Restaurant review: Corsewall Lighthouse Hotel, Corsewall Point, Kirkcolm, Stranraer

Perched at the north end of the Mull of Galloway, within sight of the twinkling lights of Ireland, this unique hotel and restaurant required us to make a journey so unforgettably atmospheric that it was etched on our mind for weeks afterwards.

By the time you get anywhere near the hotel, the chances are you’ve driven for up to three hours from the central belt, at which stage you find yourself heading down a long, winding single-track that takes you through a farmyard and along clifftops before finally bringing you to Corsewall Lighthouse. The setting is spectacular, with the lighthouse clinging to the headland and with unfettered views out across an Irish Sea that was kicking up a storm as we arrived.

The lighthouse, which was built in 1815, is still fully functioning, although remotely controlled, but the bulk of the building is now one of the country’s most idiosyncratic hotels. Two foodie friends had recommended the place highly, and just how much of an impression the place makes on people became clear after we were ushered into a room for pre-dinner drinks.

The only other diners that evening were an Australian family from Queensland, on a month-long trip of a lifetime through the Lake District, Scotland and Ireland. With just three more days to go of a journey that had been accompanied by incessant rain, neither the teacher parents nor their three teenaged children were in any doubt that this was one of the most remarkable settings they had found on their travels, rivalled only by the bits of Glencoe they could see through the clouds, mist and drizzle.

This was the father’s birthday so, while waiting for the following day’s ferry to Ireland from the nearby terminal, they had decided to splash out and visit a restaurant that was worth writing home about. With its AA rosette and unique setting, Corsewall Lighthouse certainly fits that bill, and they weren’t disappointed with what they had seen so far as they sat mulling over the five-course set menu – which would set them back £35 a head. Chuck in a bottle of house wine and service and you are basically up into three figures for two people, which is fairly toasty pricing for such a rural location.

The menu itself was very old school and faintly reminiscent of a country house hotel circa 1975, as indeed is the cosy but dated dining room. The list of four main courses (fillet steak, rack of lamb, grilled salmon or roast guinea fowl with venison sausage) looked substantially more appealing than the four starters (chicken liver paté, avocado vinaigrette, smoked salmon or smoked duck).

After taking some advice from our extremely helpful but linguistically challenged Polish waiter, Bea started with the smoked duck supreme, while I opted for the chicken liver paté. It was immediately apparent, however, that there had been little, if any, thought given to presentation. The thin slices of duck breast, which had been smoked over juniper and oak whisky cask shavings, had been slapped on to a couple of pieces of lettuce and garnished with some orange segments. What was a perfectly acceptable main ingredient had been seriously undermined by sloppy presentation.

I couldn’t taste the whisky, herbs or garlic with which my chicken liver and Ayrshire bacon paté had apparently been enhanced, but the great dollop of paté still had a nicely rich, resonant flavour. Once again, though, it was let down by presentation, with the paté plonked in the middle of the plate and five small oatcakes (nowhere near enough for the amount of paté) scattered carelessly around.

Our next course was a rustic-looking ‘velouté’ of broccoli and apple soup, which came in an enormous but starkly utilitarian bowl that looked like a refugee from a student flat or Little Chef diner. The soup – which was about as likely to be mistaken for a traditional velvety velouté as I am to become a vegetarian – was on the bland side, but otherwise absolutely fine. But again, the dish was let down by its presentation.

After being informed that our sorbet course wouldn’t be turning up because there had been a power cut the night before and all the sorbet had melted, we moved on to main courses of a fillet steak for Bea and the roast guinea fowl with venison sausage for me. These were fine as far as they went, but ultimately flawed: Bea’s steak was tender enough but unusually tasteless, while my dark, luscious venison sausages were outstandingly good, the guinea fowl breast well cooked and the redcurrant and port reduction suitably strident, but again some anaemically overcooked vegetables undermined what was otherwise a decent dish.

Bea wasn’t hungry enough to attempt anything other than a disappointing cheeseboard for pudding, but I rounded off with a chocolate concoction that brought a smile to my face. Whether it was worth the £7.25 it cost is another story; as was the cost issue with the restaurant generally.

The friends who had recommended Corsewall are usually pretty demanding souls who know their onions from their shallots, so perhaps we had expected too much; or maybe we had been spoiled by our previous evening’s meal at the nearby Michelin-starred Knockinaam Lodge. Or perhaps the extremely slow midwinter trade or the power cut had disrupted usual service.

Who knows, but one thing is for sure – if the quality of food coming out of the kitchen could ever match the incredible surroundings of the Corsewall Lighthouse, it would be a surefire winner.

• Corsewall Lighthouse Hotel

Corsewall Point, Kirkcolm, Stranraer (01776 853220, www.lighthousehotel.co.uk)

Bill please

Five courses £35 (steak £4.75 supplement)

Starters £7.75

Soup course £3.85

Sorbet £3.25

Main courses £16.95

Puddings £7.25

Rating: 5/10