The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Island treasure
Jenny McBain enjoyed a weekend of sheer indulgence when she travelled to the Isle of Eriska Hotel
A weekend of sheer indulgence at the beautiful Isle of Eriska Hotel
Seeking out the Isle of Eriska Hotel on a dark winter’s evening is a bit like embarking on a treasure hunt. The sat-nav loses signal for several moments at a time and then cuts in upon our reverie with declamatory commands. Sleet sweeps towards the headlights and we feel as if we are caught up in a fireworks display. Then a long narrow bridge is framed by the windscreen and we navigate its rickety length, whereupon we eventually reach the austere exterior of a late 19th-century shooting lodge where a warm welcome awaits.
From the very first hello, we discover that the service at this hotel is exemplary. Staff are pitch perfect when it comes to hitting just the right note. They are friendly without ever being obtrusive. Soon, we are ensconced in brown leather armchairs in a bar lined with dark wood panelling and filled with hardback books. It feels as if we are visiting the home of a treasured uncle whose world is steeped in tradition and comfort. There is no pressure to dress up and our fellow guests appear to be as happy and relaxed as we are.
We peruse what is on offer in the dining room and decide to indulge in a seven-course tasting menu with accompanying wine flight. As a parade of delectable, small dishes is brought to the table, we begin to imagine how it feels to be centre stage on MasterChef: The Professionals. Suddenly, we understand Monica Galetti in delighted mode. Intricately conceived combinations of robust and distinct flavours are sculpted into pleasing, colourful platefuls of food which delight all the senses. Cod, scallops, brown shrimps, aged beef, wilted greens from the garden and baby onions all feature at some point. There is even a delicate gorse flavoured ice-cream.
Argyll provides a rich larder of world-class ingredients and the three full-time gardeners at Eriska coax lush, delicious edible vegetation out of the sodden soil. The shoreline offers up a banquet of sea vegetables to enthusiastic foragers and an array of molluscs can be lifted from the rocks. Wild food is enjoying a moment and the hotel’s newly appointed head chef, Conor Toomey, is a keen proponent of the briny flavours that can be procured around the shoreline.
Wine waiter Liam brings a glass of carefully selected white or red to go with each course. He also tells a little about each wine. There seems to be a preference for labels which focus on organic or traditional methods. So in some instances the grapes have been trodden by foot. There are even a couple of biodynamic wines whose vines are nurtured under especially strict organic conditions and harvested in accordance with the phases of the moon.
The next morning, we enjoy a truly wonderful breakfast, during which my friend, Eva, expresses a wish to hire someone back home to push in her chair, spread her napkin and pour the coffee. She then warms to her theme of a life of unrelenting luxury and expresses a wish to commandeer the talented waiting skills of Romanian waiter Dorian. I get where she is coming from. He brings a tangible sense of happiness with him each time he delivers a dish to the table.
After dainty fruit salad, fresh juice, homemade pastries and robust cooked dishes, we saunter round the grounds to take in the surroundings that were hidden from us on our arrival. We look across Loch Linnhe to the snow-topped Morven Mountains. The Island of Lismore is a midpoint between our island and those enchanting chunks of rock. It is wreathed in bands of golden light and over-arched by the
smudged iridescence of intermittent rainbows. Lismore was the seat of the Bishops of Argyll in the Dark Ages because it is where St Moluag, a contemporary of Columba, chose to base his mission. We vow to come back in the summer and take a ferry across the loch in order to cycle round the perimeter of Lismore. Right now, though, we must head for the spa which is housed in a former stable block.
Soon we are treated to another warm Isle of Eriska welcome and ushered through, each into our own treatment room. Over the decades, I have diligently explored the world of hands-on therapies. I am no stranger to the electric jolt of an acupuncture needle meeting its target or to the sensation of warm hands easing knotted muscle. Here, though, I am truly impressed by what spa employee Michelle can do. Within minutes of being settled on the treatment table, I am gently coaxed into a state of deep relaxation. The foraging theme continues as she applies a series of seaweed preparations to my face and massages my arms, feet and hands. The products are produced on the Isle of Lewis by a company called Ishga. They smell sensational and leave the skin glowing and feeling revitalised.
Saturday evening dinner is every bit as stupendous as Friday’s was. The food here is a triumph. Artistic sensibility and supreme technical skill conspire to deliver a memorable culinary experience. Who knew that simple ingredients such as potato, cauliflower and beetroot could be coaxed into offering up such intense flavours and interesting textures?
The Isle of Eriska hotel is under new management and about to undergo a step-by-step renovation. I suspect that the fictional uncle’s low-key approach to interior decor will be replaced by a scheme more in keeping with the taste of younger, glamorous cousins. So long as the current staff remain in post, outstanding food and excellent service will ensure that considerable numbers of repeat guests continue to enjoy a regular luxury island retreat; one that amounts to a very satisfactory conclusion to a treasure hunt.