We'll be staying at Glengorm Castle near Tobermory for two mid-week nights in June. I'm wondering if dinner reservations in town are necessary or if we would be safe playing it by ear those evenings. Cafe Fish and the Galleon Bistro will both be closed the nights we're there, any other recommendations?
I would say it is best to book, may be the best people to ask will be Glengorm people.
I am always surprised how important it is to book your dinner when visiting Scotland. It often catches me by surprise. I think it's likely because we're visiting smaller towns where there are fewer restaurants but significant number of visitors as well as locals who like to eat out! I will always remember walking around Kirkwall trying to find a restaurant after a very, very long set of flight from the US. So, yeah, you'd better book.
On the west coast and on the islands, if you don't have a dinner reservation, you may be eating something you've gotten from a food truck or a grocery store, sitting on a bench and trying to fend off the seagulls. If you fail to reserve in advance, my advice is to be standing at the door of a restaurant 5 minutes before it is due to open, with your fingers crossed. It's not just the fancy, special-occasion places that get booked up.
Yes, as other have said you will need to book. Our island and west coast communities have limited capacity, mainly because the seasonal influx of visitors would not be sufficient to support more restaurant capacity year round.
Thank you for that explanation, Skyegirl. I assumed that was the reason (and the same for the insufficient number of hotel beds), but I wasn't absolutely sure.
Thanks everyone. I'll be reserving dinner at the Western Isles Hotel and at Mishdish.
Had a really nice meal there twenty years ago the day after 9/11.