Fortrose Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: Phoebe & Graham Fox’s tiny waterside café has long been known for its “lovely food”, which these days is “concentrated on their superb pizzas”. There are “a few outside tables but lots of seats along the harbour with great views”.

This elegantly converted church has retained many of its period features in its modern incarnation as a restaurant, with a lovely wood burner downstairs, and an upstairs dining room benefitting from a terrace overlooking the river Ness. The “delicious” modern European cooking includes very good value set menus (with the two-course lunch a bargain at £15.95 per person). Being a “cosy” venue, it makes a popular choice for family celebrations, birthdays and dates (there’s “good lighting for a romantic dinner and the tables aren’t too close together”).

A “cosmopolitan restaurant” (est. 2002) on the banks of the river Ness which “ticks all the boxes”, producing “fantastic food” putting a more global twist on local Scottish produce – dishes include sea trout featuring Japanese additions, or Isle of Skye crab pepped up with curried mayonnaise. Add to the formula “knowledgeable staff” and a pleasant location with views of the ancient castle; and it’s responsible for many locals’ best meal of the last year.

2023 Review: Set in 20 acres of manicured gardens and woodland, this fine Georgian property is nowadays a retreat with 10 bedrooms. As part of the set-up, there’s a 400-year-old walled garden, with a cafe. In mid-2022, the team behind this year’s London smash hit, Sessions Art Club (chef Florence Knight, the artist and restaurateur Jonny Gent, and architect Russell Potter) became involved, with a new small-plates format. There are loud echoes of their earlier project – the quirky corner of a historic site – but it opened after our annual diners’ poll concluded so a rating will have to wait for next year.

2023 Review: In “a great location right beside the River Ness”, this smart hotel was cited this year as being “ideal for business, with staff who are so obliging and attentive”. On the dining room’s menu “there’s not a huge choice”, but all reports say “the cuisine is also very good”.