Saucy Mary's, Isle of Skye Villages

With accommodation booked in Mallaig, we had originally hoped to catch a ferry from Armadale on Skye over to Mallaig. But our plans were scuppered by the ferry being used for livestock instead. With Highland Cows, sheep and even a couple of stags also encountered on our trip, I hadn't expecting a pub crawl of Scotland to be so interrupted by animals and livestock. Nevertheless, the ferry cancellation did give us the opportunity to visit Saucy Mary's in Kyleakin, within sight of the Skye Bridge. With the pub not open until 4pm on any day of the week, we wouldn't have been able to visit with the ferry departing shortly after. Whilst I can now claim to have visited a pub in Skye, this was hopefully a pretty poor example. We were the only customers and we were greeted by a solitary real ale - Isle of Skye Skye Gold. In the previous pub in Plockton, I'd had my best quality beer of the day. In this one, I had my worst quality beer of the day. The friendly barmaid had given me well over the half pint measure I'd ordered, but the beer got worse the more I had and I ended up leaving much of it. I did mention it to her on the way out and heard her asking a local who had just walked in to try it, just as the door was closing behind us. Food and accommodation are also available here. But it was just a decent drink that we desired. Unfortunately, Saucy Mary's failed to deliver on this front.

As Quinno hints this is a dog rough ferry port pub although the ferry ceased years ago. Mainly a caf’ serving ok-ish beers, two casks from Skye Brewery and your traditional Scots keg stuff. There is a whole hinterland of afterthought toiletry at the rear of the pub. Kyle Akin is the Blackpool of Skye - go further north for less uninspired drinking places.

Looks inviting from the outside but in reality this more of a low-grade restaurant for backpackers than a pub with an atmosphere to match. Two ales, Isle of Skye Black (tinny tasting) and Red but nowhere to sit and drink them apart from laid tables. A couple of televisions showing Pointless and that rather summed-up my visit. There’s a fair view from the window but the KH has a far better offering for the casual visitor. I think the reviewer below was generous.

A very basic village local that also caters for tourists, with wooden floor (on two levels), aggressively red-painted walls and an odd shade of varnish on the wooden tables and chairs. There are two hand pumps among the usual Scottish fonts on the bar, serving one or other of the Isle of Skye brewery's beers. When I first arrived the Red Cuillin was clearly on its last legs, but it was the only ale available so I didn't complain. I was stuck here for the whole day, my last before catching the train home, trapped by the incessant rain and the forecast of more to come from former hurricane Katina, so I tried a bottled beer next: Isle of Skye Hebridean Gold. Later, the same beer appeared on the second hand pump. All were priced at £3.50 (per pint or per 50cl) and none were anything to write home about. I also ate here: a rather overpriced and underwhelming stuffed baked (half) aubergine. Why is there an assumption that vegetarians have smaller appetites than carnivores? (This is not a particular grouse at Saucy Mary's, but a general observation.) There's the usual wide screen TV and pool table, and later on there was a folk music session, which went on until the police were called to an altercation shortly before midnight. (My room was above the bar.) I was grateful to get out of the rain, and to be only 10 minutes' cycle ride from the station for the next morning's early train, but I didn't much enjoy my time at Saucy Mary's. (I've given a slightly higher mark than I initially thought it deserved, because I appreciate that my thoughts were probably coloured by my last day of holiday blues.)