The Best Restaurants In Oban, Scotland

Located on the second floor of a converted seafarer’s mission, the Waterfront Fishouse Restaurant has a fantastic view over the bay. Customers can watch the boats as they eat, and the sunset if they dine in the evening. The décor is classy but low-key, so all of the focus is on the stunning views and fantastic food. Mains cost £12-20, and the menu serves a wide selection of seafood dishes as well as a selection of oyster-based meals, and a non-seafood selection.

Passionate about using fresh, seasonal and local produce, Hawthorn Restaurant is an absolute treasure. From the outside it looks like a small white cottage, but the interior is chic and modern, with a bare stone wall and wooden furniture. The menu has a huge variety. Start off with home hot-smoked salmon with maple crème fraiche, cucumber and caper relish, follow with slow-cooked pork belly with isle of mull scallops, rosti potato, salsa verde and finish with vanilla and peanut butter cheesecake for a really fantastic meal.

Having won the Scottish Curry Awards in 2014, Coriander provides fantastic meals with a lot of character. The food is Indian with a Scottish twist. Prices and portion sizes are very reasonable and the staff are very helpful and happy to give detailed information about the dishes. There is something for everybody in this incredible mixture of cultures. On Soroba Road, Coriander is easily accessible and close to the train station.

A simple shack-like building with a wooden roof, this tiny restaurant is listed as the number one place to dine in Oban. Situated right on the pier, the seafood sold at Oban Seafood Hut is as fresh as it gets. It is cheap with large portions and has an international fanbase; people from across the globe have travelled to sample the goods in this little hut.

Originally a garden centre with only a small café, this business has bloomed into a quirky restaurant by the sea. The sea and garden centre combined makes Poppies Garden Centre & Tea Room a peaceful and relaxing place to go for lunch. Their meringues are award-winning and the staff are remarkably friendly. Cakes are all home-made, and after a browse around the garden centre jungle, you’ll be leaving with full tummies and a few pot plants too.

A favourite among locals, Coast Restaurant serves some of the best food in Oban. Located in a former bank building, it has a certain regal aspect from the outside. There is fantastic attention to detail and inside the mahogany tables and white chairs exude an air of class. Coast restaurant sells modern Scottish food, but they have their own twists and there are some things on the menu you will be hard-pressed to find anywhere else.

Pronounced ‘iasg’ which is Scottish Gaelic for ‘fish’, Ee-Usk sells local seafood which is delivered alive to the restaurant. Their menu is expansive and visitors are spoiled for choice. The owners, believe that the fresh seafood they use is some of the finest in the world, and so to retain their natural great taste they are cooked as simply as possible. The restaurant is bright and open with walls of glass windows and light yellow paint with matching chairs and light brown tables.

Oban has its fair share of international restaurants too. Piazza is an Italian restaurant housed in the same pier building as Ee-Usk, specialising in pizza and pasta cooked using traditional methods. The huge menu contains tasty starters, mains and desserts.