Places that I go to – Loch Leven Seafood Café

Thought that it would be a good time to start this little section of my wee website! I must admit, when I go somewhere I love, I do try my best to not only tell my pals, but also customers who come into the business, looking for places to eat/visit/stay.

Today, my hubbie and I treated our Mums to lunch, and what was lovely, was my niece came along too with her boyfriend. My Mum drove (what a bonus) and we all piled into her Disco, with Ed taking the motorbike, even though it was lashing with rain – my niece’s boyfriend went on the back of the bike, good on him! We headed up through a cloud covered Glencoe which is even more atmospheric with the clouds down – after all, that’s what it looks like most of the time! We do have a saying up here – “If you can’t see the hills, it’s raining…. If you can, it’s about to rain.” Classic, and about sums up the weather up here!

We went all the way round to the Ballachuilish end of Loch Leven to go to the Loch Leven Seafood Cafe which is our favourite restaurant in the area. It is set on the most beautiful area, on the lochside, and if you wander down to the loch side, you can see the Pap of Glencoe a pretty famous land mark in this area! The views are stunning.

What is also really, really good is the road. Getting there is a treat, because you can cover the entire loop round the loch, for the best run, go clockwise. The road is generally very quiet, and if you are a petrol head like me, it is a joy to drive. Today I was happy to be a passenger in the Disco, wallowing around on the twisty roads. It also gave me an excuse to have a glass of wine with my lunch. (Do I need an excuse?)

The Seafood Café is a gem. It is run by the Grieve family and Barry Moran. The café itself is lovely and airy, clean (always) and everything is really simply cooked by Barry and his team. Langoustines to die for, mussels, crab, lobster, scallops, razor clams (eek – sorry, can’t eat them), oysters (I can only eat them hot)
all beautifully prepared! Look out for some of Barry’s very interesting soups – today he had on curried cream of cauliflower with smoked haddock. Mum said it was fantastic. Damn, I didn’t get a taste!

What is even better, is that it is really well priced. You are getting the best of Scottish Seafood, served straight from the holding tanks – you can go in and literally choose your lobster, give it a name and then eat it!! As you can see on their website, they have their own fishing boats and distribution centre.

It was very busy today, but the service and food was as usual quite excellent. Don’t dare miss their chocolate brownie to finish your meal – served with a blob of ice cream and a wee cup of lush hot chocolate which you can pour over the top of your ice cream, or just drink. Yummy. Well done to them, they deserve to do well. It is my hubbie’s favourite ride out on a Sunday – he goes along on his bike, takes his book, and I think sits for about 4 hours stripping every conceivable piece of meat off the seafood he eats. Occasionally I am allowed to go with him.

Today we brought home all our shells from our meal and I am going to make a pot of bisque. Ace. Go and have a visit. You will enjoy it!

I have to put an addition in here of a cracking review that I have just read for Loch Leven Seafood Café – you should have a read. Well said!