News | Captain's Galley nets top award
A Caithness restaurant where you can see your dinner arriving from the sea is the only one in Scotland to win a top UK honour.
The award-winning Captain's Galley in Scrabster, Caithness where fresh fish is landed just 100 feet from the front door, is among 10 restaurants in the Which? Good Food Guide 2009’s Editors’ Choice Awards.
The accolade for chef and owner Jim Cowie, 58, and his 56-year-old wife Mary, who co-ordinates front of house service, salutes chefs and restaurants who are 'making a difference'.
Editor Elizabeth Carter writes: "It's a treat to find a small, friendly space offering such a wealth of locally sourced seafood - its harbour location gives views of the local boats bringing in the day's catch."
She also praises Jim's 'whistle-stop world tour', where guests can enjoy dishes ranging from vichyssoise with a smoked local oyster via miso-cured fish with Thai jasmine rice to ‘tapas’ of monkfish liver and salt fish brandade.
Remarkably, Jim only started cooking fish five years ago, having previously spent his life catching, processing or selling them.
The Captain's Galley has won many awards, including the Dining Out Experience at the Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards in 2006, and a Scottish Thistle Taste of Scotland Award in the restaurant category last year.
Jim was named Seafood Chef of the Year and the restaurant was runner up in The Seafood Awards 2007.