Restaurant review: the boathouse, fort william

C AN there be any more beautiful place to have a restaurant than on the banks of Loch a’Choire? This is Highland Scotland at its most magnificent, with the recently renovated Boathouse looking out across the glassy waters to Lismore and Port Appin, the scene framed by the remarkable backdrop of the Horseshoe ridge that flanks Glengalmadale, resplendent in its autumn plumage.

Getting to Kingairloch is a wonderful voyage of discovery in itself. Heading across Loch Linnhe at the Corran Ferry, just south of Fort William, we then hugged the waterline for 45 minutes, driving along one of the most scenic single-track roads in Scotland. Just before you arrive in Kingairloch, you slow to a crawl as you head along a road with a sheer rockface on one side and a wall with a drop straight down to the loch on the other. If that doesn’t heighten your senses, nothing will.

The Boathouse only opened in 2008 and is in pristine condition. Inside, this 25-cover restaurant is all Scandinavian tongue-and-groove, painted in a tasteful muted blue, with ancient photographs of long-dead residents and local landmarks dotting the walls. Outside, the vista from the deck is genuinely stunning, with a small jetty leading to six moorings where three large yachts bobbed gently on the water.

The idyllic situation was the primary reason Roger and Bea McKie decided to move to Kingairloch two years ago. Theirs are well-kent faces in Scottish restaurantland, having run The Royal Hotel in Tighnabruaich before they rebranded it as An Lochan and expanded to a three-restaurant group that also included a restaurant in Glasgow’s West End and the Tormaukin in Glendevon. If the bank pulled the plug on their ambitious expansion, it doesn’t alter the fact that the McKies turned out food of some quality, so I was intrigued to see what they could make of the Boathouse.

In an era when top-end eateries trumpet their seasonality and localism, The Boathouse takes it even further. The walled garden on the estate has been revamped and provides virtually all of the vegetables, fruits and herbs served in the restaurant, with the exception of lemons. All the meat is reared within ten miles, with the venison, pork and beef coming off the estate, while the game and seafood are provided by the nearby lochs, sea and hills.

Being sited in one of the most remote corners of Scotland, where passing traffic is pretty thin on the ground, it is only open three evenings a week, plus Sunday lunchtimes, and caters mainly to people holidaying in the estate cottages and for the yachties working their way around the Morvern peninsula. Given the well-heeled customers, don’t expect unsophisticated fare or rustic prices: the menu wouldn’t look out of place in a top-end city centre restaurant, and nor would the prices.

I started with a bowl of brown crab bisque that had gained a considerable kick by the addition of a good dollop of aoli, and found myself confronted with a sublimely simple dish that was somewhere in the region of perfect. Polly was equally taken with her foraged chanterelles, which came with a couple of thick slices of soda bread – made so recently by Roger that they were still warm. The hat-trick of excellent starters was completed by an almost faultless venison terrine with plum and chilli jam and a garnish of nasturtium.

The expectation levels had now risen dramatically, but the first sight of our main courses didn’t disappoint. Polly gasped as an enormous plate of a dozen huge langoustines materialised in front of her. These had been harvested that same morning by Sandy, a creelerman operating in Cuil Bay, just across the loch, and were treated with the reverence such fresh produce deserves – the only addition being a knob of garlic butter. At £25, they couldn’t possibly be described as cheap, but they were faultless.

The whole roasted lemon sole with lemon, kohlrabi, apple gratin and asparagus peas also hit the spot, though my venison fillets, which came from the estate and were served with dauphinoise potatoes and kale from the walled garden, were notably less tender than I had expected.

Still, pudding – so often a neglected afterthought – displayed the sure touch Roger had displayed at the helm of The Royal Hotel. Polly’s unfeasibly rich Belgian chocolate cup was a classic, flawlessly produced, while my plum and blackcurrant clafoutis with chantilly cream was a small slice of moist heaven. The cheeseboard’s more conventional choices of Strathdon Blue, Mull cheddar and Morangie brie were all good, but it was the gloriously creamy Kingairloch smoked soft cheese and the crumbly home-made oatcakes that stole the show.

All in all, dining at The Boathouse was an extremely positive experience. The debit column is limited to the fact that this slice of the rural idyll comes with a hefty price tag, but then there are few other choices locally, with the Whitehouse at Lochaline, specialising in fish, and the boutique Kilcamb Lodge Hotel at Strontian, respectively 20 and 30 miles away in either direction. Yet there’s much to like about The Boathouse: the excellent food, the slick service, decent wine list, incredible setting and homely, rustic atmosphere make this a trip worth making. n

The Boathouse

Kingairloch, Ardgour, Fort William (01967 411232, www.kingairloch-holidays.co.uk)

Bill please

Starters £5.25-£6.50 Main courses £16.95-£24.95 Puddings £4.95-£5.95 Cheeseboard £6.95

Rating

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