soups all at very reasonable prices. Fat juicy prawns complemented by a mild, gentle mayonnaise-based dressing, were hard to contain in my already abundant roll and this was sheer decadence, as I and savvy visitors gazed out… on benches or from their vehicles at an expanse of startling white beach and a limpid, gentle sea.

Neapolitan pizzas

Finally, once The Lobster Pot, now Bernerary Shop and Bistro, very near the ferry terminal from where you can have a wonderful day on Harris and the only shop on the island, is a professionally run establishment of long standing. You can stock up here on carefully sourced essentials, sweet treats, local gifts, beer, wine or gin from the local distillery; drop into the bistro for lunch or book in for an evening meal. All the dishes, whether it be a baked potato, steamed mussels or scampi and chips,  are cooked and served with the traditional care that is the heart and hallmark of  Highland hospitality. 

Our soup on our first visit, courgette and potato, was so good we ordered a third bowl which we shared and we instantly made a decision to return for my birthday dinner later that week. We were somewhat surprised to be offered a list of pizza toppings in advance, since the evening we booked was pizza night, and somewhat now hesitant, we were delighted on the night by pizzas well-crafted, thin-based and pretty authentic. The  cornicione, puffy, airy was blistered and blackened in the best of Neapolitan traditions and the sourdough base, I was informed, had been started three days before cooking. I chose cherry tomatoes, olives and mushrooms for mine while my partner enjoyed an onion and feta topping. For the more adventurous a seafood special was also on the list. 

Across the sea from Berneray to Harris and worth the trip…beaches, water sometimes blue, great swathes of it evergreen and sometimes mighty and roaring ,purple sea shells too…make sure to travel to Croft 36 in Northton just a few miles from the ferry port in Leverburgh. The owner lives behind this small goodie-laden, award-winning hut, where the choice, if you’re early enough will send a hungry roamer into a spin: seated in sunshine or even in island rain, on a small bench, enjoy a hot pasty and coffee, a sweet buttery with homemade lemonade or a generous, yielding quiche …the leek and feta trumps all others. There are loaves and scones on offer too and an honesty box is provided.

“Sometimes there are as many as thirty cakes in the kitchen… she loves baking so much”

was the comment from partner of the owner of Ardmhor Coffee, as we chatted over the best coffee I’ve had in a while in the Scottish Isles. My advice…if you are going for the early ferry to Eriskay, save your breakfast stop for there. A crumbly blueberry scone so sweet and ripe left my fingers blue and sticky and a food moment I will not forget in a hurry. Ardmhor Coffee is to be found at the Wee Ferry Terminal on Barra.