Oran - Na - Mara — Restaurant in Scotland

We were a party of 4 motorcyclists heading from Ullapool to Applecross and saw signs for the establishment at around 11am on Saturday 24th June '23. After going up the steepish drive, we found a nice sized carpark around the back in which to park and manoeuvre our heavily loaded bikes. On entering we were professionally greeted by the proprietor Andy who supplied menus as we sat down next to the large picture window looking out over the bay. A super view by the way with access to binoculars if required. We ordered two bacon rolls and two broccoli and Stilton soups. One regular coffee, two large coffees and one macchiato coffee. Service was brisk and both the food and coffees thoroughly enjoyable and filling. 👍

Would we recommend the Oran-Na-Mara, 100 %.

Previous posts have questioned the signs, the toilet access, the booking situation under certain conditions but the posters seem to fail to recognise it's the proprietors home as well as a business and that naturally imposes some constraints for owner and customer. The "Please don't park bikes here" sign by the narrow entrance for example is quite understandable when you find out thoughtless cyclists park their bikes there and block / limit access. The bathroom code prevents non patrons from using the exceptionally nice and clean facilities which my wife appreciated. As for pre booking, we didn't and we're a party of 4 but given its only the proprietor and his wife Kimberly to freshly cook and serve, I can understand the need for prior warning and a booking system. It's not a negative issue, just one of practicality. For us we saw the establishment as comfortably catering for couples, families of 4 etc but move into the unannounced "party group" of 11 and it would become impractical.

As I said in the beginning we were a party of 4 motorcyclists and we were welcomed and served well, far better than some other establishments we have been to...

Came in and found a free table, was then told in what we perceived to be a rather rude tone that it would be a 20 minute wait for food. We were not worried about this and thought we would still stay for a drink instead. We then got up to order a couple of soft drinks and were barked at saying we had already been told it would be a 20 minute wait despite being told this wait was for food. Ourselves and about 4 other people then proceeded to leave, I can only assume they didn't wish to be spoken to in the same way. It was in no way the wait for service that was the problem, I completely sympathise that he was busy but it was simply the hostile tone of voice and language he used, not great customer service. Disappointing as this is the only unfriendly experience we have had whilst touring the area.

P.S. there's a national trust cafe not far down the road, does great sandwiches!!

REPLY TO REPSONSE: Hi, thanks for your response. However, I must admit that I was left a little perplexed by it. I'm unsure whether you simply misunderstood what I was saying or you chose to deliberately ignore it in order to launch an ill thought and rather childish personal attack. Firstly, you call me impatient however as stated in the original review, the waiting time was not of issue to us, rather it was the unwelcoming reception we received. You see this makes us patient rather than IMpatient but it's an easy enough mistake to make. Furthermore you call me 'pushy' but I am struggling to see where this term came from as I feel we were anything but pushy however if we were then I apologise and will work tirelessly on improving myself from now on. I fear continuation of this conversation may be futile, I have a holiday to enjoy and sitting here typing away doth butter no parsnips. Therefore I bid ye farewell and wish you all the best...

Our visit to Oran-Na-Mara is probably going to be the most memorable experience of our trip around Scotland and for all the wrong reasons. We were after a takeaway coffee but were quickly and abruptly informed that "We don't do takeaway". That's where we were lured into what might be 30 of the strangest minutes of my life. The greeting we received wasn't the friendliest but I'd initially put that down to catching the host off guard by asking for a takeaway so against all of my instincts decided to sit for our coffee. Being the only people in the cafe we thought we had our pick of seats until we noticed a sign propped up on the leather sofa in the corner that read "Please do not sit in this area". You've got to love a place that has ornamental couches! Our cappuccinos arrived promptly and were hotter than larva which I think was an attempt to overcome the frosty atmosphere of the place. The host was miserable, making no attempt to make us feel welcome or remotely valued as customers. Having to ask for the code for the toilet (which is 1234* by the way) was a great touch, making me feel like a school child having to ask permission from the teacher. Rules seem to be the theme of this establishment with signs such as "Don't park your bike here" and "Keep off the grass" dotted around the place. Rather than enjoying a relaxing morning coffee in a cafe that really does have fabulous views across Loch Ewe we felt oppressed to the point that we barely spoke and when we did it was in whispers. A visit to Oran-Na-Mara is an experience that we'll be talking about for years. If you'd like to also experience happiness to depression in under 5 minutes then give this place a try but if you're after making happy memories I recommend you try...