Bonkers about Burrastow

Burrastow House is just about the most northerly restaurant/hotel in Britain. You'll find it at the edge of the hamlet of Walls on the western edge of the Shetland Islands. It's hidden away at the end of a pensioners rollercoaster of a single-track road. The last 20 miles of which are divine driving through peat bog, heather moorland, skirting lochs and sea voes as you swoon through the gears. The house looks great, the location could not be better, however it's pretty much inaccessible to your average Brit. So, if you're gonna bother coming all this way, what's the nosh like?

Fussy eaters stay away as there's no menu at Burrastow - usually a very good sign as far as noodlepie is concerned. Mein Host, Henry Simmons, will offer you an aperitif in the creaky, leather chaired, 18th century aristocratic sitting room while he tells you what three course dinner wife and chef Bo is rustling up in the scullery. On this visit the starter had a fishy theme (sorry lost my notes and snaps for that) and the main event was farmed Shetland Salmon on a bed of tatties, pictured above. The supremely succulent salmon virtually vapourised upon eating. In fact there are four salmon farms in the sound that surrounds Burrastow on three sides.

The salad consisted of four leaves including garden-grown lettuce and rocket and topped with a tangy vinaigrette. Fresh homely food with a touch of class. The kind of salad Delia-gone-rough-around-the-edges might muster. Bo is no stranger to cookbook authorship herself having published her own 'A Taste of Burrastow' which includes over eighty recipes of no-nonsense honest food with a focus on "fine fresh ingredients, simply cooked with uncomplicated sauces that enhance or compliment the natural favours."

Burrastow was definitely the stomach stunna on this trip to Shetland. The food, the setting, the whole caboodle was as far removed from my regular scoffing ground as you could imagine. The silence, clean air and bleak beauty were super-top-brilliant. They're even licensed to perform marriages and they run residential cookery classes so you can spend your honeymoon there too. Have a look for yourself on a couple of 'panoramic' lo-fi, dial-up friendly videos. Crank up the volume and listen to the silence of Burrastow at 7pmish here and at 6:30am here. It's a long way from Saigon, but I will be back.

Comments

[santos]

stunningly gorgeous--landscape, food, sight, sounds.

welcome back!

[pieman]

Stunning is the word. A top place, alas up for sale.
Offers over £290,000
. The hope is - the new proprietor continues the food theme. Big fingers crossed on that.

Damn this jetlag.... nearly 2am....

[santos]

oh, to have a spare half million and change....

i'm heading out that way next year, i hope it's still open to the public then.

[pieman]

Me too Santos - But I know the owner has had enough and is moving on, so it's unlikley the place will remain the same. Where do you plan to go? I know Scotland and the islands pretty well and after visits to many countries I've yet to find anywhere more beautiful than the far north west of Scotland and the islands.

[santos]

hiya pieman

i was supposed to go this october, but my plans have been scrubbed. i'm not sure when i'll be heading out next year, it's dependent on a much bigger itinerary that's still in the planning stages. i think sometime in august or september? seriously though, i'm dreaming of this place. i suppose if people who live in big cities dream of tropical islands, people on tropical islands dream of...heathered moorlands?

[ash]

Anyone know what's happened to the owners of Burrastow - Henry and Bo? Have they moved on?

[Glenys Jamieson]

My husband and I were not guests at Burrastow House, but had a meal there one evening. Looking at the comments above it looks like Henry and Bo have moved on as it was run by a Belgian man when we went in June 2007. We had no choice of menu, and were served 3 courses with coffee. One glass of white wine and one beer. I nearly fainted when I had the bill which was £2 short of £80. Definitely not worth it !

[Helen]

A magical place. So welcoming, excellent food, and fabulous surroundings.