Plockton Inn, Plockton

The most “pubby” and comfortable of the three bars in the village this one is the most frequented by locals rather than tourists and trippers. The main bar is labelled Lounge although it is definitely a public in English terms, there is a raised seating area with a popular darts board and a screen of modest size, the counter is equiped with a large number of stools as well as two hand pumps and two T Bars, a Plockton beer on one pull and London Pride on the other, usual UK keg stuff on the T Bars and there’s a “wobbly” Guinness font as well. Banquette seating plus tables with cast iron bases and a few chairs complete the pub style furnishings. Some great sea action pictures complement the usual old photos and some of regulars at events etc, there is also a board of village notices and some wind charts for the harbour, no doubt of interest to the yachtsmen who drop in, there’s also a fair range of malts and a CAMRA pub of the year award for 2011. Traditional music is played live on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There is also a proper lounge bar, rather smaller at the left front of the inn and reached through the hotel entrance, it links to the same servery area but there are no pulls here, another small dining room is also located in this part of the building.

A decent, traditional pub in the heart of the village. The right hand bar is the pub bit, with the left being very much a restaurant. It is currently the Camra Pub of the Year for the South Skye and Lochalsh district. The bar is split in to two, with a low wooden partition separating each half. The lower half which contains the bar counter has reclaimed wooden flooring, while the upper part is carpeted with wood panelling on the ceiling and has a pool table and dart board. Wood cladding covers the lower half of the walls, and there were a few photos and a ship’s propeller on the wall. A small TV was showing the golf, but this was not too obtrusive. There is also some outside seating at the front, and a small beer garden at the rear. Food is very much concentrated on fish, although other dishes are available. What we had was enjoyable and good value. A starter of Plockton Prawns with Marie Rose sauce came with six of the largest prawns I’ve ever seen, and a side dish of half a dozen different vegetables was very good value at only 50p. That said, I had high expectations as I understood it had won several accolades for it’s seafood and whilst it was good enough, it certainly wasn’t exceptional. On top of that the service was rather rushed and the tables were rather squashed in, making for a less than relaxing experience. Beers on tap were the very local Plockton Bay and London Pride. The solitary cider was Blackthorn which was a bit of a result, that’s the first time I’ve seen that up here. There is also fifty or so whiskies, if that’s your thing.