Halibut

The Gigha Boathouse opens for seven months of the year only; but during that time, Chef Gordon MacNeil and his team are rushed off their feet. For a restaurant that can seat 36 people, it is not unusual in midsummer for them to serve up to 100 lunches, and up to 60 dinners. Since it is only 20 minutes on the ferry over from Tayinloan to Gigha, there are many who come over from the mainland just for lunch.

Chef Gordon MacNeil was born on Gigha, at Kinrerach Farm in the north, but brought up in Glasgow. Having worked as a chef in Glasgow, then at Gleneagles under legendary pastry chef Ian Ironside, he moved south. After many years away, he returned to the island of his birth where the owner of the Boathouse was looking for a chef. This was back in 2013, when it was more a café serving good food; but gradually Gordon and his team have built it up into an award-winning restaurant, where seafood is a speciality. Obviously halibut stars on the menu, since Gigha halibut has been sustainably farmed in the seas off the island since 2006. Here is one of the most popular Gigha Boathouse dishes using the local halibut.