Dolphin Cafe

A devastating fire caused massive damage in January 2009. I believe it is now closed. Perhaps someone can update me.

A fifteen-minute ferry crossing from Sconser in Skye takes you to the beautiful Island of Raasay. The Dolphin Café is two miles north of the ferry terminal, within the 250-year-old Raasay House. The house may have seen better days, but now, as the Raasay Outdoor Centre, it has revived, and is a hub of socialisation on the island.

The Café is to the right of the entrance hall in a light, high-ceilinged room with an old fireplace, which might once have been a drawing room. You may need to phone for service. There are wooden tables and chairs, but I would head for one of the two window tables with benches, because these tables present the Dolphin Café's ‘Jewel in the Crown’! Here the front lawn, framed by trees on either side, rolls down to the waterside and portrays a fabulous view of the Red and Black Cuillin Mountains across the water in Skye.

The Café is also a bar, restaurant, library and shop (buy arts and crafts here, and the T-shirt!). It offers a limited selection of home bakes and hearty soups. There is a fine and varied wine list and a choice of Scotch whiskies and local Skye ales, including Red Cuillin, Black Cuillin and Hebridean Gold. There is an interesting menu in the evening, when the Café becomes a candle-lit restaurant.

Above all there is a delightfully informal air. A family of hens and chickens strutted past the open window when we were there! And it is appropriate that the House is now an outdoor centre, as Mr. B, my gentlemen's facilities inspector, tells me that finding the men's loo requires serious orienteering skills. You may require to send out search parties!

The Dolphin Café is many many miles away (in every respect) from the cutting-edge, city-centre ‘style’ wine and coffee bars but on a clear summer or autumn day, gazing across to Skye, where else would you rather be?

Why would I go there?  Unsurpassed scenery and setting.

Any Negatives? Otherwise rather ordinary – and you probably won't see any dolphins – but perhaps any criticism is trite when views like this are offered.

Before or After:
1. Walking – round trip to Dolphin Café from the ferry terminal (4 miles approx).
2. Driving – the 24 miles of Calum's road to Arnish – past the fiendishly constructed Brochel Castle. Spectacular views of Skye and Torridon.
3. Climbing to the summit of Dun Caan (443m) the curious, conical, flat-topped mountain which dominates Raasay. Here the energetic are rewarded with arguably the best views in Scotland. In 1773 Boswell famously danced a jig on the summit and it is said his days on Raasay were the happiest of his life. You will believe it.

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Currently undergoing extensive renovation. Probably finished in 2009