The story
The Three Chimneys, a Scottish seafood restaurant near Portree on the Isle of Skye, holds three AA Rosettes (2026) for culinary excellence. It sits on the shore of Loch Dunvegan at Colbost, IV55 8ZT, in a whitewashed cottage that began life as a village shop.
Paul Green returned to the Three Chimneys as head chef in 2025, having previously worked under Michael Smith. The kitchen draws on Skye's shellfish, game and foraged produce. Guide reviewers describe the cooking as technical and precise, with flavours kept clean so that each ingredient tastes of itself.
The Good Food Guide singled out halibut reared on the Isle of Gigha, served with brown shrimps and whipped potato over a base of bacon jam. Red deer comes with faggot, sausage and elderberry sauce. A smoked haddock raviolo with mussel and horseradish velouté shows the Scottish seafood side of the menu.
The Kitchen Table is a communal counter in a corner overlooking the pass, seating up to eight guests for a Chef's Choice tasting menu at £150 per person. The six guest rooms of The House Over-By hold bespoke ash furniture by Perthshire designer Angus Ross, including bedside tables modelled on the restaurant's chimney pots. The kitchen aims to source 75 percent of its food from within Scotland.
Recognition
Details
History
* Paul Green (ex-Driftwood Portscatho) has been appointed executive head chef to replace Scott Davies, who is now at the Old Manse of Blair in Perthshire.* In the far north-west of Skye, on the shores of Loch Dunvegan, stands a whitewashed cottage – one of the most far-flung restaurants in Britain. Remote it may be, but down the years the Three Chimneys has earned an unrivalled reputation for fine cuisine, ever since Shirley Spear arrived in the mid-80s to cook the kind of homely food she liked to eat herself. Its reputation grew under chef Michael Smith (now at Loch Bay) especially when its starry clientele, with no enthusiasm for the long and winding road to Colbost, found they could land their helicopters on the edge of the loch. Chef Scott Davies followed Smith in 2015 and has maintained – and arguably improved – the restaurant's reputation. Using Skye’s superb produce, he creates light, refreshing dishes with flavours that ought not to work, such as his alder-wood smoked salmon with Bramley apple purée or – wait for it – pickled herring ice cream. Suffice it to say that they work superbly. He has abandoned the popular seafood platter but there is no shortage of fish on offer: oysters, scorched langoustines and oyster mousse; a soothing smoked haddock raviolo with mussel and horseradish velouté; halibut (reared on the Isle of Gigha in low-density inshore tanks) – a beautiful fish, served with brown shrimps, tender autumn vegetables and a side dish of smooth whipped potato with an umami hit of ‘bacon jam’ lurking in the base. It's not all fish, however: red deer is generously served with a faggot, sausage, dumpling and elderberry sauce; partridge is roasted with honey and spices; a crisp tart is filled with foraged mushrooms. It's a celebration of wonderful Scottish produce. Davies' cooking is technical and rigorous but never overblown. He keeps his flavours pure so that everything tastes of itself yet retains traces of the satisfying, homely cooking that was Shirley Spear’s hallmark. As for wine, expect an intelligent list of carefully chosen bottles with the emphasis on provenance, quality and terroir. The limited-edition Three Chimneys gin and Isle of Raasay whisky are also worth a punt.
3 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence
Location
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