The Highland capital is flooded with superb eating spots, so much so that this Food and Drink Guide proved the trickiest one to write yet.
To narrow things down (slightly), I’ll be listing my most recommended food and drink businesses based in the city centre. They are all within minutes walking distance of one another, which will prove dangerously handy.
Whether you’re a local resident or visiting the area for a trip, here are my top Inverness food and drink spots to visit if you’re spending 12 hours in the the heart of the city.
Breakfast
8am to 11am
You can expect a bustling, welcoming atmosphere at Girvans – situated at the bottom of Stephens Brae.
For breakfast, there are pastries, stacked pancakes, buttered smoked haddock with poached eggs and chives, and natural yoghurt with fresh fruit and Scottish honey, to name a few options.
Girvans opens from 9am to 5pm Sunday to Thursday and 9am to 6pm on Fridays and Sundays.
A six-minute walk away, you’ll find an alternative breakfast option on Church Street – Comfort Foods.
It’s a family-run café offering a wide selection of homemade and hearty breakfasts and lunches to eat in or take away, including an all-day breakfast served from 8am to 5pm daily.
There’s also ‘The Full Monty’ breakfast featuring locally sourced butcher sausages, bacon, black pudding, haggis, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, beans, a tattie scone and toast.
Vegetarian and vegan full breakfasts are on the menu, too.
Then there’s Loch and Larder, the food court inside Eastgate Centre. It’s the ideal spot to eat and socialise before a look around the shops.
Coffee and cake
11am to 1pm
Down by the River Ness on Bridge Street, XOKO has been a popular spot in the Highland capital for residents and tourists since opening in 2021.
Quite rightly so.
Owned by Tristan Aitchison and Fernando Bazaldua, it serves a range of specialities including Spanish-style pastries.
And across The Ness Bridge, there’s The Cake Shop.
Inverness baker and chef Poppy Baker-Spink opened the shop in April 2022, and hasn’t looked back since.
The bakery dishes out everything from honeynut shortbread bars and Gold slices to caramel fudge blondies and its signature ‘krispie millionaires’.
Lunch/brunch
1pm to 3pm
Let’s shift our focus onto some savoury scran for a bit.
Whether you’ve visited Inverness Cathedral or wandered round the local shops, you’ll hopefully have an appetite for lunch come 1pm.
I’m kicking things off with the award-winning Contract Brasserie at the Glenmoriston Townhouse Hotel.
From prime dry-aged beef to market fresh fruit and vegetables, and wild venison to hand-dived Isle of Skye scallops, it stay true to its Scottish roots.
The Mustard Seed also loves creating extensive menus focusing on a diverse range of the finest Scottish ingredients.
You can tuck into a two-course lunch for £16.95 from noon to 2.30pm daily.
For all things seafood and shellfish – including oysters, crab, mussels, langoustine, clams, halibut and bass, to name a few options – consider River House Restaurant.
Allan (Alfie) Little is the venue’s chef proprietor. Alfie has always had an admiration for the sea, and became heavily involved in the creation of the Highland Food Festival, promoting all that is good about local food.
Amazing, right?
If tapas is more up your street, pop La Tortilla on Castle Street on your must-visit list.
It has become an integral part of the community since opening its doors in 2003, serving innovative paellas and a large range of tapas.
They include padron peppers, patatas bravas, truffle chips, and chorizo al vino.
The local response to the launch of Hou Hou Mei, on the site of the former Inverness pizza restaurant Pepperoni Speciale, was phenomenal.
Now a favourite restaurant among many in the city, it offers diners quality food at an affordable price while moving Asian-style sharing platters to the forefront.
Despite being featured in the lunch section, all of these Inverness food and drink spots are great options for dinner too.
There’s alsoCulture Café and Deli, which is currently open from 9am to 3.30pm Tuesday to Sunday and serves nourishing, healthy and vibrant dishes.
I’d recommend a protein packed burrito or sandwich.
Snack
3pm to 6pm
You’ve already enjoyed a few dishes in the town at this point, but you may still be feeling peckish.
If you fall into that category, the products at Perk Coffee and Doughnuts will satisfy your cravings…
The location is a café by day – serving barista coffee and handcrafted doughnuts and pastries – and an espresso martini bar by night. I love the concept.
Doughnut flavours have included Peachy Keen, My Kinder Doughnut, Ginger Spice, Rhubarbra Streisand, Cocoa Chanel and Bis-scoff It All Up.
To add, a trip to Inverness wouldn’t be complete without paying a visit to The Victorian Market.
It boasts a vibrant, central social area where families and groups can pick up their choice of food, sit back and soak up the atmosphere.
Surrounding the central seating area is a range of independent businesses showcasing the best of Highland food producers. There’s something to suit all tastes!
Dinner
6pm to 8pm
For me, family-run business Café 1 was a shoo-in for the dinner category. Anyone that’s also visited the restaurant before will know why.
The highlight of my trip was the Angus fillet steak I tucked into. However, the £7.50 Belgium chocolate and salted caramel torte served with honeycomb and vanilla ice cream was incredible, as well.
There’s also Mumbai Thistle, which offers a menuof authentic Indian street food dishes – such as chola bhature and medhu vada – that have been carefully crafted by expert chefs.
The restaurant even has a live dosa station where you can watch the chefs make fresh dosa right in front of you.
Back on the banks of the River Ness lies The Waterside Restaurant at Glen Mhor.
The sustainable restaurant offers the perfect setting for couples after a romantic and comfortable evening dining experience.
Plus, every dish tellsa story of Scotland’s rich culinary heritage.
Superb options for steak and seafood fans include Prime Restaurant and Rocpool.
They are both located within a minutes walk of another, so I wish you the best of luck on deciding between the two.
Then there’s Tiger on the Wall, which brings customers classic Indian and Oriental dishes.
The authentic plates are full of exotic spices and flavours and can not only be enjoyed sitting in the eatery, but also taken away.
Undoubtedly considered one of the best Inverness food spots, Tiger on The Wall is a solid pick for anyone craving Asian grub.
And last, but certainly not least, is Torrish at Ness Walk.
If I could rate the service and surroundings at Torrish higher than 10/10 (from personal experience), I absolutely would. Plus, the kitchen team always puts so much effort into each and every plate.
Drinks
8pm to late
To bring your day to a close, there are also a range of venues that I would recommend popping into for a drink or two (whether it be alcoholic or alcohol-free).
For co*cktails and mocktails, there’s The White House on Union Street.
However, if you fancy a location with a wide selection of craft beers, ciders and whiskies, consider Black Isle Bar and Rooms.
