A seafood restaurant with lovely food and a beautiful setting (Cafe Fish (Tobermory, Isle of Mull))

Member Name: markos9

Product:	Cafe Fish (Tobermory, Isle of Mull)
Date:	20/04/09 (217 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fish served straight from the sea. Shellfish a speciality.

Disadvantages: Restaurant is small with closely packed tables.

Café Fish restaurant has a wonderful location in the picturesque town of Tobermory on the Isle of Mull. The restaurant is at the end of the pier in Tobermory harbour, overlooking the harbour, Calve Island, and the Sound of Mull beyond.

The restaurant is owned and managed by two sisters, who pride themselves on providing the freshest and most natural ingredients. Local produce is used where possible, and the bread is baked at the restaurant. Lonely Planet has rated Café Fish as one of the best five places to eat in Scotland; a fine recommendation indeed.

I love fish and when I visit a seaside town, I always like to try a sea food restaurant. Having heard about Café Fish, when I visited Mull, I had to have a meal here. The fish is as fresh as it is possible to get; the restaurant has its own boat, and fish are landed every day!

The restaurant is quite small, with only about a dozen tables, quite closely packed together. This does give it an intimate feeling, however. The decor has a clear 'nautical' theme with shells, nets, etc. creating quite a maritime ambiance; being right next to the sea helps, of course!

On the night we visited (booking in advance is extremely advisable), the restaurant was very busy. This did create a bit of a distraction, with the waiters and waitresses constantly moving past the closely set tables, but the service itself could not be faulted. Every time we asked for service, it was provided immediately.

Our table was, unfortunately, not next to a window, so we did not get the gorgeous sea views (with no chance to see the otters that play next to the pier, either), but next to the counter. This had a fantastic, mouth watering display of the shellfish on offer that night, with razor clams, spider crabs, and oysters all on view. This made waiting for the food even harder, however!

The menu is, of course, biased towards fish, but they do also have non-fish based dishes available. I had the Moules Mariniere as a starter; perfectly cooked so that the mussels had not shrunk at all. The small bowl was as large a starter as I'd like. Shellfish are a speciality, squat lobster (a type of lobster-shaped crab), hand dived scallops, oysters, and langoustine are all served if available. My girlfriend tried the smoked mackerel pate; this was delicious, with a delicate flavour, and very filling.

The exact dishes on the menu does depend on what the boat has managed to catch that day. Sea bass is usually available, but other fish will be shown as 'today's fresh catch'; this could contain some real treats, so if you're visiting, make sure that you have a look at this before choosing.

I went for the sea bass; this was nicely cooked, and beautifully presented, but I was disappointed to find a large number of bones left in the fish. This does put me off somewhat. My girlfriend opted for the smoked haddock stuffed with squat lobsters. We'd never tried these before, but were pleased at the lovely flavours of the mixed fish and crustacean dish (yes, I helped myself to some of her meal, it looked so nice, I couldn't help it!).

Prices were, as expected, quite high. Our meal for two, with starters but no desert, wine and bottled beer, came to about £70. I did not mind paying this, however, as eating at Café Fish was quite an experience. Our meal was booked for 21:00, so we were able to watch the sun go down as we were eating, and when we'd finished, make our way back along the pier, along Tobermory's main street, and back to our hotel.

If you are a fan of fresh sea food, I can highly recommend Café Fish. There should be something on the menu that you may not have tried before, and even the usual dishes are cooked and presented to a high standard. Hopefully, you'll enjoy your meals as much as we did.

Summary: If you like seafood and are on Mull, you should try here.