Scottish Seafood at it's best.

Last week I was on holiday in Kintyre, famed in the Paul McCartney ballad. We stay just outside a little village, called Skipness. Skipness is on the coast and has beautiful views overlooking the Isle of Arran. It is on a single track road that stops abruptly just past Skipness castle.

If they could find the horse, it would be a one horse town. The post office shop is for "local people", but they are happy to sell you the most bizarre things.
I asked for an exercise book, for my children to use as a holiday diary. I was first given a tiny notebook with a glittering fairy on it, then I was given a lecture on how holiday meant holiday for all.
I am not painting a good picture, but its remoteness is it's charm.
The one glittering jewel of the village, is the only restaurant. It is situated in the shadows of the castle and has great views of the Loch and Arran beyond.


The seafood is as fresh as can be wished for, the service is friendly and informal. You sit at picnic tables in the open air, this all just gives credance to what you are about to eat.
I ordered the platter of seafood for two and a bottle of Muscadet. When I realised that the platter would take some time to prepare, I asked for a plate of Salmon Gravalax to kick things off.

The Muscadet Sur Lie, is one of the best matches to Seafood that I have found. The wine comes from the Loire Valley, near the city of Nantes. It is made with the Melon de Bourgogne grape and got it's name from the Musky-ness of the wine many years ago. The wine is now crisp and has a Sancerre quality to it, there is also hints of lemon too. The Gravalax was made on Arran and I detect a hint of whisky in the recipe. When the platter came, we were not disapointed, it was accompanied by bowls of mussels, mallets and boards.
 
I now understood the importance of being outside, as mallets made contact with Langastine claws. The second bottle of Muscadet certainly helped to improve my aim.

With wine still in the bottle, it felt only polite to finish with a second shared plate of Gravalax.

 

I would highly recommend a visit and look forward to going back next year. I was also going to mention that we came away with a Boarder Collie puppy, but didn't want to work in a doggie bag joke.