On the 13th May Ian & I flew from Heathrow on the 7.10 to Glasgow. Fortified with a BA breakfast we collected our hire car & set off for Oban. The car, not our choice of vehicle, was a Citroen C3 Picasso. It looked like a silver taxi & felt like driving an ambulance. However it was very spacious and that bit higher off the ground than your "normal" car. It took a while to get used to it but by the end of the week we were hurtling round the single track roads like a local.
We passed through a few showers on the way up & I had quite forgotten how narrow the roads are round Loch Lomond. We made Oban in good time, got some supplies from the super market & headed off to catch the Calmac to Mull. We met Sarah & Jon on the quayside, they had been staying in Edinburgh revisiting their honeymoon hotel.
The journey across the sound of Mull is only 45 minutes and despite another short shower we made it up on deck to watch us sail past Duart castle and into Craignure. Very soon we were on the way to Otter House our home for the week.
We had made a few plans - mainly places to eat. The first place was a favorite of all of us, Cafe Fish. We had the most fantastic food and once again it ranked top place to eat for the whole holiday. There was much arguing about who had the best food. Sarah & Ian had the fish stew, Jon had haddock mornay & I had hake fillets on creamed leeks. Oh I forgot the starters. Jon & Ian had mussels which are everywhere on Mull but these were exceptional. I had the queen scallops with bacon and Sarah had grilled oysters.
On Sunday night we went to Am Birlinn, not a scheduled place to eat but we had been seduced earlier in the day when we stopped for a drink. Well they offered to collect us & take us home as the menu was looking very promising it would have been rude not to.
They serve a very generous glass of Simonsig sparkling wine £4.50 which was very nicely chilled. The food was very good & we had a lovely evening. Have a look at the menu
We visited the Highland Cottage on Tuesday Night and although the food was good it was not to the standard we had expected & certainly the website and prices lead you to believe the place is more upmarket than it is. Over rated & over priced was the verdict from us all. Mine host was rather sleazy to say the least, although the service was very good.
A most definite must is the fish & chip van on the harbour. Whether you eat them sitting & gazing out across the bay looking for the legendary Tobermory Otter or take them back to your billet and accompany them with a chilled glass of something. ( we had a wine chiller in our posh kitchen). They do catch of the day but have plenty of other choices best not to leave it too late in the evening though.
Finally we dined at the Watersedge part of the Tobermory Hotel. Do not be put off as you enter the hotel as you may feel that you have stepped into a time warp or an old peoples home. ( No offence intended but you will know what I mean if you go there or indeed have already been) A rather dopey James May looky likey took our orders for drinks & we thought
hell what have we done on our last night. Going through to the dining room we were put at ease a bit more and very friendly waitresses brought us bread from the local bakery and the most amazing food. This place was soon put at number 2 on our list with very highly recommended as well. Ian & Jon had Smoked Scottish meats and Sarah had Salmon Roulade to start. Then Ian Jon & I had lamb with black pudding potatoes and Sarah had a homemade Lasagne. Ian & Jon had the Mull cheese platter, I had Lemon Posset and I cant remember what Sarah had - possibly somethjng chocolaty!! It was very very good.
We also drove up a very pot hole ridden road to Glengorm castle. A nice walk, some plants for sale if you are lucky and very delicious tea rooms. We had massive homemade scones with homemade raspberry jam. Absolutely Divine not to be missed.
What would have done without Jimmy? There are a couple of taxi driver's in Tobermory but Jimmy was a great find. We could hardly understand a word he said but he was very reliable and extremely friendly, if you don't mind a few dog hairs and a bit of mud. He is very reasonably priced too.
The weather played a great part in our holiday but it did not stop us from going out. We only missed out on the boat trip to the Treshnish Isles but later found out that we had rung too early. We had some rainy days but did see some sunshine as you will see from the photo's.
Would we go back? Most definitely but might do a bit of island hopping to Lewis & Uists before then.
All too soon it was time to catch the ferry back. we had a beautiful sunny crossing back to Oban which made it all the more painful to leave. Toot Toot.
