The story
The Dipping Lugger, at 4 West Shore Street in Ullapool, is a restaurant with rooms on the edge of Loch Broom. It holds three AA Rosettes for 2026, and its Highland cooking leans on the local catch.
Chef David Smith sends out a five-course lunch or a seven-course evening tasting menu. Robert Hicks hosts the room. The Good Food Guide rated it Very Good in 2026, and the house describes its food as a showcase of the larder around it, with a few chosen ingredients from elsewhere in the Isles.
Meals open with amuse-bouches such as chicken liver parfait on a beetroot macaron with Madeira jelly. A hand-dived scallop comes with roe, hollandaise and lime zest. Pan-fried cod is served with hand-rolled pasta and tiny shrimp. For dessert, "Caramelia" gathers chocolate and caramel into small bites, including a brownie and a blood-orange sorbet.
The wine list is split into "land" and "sea", with a good choice by the glass. Robert and Helen also run a micro-distillery, and their Seven Crofts and Fisherman's Strength gins sit on the drinks list.
Three rooms look over the loch toward the mountains. The building dates to 1789 and later served as the parish manse before becoming one of Ullapool's first bed and breakfasts.
Recognition
Details
History
Considered one of the highlights of the North Coast 500 driving route, this destination restaurant with rooms sits on the pretty, whitewashed waterfront of Ullapool, formerly a thriving harbour for herring fishing. Few boats head out onto Loch Broom these days but the Dipping Lugger, named after a traditional fishing vessel, makes the best of the local catch. Easy-going Robert Hicks is on hand to host while in the kitchen chef David Smith turns out a five-course lunch or seven-course evening tasting menu. A recent visit opened with two exquisite amuse-bouches: rich chicken liver parfait on a beetroot macaron, sweetened with a shiny disc of Madeira jelly, and a crumbly cheese biscuit topped with a punchy cheese custard. The bread course, ‘Granary’, is served hot from the oven with a satisfyingly crunchy crust and a smear of salted butter on a pebble. A hand-dived scallop, plucked from the sea loch’s salty waters, is crowned with jewel-like roe, hollandaise and grated lime zest, while expertly pan-fried cod arrives with artfully balanced baked lemon, hand-rolled pasta, tiny shrimp and bread crumbs. For dessert, ‘Caramelia’ (a creamy blend of chocolate and caramel) is a cornucopia of cocoa, a medley of mini bites: a brownie, parfait, a quenelle of blood-orange sorbet on a bed of chocolate crumb, topped with a coffee macaron. Thewine list is a weighty tome divided into ‘land’ and ‘sea’ showcasing maritime influence on the grapes with a good selection by the glass, including a skin-contact option from Veneto in Italy, perfumed with peach and a slither of flint. There’s also a selection of gin from Robert and Helen’s micro-distillery, with a choice of their Seven Crofts and Fisherman’s Strength, while the vearthy and herbal Ullapool gin makes a G&T the obvious aperitif.
3 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence
Location
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