Seumas' Bar — Restaurant in Scotland

Where to start with seumus’ - the best angle to this establishment is probably visible from your rear view mirror as you make the sharp left hand turn on to dunvegan road.

Being a previous patron of this joint in 2017, I was excited to show my friend this niche bar in Sligachan. On our arrival, we were greeted and treated with respect and care. Compared with my last visit, however, something smelled fishy and it wasn’t from The sea loch further down the glen. I have been led to believe this bar has changed hands recently and boy was that obvious. Beyond the welcoming hospitality, seumus’ in 2024 left a lot to be desired.

The food was quite frankly, abysmal. I avoided the ‘chef’s special’; put together from Kerry Katona’s weekly Iceland shop left overs. My (fairly pricey: £18) butter chicken curry, conjured by Seumus’ ‘spice specialists’ was not spicy, certainly not special and contained a portion of chicken thigh that would rival a pedigree pouch for small dogs. The standout of this meal was the basmati rice and the pepper I sprinkled on it.

I was offered some chips from my friend’s plate and went to liberally apply some ‘Heinz ketchup’. The viscosity of this sauce was the first red flag, followed by the taste (reminiscent of the cheap sachets of ketchup you used get at the local swimming baths after an inflatable party). Inspecting the Heinz bottle it came from, the label appeared almost varnished, and the use-by-date nowhere to be seen (either purposely rubbed off or not able to withstand 30+ rounds in the dish washer). Let me be clear; I have no issue with the cheap ketchup and in all honesty, quite enjoyed these chips. The pain point here is the beguiling scheme to save a few bucks by attempting to dress mutton as lamb and pull the wool over customers eyes by filling Heinz bottles with a fraudulent substitute.

On a positive note - the beer was fantastic. Although slightly pricey, I thoroughly enjoyed my pint.

My takeaways and recommendations from this visit:

Takeaways If you’re a walker/climber in need of a cold pint after a long day in the Cuillin Hills, this place is for you. If you’re starving and don’t mind paying over the odds for substandard food, then go nuts. If not, make the 9 mile trip to Portree

Recommendations Don’t dress sheep in wolf’s clothing. You’re charging a small fortune for a basic meal. The effort it takes you to disguise cheap ketchup as Heinz probably costs you more in time than just buying the genuine article. ‘Spice specialists’, put more chillies, chicken, and flavour in your curry. Chef’s special: a special is not a mix and match platter of your regular menu (halloumi, calamari, fish...

The Seumas bar is connected to the Sligachan hotel. Although I didn’t experience the hotel as we were camping 3min’s walk across the road at the Sligachan camp site, the bar is very well located, lots of seating and very popular during the travel season. In the winter season the bar moves back into the hotel bar and still remains the fully stocked whisky selections.

The Seumas bar also from time to time has local musicians (we only experienced a couple of young lads (twins or brothers I think) we’re playing very traditional sounds to give a very local experience.

As we stayed for four nights at the camp site across the road for hiking we thus had the time to try many of the menu favourites from Haggis and tats, burger and the salmon. Well recommend to try the restaurant food on your visit if you have time or simply sit in the bar area where you can have bar food. Service was also super quick on each occasion although the restaurant was around 50% to 60% full.

Now the Seumas bar Whisky selection,,,,, wow this is the experience with a very memorable trip to the Isle of Skye. The whiskey selection is greater than 280 bottles and thus a very wide choice from all over Scotland and a far. You can also find a few Japanese selections in the mix. Prices vary, but reasonable (so many to choose from), and up to some very special, a bit pricier, Whiskey experiences if your budget allows. At the Seumas you are also able to have a whisky tasting experiences in the afternoon and there are tours to this bar to facilitate this. The staff are super fantastic and friendly and happy to share experiances of whiskey’s, the local area and best ways to taste different flavours from this super wide selection and the staff have such wide knowledge of Whiskies to help you find the best one that suits you or just to try. One Whiskey my brother said I should try that he had personally tried a very long time ago is a whisky called “As We Get It”, note he’s. Or a whisky drinking like me but this one he likes. It’s a whisky to try during your whisky tour so simple ask for it. Some others bars might not have this but we did find it at the Seumas Bar. I had more...

Edit: July 22... Shockingly disappointing... This was always the ' go to' place on Skye... Now, just avoid. No draught beer on, we're not even talking hand pulls out of action with towels over them. Theres nothing - total removal of hand pulls which suggests something more permanent . Now, that might sound OK, but they have their own brewery in the same building. Some excuse about not being able to produce enough beer, but this had never been an issue in the past when this place used to be REALLY busy and rocking, all day - and I havent found any other pubs on skye they are selling to. IMO they are shifting their production to bottles and selling them for higher prices in the shops. All staff wearing t-shirts advertising the beer you can't buy. Electric beer only and that was dubious quality - drank half my pint and left. No real reason to go here now. Food is expensive and very limited, we didn't eat based on a poor experience last time - at least you used to rely on being able to go for a Cuillin ale, but no longer. Downgraded to one star for the malt - and for nearly 20 years I have championed this place. No longer - its like they have given up. Go elsewhere, I will not be visitng again. Fortunately we were staying near the Old Inn at Carbost....

August 21 Always my favourite place to eat and drink, but they seem to be struggling (as are many other places) coming out of COVID. This is understandable, and the reduced range of food and drink is a bit of a disappointment given the past feasts and sessions we have enjoyed here. The staff are brilliant; cheerful and happy - except one ( I won't name him here). We met him on both occasions and found him to be a little on the dour side, lacking in any effort to make us feel welcome. To be honest we nearly packed in and left immediately - everything seemed to be a chore for him. We thought it could be an off day (we all have them!), but he was no different a couple of days later. The rest of the staff fortunately made up for it though and couldn't do enough to make our visits enjoyable Fingers crossed things get back to normal soon and the place restores it's position as our...