The Fat Duck
BrayHeston Blumenthal's three-star theatre of taste in a Berkshire village — a tasting menu built as a single childhood story, from seaside to sweet shop.
The Three Chimneys is as much a pilgrimage as a reservation. It occupies a low, whitewashed crofter's cottage on the shore of Loch Dunvegan at Colbost, on the far western edge of the Isle of Skye — a single-track-road drive from anywhere, and roughly six hours from Glasgow. The restaurant has been serving Hebridean produce here since 1985, long before Skye became a destination, and it remains the benchmark for Scottish island cooking.
Our experience includes the restaurant's seasonal set menu, a dram of local Talisker whisky on arrival, and a window seat with views over the loch where availability allows. The seating request matters: at certain times of year the light over the water during service is genuinely extraordinary.
The menu is short, focused and marine-led. Langoustines and scallops are landed within sight of the building, crab and lobster come from the same waters, and the meat courses draw on Skye lamb and Highland venison. Cooking is confident and unfussy — this kitchen has nothing to prove and does not over-embellish an ingredient that arrived that morning.
Because of the location and the length of the drive, this is sold as an overnight, with a room at the restaurant's House Over-By or nearby. The evening light, the fire, the stone walls and the loch outside make it one of the most atmospheric rooms in Britain.
Everything below is scheduled and confirmed before you travel. Timings are the recommended defaults and can be adjusted to your arrival.
Via the Skye Bridge at Kyle of Lochalsh, or the Mallaig–Armadale ferry if you are coming up the west coast. Your pack includes both routes with timings and fuel stops.
A suggested loop past Dunvegan Castle and the Coral Beaches, or south to Neist Point for the lighthouse and the cliffs. Allow more time than the map suggests — the roads are single-track.
Rooms sit directly beside the restaurant, facing the loch. Time to change and take in the view before service.
Your included dram of Talisker, distilled on Skye at Carbost, served by the fire in the cottage.
Langoustine, scallop and crab landed locally, treated with restraint. This is the section the restaurant built its reputation on.
Skye lamb or Highland venison, with root vegetables and foraged coastal greens from the shoreline outside.
The restaurant's long-standing signature dessert, unchanged for decades and still the reason many guests return.
Breakfast overlooking the loch, then a suggested route home via the Quiraing or the Fairy Pools depending on your direction of travel.
| Price | £360 per person |
|---|---|
| Duration | 1-Night "Taste of Skye" Experience |
| Chef | Paul Green |
| Style | Hyper-local Hebridean seafood and game |
| Location | Colbost, Isle of Skye, Scotland |
Nothing about reaching Colbost is quick, and that is the point. It is roughly six hours from Glasgow, 45 minutes from Portree, and the final eight miles are single-track with passing places. Sheep have right of way in practice if not in law.
Two approaches: the Skye Bridge at Kyle of Lochalsh (open year-round, no booking) or the Mallaig–Armadale ferry (seasonal, book ahead). Your pack covers both, with fuel stops — filling stations are sparse on the western peninsulas.
The building is a genuine croft house: thick stone walls, low ceilings, small windows and doorways built for shorter centuries. It sits metres from the shore of Loch Dunvegan, and at high tide the water is close enough to hear.
There is no attempt to modernise the shell. The comfort is in the fire, the seating and the light, not in architecture.
This is the most atmospheric dining room in our catalogue. Candlelight, a working fire, stone and whitewash, and in summer a sunset over the loch that runs until well after eleven.
Service is Highland-warm rather than formal — knowledgeable, unhurried, and happy to tell you exactly which boat landed your langoustines.
The seasonal set menu leans heavily marine for the first half. The distance between water and kitchen is measured in hundreds of metres for several ingredients, and the cooking reflects that confidence: minimal intervention, precise seasoning, no disguise.
The land courses that follow — Skye lamb, Highland venison, coastal greens — provide weight rather than competition.
The langoustines are the single best argument for making this journey. Landed in Loch Dunvegan, cooked within hours, and served with almost nothing added. Scallops, brown crab and lobster follow the same logic.
And do not skip the hot marmalade pudding — it has been on the menu for decades and it remains, unfashionably and completely, worth it.
£360 per person including a room, breakfast and the dram is fair for what is arguably the most memorable setting of any restaurant in Britain. The cooking is excellent; the total experience is better than the sum of the plates.
Best months: May to September for light and sea conditions. Winter is atmospheric but the roads and the daylight both work against you.
The Three Chimneys is in Colbost, Isle of Skye, Scotland. Nearest transport: Portree (45 min drive) · Kyle of Lochalsh (75 min).
Full driving directions, parking notes and rail or ferry timings are included in the briefing pack we send seven days before you travel.
Six hours from Glasgow, four from Inverness, forty-five minutes from Portree. Add 30% to any mapping estimate for the single-track sections in summer — passing places slow everything down.
No — it is requested at booking and honoured subject to availability. The room is small and there are only a handful of window tables, so we request it early but cannot promise it.
The Mallaig–Armadale ferry is seasonal and should be booked in advance. The Skye Bridge is free, open year-round and needs no booking; we default to the bridge unless you ask otherwise.
Yes, including vegetarian and most allergies, with advance notice. Given the remote location and small kitchen, we confirm requirements 21 days ahead rather than the usual 14.
Heston Blumenthal's three-star theatre of taste in a Berkshire village — a tasting menu built as a single childhood story, from seaside to sweet shop.
Simon Rogan's three-star kitchen in a 13th-century Cumbrian smithy, paired with a private morning tour of the farm that grows almost everything on the plate.
Thirty-plus courses cooked over fire, at volume, on the Dyfi estuary — Gareth Ward's two-star Welsh kitchen is the loudest and most uncompromising meal in Britain.
Tell us your dates and we will confirm availability, dietary requirements and the full itinerary within two working days.
