Scarista House

One of my friends and former colleagues, Sue House, has been following the blog and saw that we arrived in Harris last Saturday. 

She tweeted to suggest we try and book dinner at Scarista House for one of the evenings this week. We took up the suggestion and visited on Thursday evening, and how glad we were.

The Book of the Location

I knew when Sue told us about Scarista House that she had visited and liked the area a great deal, but when we arrived and realised the House had been a subject of a book I wondered whether Sue, who is a Librarian, knew this place from the book first or from visiting. So Sue, what came first, finding the house on a visit or finding the book?

The book, A House by the Shore by Alison Johnson, tells the story of two people coming to Harris and converting a rundown Mance into a Hotel and Restaurant. A copy of the book, signed by the author, was on the table in the lounge of the House.

While the house has since changed hands the principles which informed the cooking here seem very much in place - Fresh and Local cooked well.

The Journey to Scarista

We had travelled past Scarista on our first day on Harris and Lewis and had even noticed the house. So we knew the direction we would be travelling. Google Maps had said it would be 47 miles, which on the islands roads was estimated at 1 hour and 16 minutes, but in practice took closer to 1 hour and 45 minutes. The rain clouds which we had been watching all day over on the tops of the mountains across the loch opposite from our accommodation, were all over the island. The journey began wet, but by the time we had entered Harris and begun to climb into the mountains we were no longer facing the rain, but were driving through the clouds themselves. Even with care, and well marked roads, the ability to see more than a cars length ahead led to me driving with great care, and with little speed. Luckily there was not much traffic coming towards us or behind us, so there was no pressure to take risks and speed up. But from the junction for Maraig until we got to Aird Asaig visibility was very low indeed. Still we made it through and once we came back down from the mountains visibility returned to what it had been before the climb. 

Having been on the island for a week we had given ourselves plenty of time for the journey, so we arrived at Scarista House at 7.30 pm. 

Dinner at Scarista House

While I hadn't known anything about Scarista House before Sue's tweet a quick look at the website told us it was a place we would very much enjoy. The House is a small hotel with three rooms and three suites. There are two sitting rooms, or to be more exact a ground floor library and first floor drawing room for guests. The Restaurant is open to non residents but must be booked in advance. Taking Sue's advice we did and managed to get in for Thursday evening.

Arriving we were led upstairs to the drawing room and met some of the resident guests who were very happy to tell us visitors how wonderful it is to stay at the House. I'd recommended it to any friends who come to the island looking for overnight accommodation, the feel is of coming into a home, rather than an hotel.  

We were presented with canapes while we were shown the menu. The menu was not for choosing from, but an indication of what was being served today. All diners eat at 8 pm and, unless one has particular allergies to food, eat the same menu. Catriona, who had been our contact when we booked had outlined the likely menu, making the point that it could change depending on what fresh food came in that day.

The drawing room had a peat fire burning in the grate which made it very warm and welcoming.

The canapes were lovely little fish cakes with a chunky tartar sauce and pieces of rye toast with a rich pate on top. There were also some marinated olives, Drew doesn't eat olives so I had all of these.

Just before 8pm we were led downstairs into the restaurant, which is at the front of the house and decorated in the style of the era of the house with whitewashed walls. We were offered bread, a rich and lovely soda bread and a tomato and ratatouille flavoured bread. Drew opted for the latter, which he enjoyed. I tried a bit of both, both were lovely, but the soda bread had that flavour I so associate with Irish mothers of my college friends from whom tea and soda bread seemed to be a key feature of their diet. Though on reflection it could have been a key feature of what they gave guests when they visited. Whatever it was this was lovely and I was glad to see them returning with further bread as the meal proceeded.

The first course was twice baked souffle with Dunsyre blue cheese served in a cheese sauce. As you can see from the photo the souffle had come our perfectly and the rich flavour of the cheese began to make my mouth water as I took my first byte. The lightness of the egg, milk and flour combined with the rich tangyness of the cheese was enough to make me what to sing with delight. A tiny, simple way of exciting the tastebuds and leaving you wanting more.

For main course we had "Scarista Bay Lobster", yes not just any lobster, but lobster caught that morning out in the bay in front of us. The freshness of the lobster was clear in the colour when it was served and in the amazing flavour.

Unlike the twice earlier in the holiday when we had eaten lobster that had been taken out of its shell cooked and then represented in the shell, this lobster was the real thing. The restaurant had done the hard job of cracking it in half, and in cracking the claws, so we were able to eat it with hands and forks, rather than with lobster cracker. I did feel I needed a bib like the one I had in Alioto's in San Francisco but I didn't make to much of a mess as I dug out every bit of lobster flesh. The lobster was served with green beans and new potatoes and a Dijon mayonnaise as a dip. It was also served with a finger (perhaps it should have been a hand) bowl and lemon for the clearing up operation. Drew had never eaten lobster cooked in its shell before he commented, in humour: "Ooof I'm on holiday's this is hard work." Though he managed to extract almost as much of the flesh as me. What can I say? I have had lobster cooked by Rick Stein, by Andrew Fairlie and by Tom Kitchin, but for a pure unadulterated lobster flavour this place takes the prize.  

Dessert was a vanilla panna cotta with Quidinish raspberries and cinnamon shortbread. Quidinish being one of the small villages on the east coast of Harris we travelled through on Saturday.

I ate the raspberries, but Drew had both panna cottas and shortbread. He explained that: "they were only little." Drew felt the panna cotta passed the jiggle test with great satisfaction and had a lovely vanilla flavour. The cinnamon shortbread provided a crisp texture to set off the richness of the panna cotta.

Next we came to the cheese course and they had a wonderful selection of Scottish cheeses. Drew had Tobermory Cheddar which was tame compared ot the other cheeses, but was pleasant enough, Lanark Blue Sheep cheese and a Dunsyre Blue cows cheese, these were ripe and salty, just as Drew likes them and Ailsa Craig a light and fluffy textured Goat's Cheese

I opted for the Hebridean Crowdie made here on the Isle of Lewis, this is a soft cheese but one that gives a heavy punch of flavour, the Clava Brie, as you can see from the photo this cheese was at a very lively stage, almost ready to walk off the plate on its own, really tasty. I also had the Lanark Blue Sheep cheese (see above) which was also very tangy and closer to a french blue cheese than a Stilton or Shropshire.

Following the cheese course we were invited into the Library, and a well stocked library it is, with a lovely peat fire that felt especially warm when the rain could be heard outside.

We were served coffee and petit fours in the Library and sat and relaxed. The petit fours were strawberries in white chocolate; shortcake jammy dodgers and a sweet rice krispies and chocolate quenelles - Drew liked them all, and managed mine and his with no problem at all. His only complaint was: "why did I have to take the leaf off my own strawberries when John Blackey gets his done for him." (this is a family joke, based on the fact that my sister and I now have to de-leaf and hull our father's strawberries for him every week, when he could probably do them quite easily himself.) <<Co-Pilot's Note: If I had had someone to take the leaf off for me, perhaps I would have avoided the mistake of putting a whole one in my mouth and eating it leaf and all. See the evidence of the photo above with only one leaf left on the plate.>>

Thanks again Sue for the tip, it was great advice. I must remember to tweet you for help the next time I'm planning a holiday.

We travelled home through the rain and cloud and got back to Crossbost at 12.10, but didn't mind being out so late for such a wonderful meal.