The Ptarmigan – Scotland’s highest restaurant at 1090 metres.
Situated in the top station on Cairn Gorm Mountain, in the most unexpected of places, you’ll find Scotland’s highest restaurant – The Ptarmigan.
At 1090 metres/ 3500 feet above sea level it’s no problem to access thanks to Scotland’s only Funicular Railway – a train carriage pulled 1.9 km up the mountain at 11 miles per hour.
We took a visit up this mountain while we were camping in Aviemore in the summer of 2014, and although it was an interesting thing to do the whole experience was rather underwhelming. You don’t feel like you’re on top of a mountain. You’re not allowed to leave the top station in a bid to help protect the landscape (which is rather similar to the landscape of Shetland) unless you are on a guided tour or mountain bike trek, so all we could see was from the windows of the funicular or the viewing platform at the top station.
So, standing outside on the freezing cold and incredibly windy observation deck I took three quick panoramic photos (one of which is blurry) and one proper photo (below), none of which convey the sheer scale of elevation and openness. Saying that, they’re not really mountains are they? they are just kind of big rolling hilly hills? (She says, having lived for a time in the Rocky Mountains of Canada!). It probably would have been more satisfying to hike up the mountain, but given the weather being poor and having small children in tow we opted for the funicular.
You can see Loch Morlich in the distance, where we biked to on our family mountain biking ride. The top station is also home to the highest post box in the British Isles – a photograph of which I took for Ness over at Jibber Jabber UK, who at the time, was collecting photographs of post boxes in the UK. There is also a museum/information area which describes much of the history of the mountain. This was quite fascinating and I could have spent ages browsing, but the family were keen to move on and upwards. There’s also a gift shop where, for the first and only time on our entire mainland holiday I managed to find a sew on souvenir badge for my ruck sack.
They serve a wicked cullen skink soup on the top of Cairn Gorm at The Ptarmigan restaurant. At £4.95 for soup and crusty bread that’s a pretty good lunch with a fantastic view.
Service in the restaurant was good, although it’s cafeteria style rather than table service, and they have a pretty good selection of dishes considering fresh food has to be lugged up the mountain every day.
Cullen skink, Scotland’s famous smoked fish soup, is a remarkably simple soup recipe to make. The key is to use quality locally sourced ingredients. It doesn’t need any extra fancy ingredients – just some smoked fish (usually haddock), milk, leeks and/or onions, potatoes and, if you’re feeling indulgent, a bit of cream.
I used smoked haddock from Blydoit Fish here in Shetland, leeks, onions and potatoes from my Turriefield veg box and Shetland Dairy milk and cream to make my soup. Turriefield onions are very strong flavoured so I only used half of one in my soup recipe. If you’re using supermarket onions you might need to use a whole one.
I gently poach the smoked fish in the milk first so that it doesn’t overcook and become rubbery. A sprinkling of parsley is added for a touch of color.
Ingredients
- 250 grams smoked Shetland haddock
- 400 ml full fat milk
- 6 whole peppercorns
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 large leek finely sliced
- 1/2 onion finely diced
- 2 rashers smoked streaky bacon finely chopped
- 350 grams potatoes peeled and cut into 1 cm dice
- 120 ml double cream
- Shetland sea salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- fresh parsley to garnish
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Instructions
- Place the fish in a wide saucepan along with the whole peppercorns and cover with the milk. Bring to a gentle simmer and switch the heat off, pop the lid on, and leave to stand for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the butter in a soup pan and gently cook the leeks, onion and bacon until the vegetables soften.
- Add the peeled, cubed potatoes and cook for a further five minutes.
- Strain the fish reserving the milk and discarding the peppercorns. Keep the fish warm (I pop it in a bowl and put a plate on top).
- Add the milk to the potatoes and vegetables and simmer, gently, until the potatoes are tender. Don't worry if the milk curdles a bit.
- Using a hand blender or potato masher, puree half of the mixture (a hand blender will give you a creamier texture) and return to the pan.
- Add the double cream and flake and add the fish. Season to taste.
- Reheat the soup but don't allow it to boil.
- Serve immediately with a sprinkling of fresh or dried parsley.
Environmental Information
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Oh wow I love Cullen skink! This has me hungry 🙂
Sounds and looks like a beautiful place. I would love to visit one day. The recipe looks easy – so a huge plus for that. I usually buy smoked haddock and fry it up with eggs. But next time I buy some I’ll be trying this recipe. Thanks for sharing
Oh wow lucky! Looks like such an amazing place. Fantastic photos
This looks an amazing place! I absolutely love Cullen Skink, its my favourite soup! Thank you for the recipe, I have never tried making it myself, but youv’e made it look so easy
Tx
It must be amazing sampling fresh delicious produce on what must seem like the top of the world. Seriously though that view takes my breath away.
Wow, what a wonderful experience! Can’t think of a more perfect place to enjoy this dish.
Never heard of cullen skink soup before but it looks like a really lovely warm dish for a cold day! I want to start making more soups as I’ve got a blender now and this looks tasty and healthy!
This looks so comforting and tasty. The perfect treat for when you’re at the top of a mountain!
Oh my I am utterly jealous what an amazing view
Oh wow looks like a lovely place to have something to eat!
I am totally drooling at this, what an amazing bowl of comfort it looks and sounds x
Lovely place for a light lunch! I love the pics and your soup. I’m not a fish person, but i’d try a bowl of it!
I gotta say that’s a fabulous place to eat lunch! And what a tasty soup! I can imagine the pace was slow getting up there, and maybe a bit boring but now you’ve got the recipe and the pics of that great view. And memories! Fun!
I can’t think of a better place to eat a bowl of hot soup than somewhere with that view!! Your homemade version looks absolutely lovely too.
Wow – what a view from that restaurant. I bet it made everything taste so much better with a view like that.
What a delightful trip and view and what a delicious stew!
This is a beautiful soup. I haven’t been to Scotland in quite a few years so it was fun to enjoy your photos as well 🙂
This soup has my mouth watering. What a wonderful combo of flavors and textures.Plus, thanks for the funicular tour of the mountain.
How beautiful! And your soup looks absolutely wonderful, yum 🙂
Beautiful pictures! Thanks for sharing them. And the soup looks and sounds delicious!
Thank you for adding to my post box collection! You’ve now sent me Britain’s most northerly and highest post boxes! I haven’t been sent any in ages but I have managed to go and see some of them myself. I must make it further up Scotland some time. I had cullen skink in one my favourite restaurants by the River Teviot earlier in the year. I keep meaning to make it at home as it really is a meal in itself.
The stew recipe looks quick and easy to prepare. Trying it.
It sounds like a hearty soup that is for sure and I imagine it to be very filling. Great that it uses fresh produce.
Your soup looks lush! Just checked our Ptarmigan’s webcams and it’s looking c-c-c-cold and sssssnowy there. Brrrrrr.
Love the view and the food looks amazing! perfect for this time of year.
I would love to visit one day! I’ve never been to Scotland before, but hopefully next year I will visit 🙂 The soup looks amazing and perfect for these cold days x
Can never get my head around the idea of fish soup, but so want to go to a cafe at the top of a mountain now!
I got super excited reading this, thinking ooo, Elizabeth and family are near up a hill from me right now! Ach well! I’ve only ever had chips up there, after I escaped a wildlife photography white out on a nearby trail. I turned back and took the funicular up to the restaurant instead, and got a plate of chips for comfort, haha.
I think Cullen Skink has the best name ever for a soup, if only I wasn’t a gosh-darn veggie I’d have tried it years ago!
I have been up to the top of Cairn Gorm mountain twice but never knew they did Cullen Skink there. Your version looks amazing and I hope to make it myself soon
A warming bowl of fish soup with that amazing view sounds pretty close to perfect to me!
Oh wow what a spectacular place to have some warming soup – love Scotland – lived in Edinburgh for almost two years and need to go back
Laura x
I love the words Funicular and cullin skink but while I love to make vegetarian versions of Scottish dishes I can’t see myself doing it with cullen skink as fish is challenging. I would like to go up the funicular railway partly so I could just say the word over and over as I told people I had been on it 🙂
I have never ever had Cullen skink and right now I would welcome a huge bowl of it as I am soooooooooo cold.