Basics - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 31

Restaurants are often, though not always, open
at lunchtimes, when they tend to be less busy and
generally offer a shorter menu compared with their
evening service: this can make for a more pleasant
and less expensive experience. For morning or after-
noon snacks, as well as light lunches, tea rooms
are a common feature where you will often find
decent home-baking.
As for fast food , chip shops, or chippies, abound
- the best are often found in coastal towns within
sight of the fishing boats. Deep-fried battered fish is
the standard choice - when served with chips it's
known as a “fish supper”, even if eaten at lunchtime
- though everything from hamburgers to haggis
suppers is normally on offer, all deep-fried, of
course. Scotland is even credited with inventing
the deep-fried Mars bar , the definitive badge of
a nation with the worst heart disease statistics in
Western Europe. For alternative fast food, major
towns feature all the usual pizza, burger and baked
potato outlets, as well as Chinese, Mexican and
Indian takeaways.

serve non-residents. Some can be very ordinary
despite the descriptions on the à la carte menu.
You could easily end up paying £30-40 a head for
a meal with wine.
In lnverness and some of the larger towns on the
mainland, you'll find a wide range of international
cuisines including Japanese, Thai, Caribbean and
Turkish, as well as the more common Indian, Chinese
and Italian establishments.
Among traditional desserts , “clootie dumpling”
is a sweet, stodgy fruit pudding bound in a cloth
and cooked for hours, while Cranachan, made with
toasted oatmeal steeped in whisky and folded into
whipped cream flavoured with fresh raspberries, or
the similar Atholl Brose, are considered more refined.

Food shopping

Most Scots get their supplies from supermarkets,
but you're increasingly likely to come across good
delis, farm shops and specialist food shops . Many
stock local produce alongside imported delicacies,
as well as organic fruit and veg, specialist drinks such
as locally brewed beer, freshly baked bread, and
sandwiches and other snacks for takeaway. Look out
too for farmers' markets ( W scottishfarmersmarkets
.co.uk), which generally take place on Saturday and
Sunday mornings; local farmers and small producers
from pig farmers to cheese-makers and small
smokeries set up stalls to sell their specialist lines.
Scotland is notorious for its sweet tooth, and cakes
and puddings are taken very seriously. Bakeries with
extensive displays of iced buns, cakes and cream-
filled pastries are a typical feature of any Scottish high
street, while home-made shortbread, scones or tablet
(a hard, crystalline form of fudge) are considered great
treats. In the summer, Scottish berries, in particular
raspberries and strawberries, are particularly tasty.

Evening meals
There's no doubt that, as with the rest of the
UK, eating out in the Highlands and Islands is
expensive. Our restaurant listings include a mix of
high-quality and budget establishments. Wine in
restaurants is marked up strongly, so you'll often
pay £15 for a bottle selling for £5 in the shops;
house wines generally start around the £10 mark.
If you're travelling in remoter parts of the
Highlands and Islands, or staying at a B&B or guest-
house in the countryside, ask advice about nearby
options for your evening meal . Many B&Bs and
guesthouses will cook you dinner, but you must
book ahead and indicate any dietary requirements.
As for restaurants , standards vary enormously,
but independent restaurants using good-quality
local produce are now found all over Scotland. Less
predictable are hotel restaurants, many of which

Drinking
As in the rest of Britain, Scottish pubs , which origi-
nated as travellers' hostelries and coaching inns,
are the main social focal points of any community.
Pubs in Scotland vary hugely, from old-fashioned
inns with open fires and a convivial atmosphere
to raucous theme-pubs with jukeboxes and satellite
TV. Out in the islands, pubs are few and far between,
with most drinking taking place in the local hotel
bar. In some larger towns, traditional pubs are being
supplemented by modern café-bars.
Scotland has very relaxed licensing laws. Pub
opening hours are generally 11am to 11pm, but
some places stay open later. Whatever time the pub

MEAL TIMES
In many parts of Scotland outside the
cities, inflexible meal times mean that
you'll have to keep an eye on your watch
if you don't want to miss out on eating.
B&Bs and hotels frequently serve breakfast
only until 9am, lunch is usually over by
2pm, and, despite the long summer
evenings, pub and hotel kitchens often
stop serving dinner as early as 8pm.