The Riverhouse Restaurant

•£££

This restaurant has it all - great atmosphere, service and food! Service was very attentive, and…read moreour every need was taken care of. Great wine list at reasonable prices, and the food was fantastic! Probably the best meal we had on our 2 week holiday. Make reservations, as they seemed very busy. Will definitely be back if we are ever in Inverness again!

The food was delicious. The staff were very nice to us. They have soft jazz and other music playing…read morein the background. The tartare has some texture. The chips were fantastic. The bathroom is also interesting because it's connected with sinks in the center.

Birthday wishes

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Johnny Foxes

3.9(107 reviews)

While the name and location scream "tourist trap", Johnny Foxes is an outstanding pub that happens…read moreto draw in a non local crowd. We dropped by for an early dinner and got seated right away in a booth. The menu is broadly pub fare, with a focus on burgers and a couple of more upscale dishes (including an excellent fried camambert). We split the camambert (panko crusted and served with a fig and onion jam); my wife had a vegan Scotch broth + house made bread + tomato & pesto bruschetta, while I went with the highland burger: haggis on top of 6oz of dry aged Angus beef. The burger was exceptional, with a deep and pleasantly gamey flavour while the haggis added some richness. Paired with a pint of a local cask ale (Cromarty Brewing Happy Chappy pale), it was as good as dinner as we could've imagined on our first night in the Highlands.

Excellent spot for meal in Inverness. It has a wonderful ambiance especially the booths. It's a pub…read morebut won't table service. They have live music today starting at 10:30. But the highlight is the food. My wife ordered the mussels. They were served in a light cream sauce with a hint of peppers. Sublime and plentiful. I had the soup wich was very good and the steak and Guinness pie. Excellent and so much food I could not finish. Top notch service

Dining room

Supposedly this mayo is coleslaw??

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Nessie burger

Mustard Seed Restaurant

4.3(161 reviews)

0.1 mi

We booked a table at Mustard Seed based on its reputation, which was strong with local foodies. I…read moremention this in the event that unfavorably influenced our perception of our experience, which was not the five-star dinner that we were anticipating. We arrived on time to a nearly empty restaurant (weekday evening, post rush hour, one other table wrapping up on the ground level as we arrived, a couple more on the upper level), and had to wait for our reserved table, which ended up being by the front door on a cold and rainy evening (aka normal Scottish weather for November). It was unclear what was slowing service down, but the wait to order cocktails was surprisingly long. Our drinks were made promptly and well. We began to place our meal order when the server excused themselves while in the process to take a drink order from the table that had arrived several minutes after we were seated (with the entirety of the lower level of the restaurant available, this boisterous table of four was set right next to us. Fortunately we hadn't been planning a quiet, romantic dinner...). In fairness to our server, there may have only been one other person working tables that night, but not great form even so. We eventually got our order placed. A breadbasket was brought out (three slices of bread for the two of us). Our food arrived in OK time and was itself OK, having seemed to have sat in the pass a little long for some reason. All this said, the menu looked solid, and while the entrees weren't especially memorable this visit, their cocktail options were good (we enjoyed the Highlanders Negroni made with Badachro Coastal gin) and desert options (a proper Mixed Berry Eton Mess). An additional positive note: my wife lost a ring in the restaurant during our visit and the bartender, quickly seeing that we were in distress, joined our search for it. I'm confident we would have given up on finding it were it not for his effort, so again, cheers to you, sir. This was above and beyond, and what I think probably passes for the standard of care that many experience dining here. So a mixed bag for us. I don't think this represents a typical dining experience here. Mustard Seed is well-thought of locally (there is a small, discreet shelf of awards tucked away around a corner), and if we should find ourselves back in Inverness looking for a dinner spot we wouldn't rule out Mustard Seed out of hand. I look forward to the prospect of rewriting this review.

This was an excellent lunch stop for us in the town of Inverness. We picked this place partially…read morebecause it was a recommendation by renowned travel writer Rick Steves back in 2014. It is also located conveniently in the heart of the commercial district and right alongside the Ness River. Our friendly and engaging hostess/manager was Alina, a 17 year veteran. They have a cozy and attractive 2 story high ceilinged setting and we sat on the 2nd floor. The lunch menu was a variety of high quality 2 course selections for a very reasonable 18.95 GBP. Our party of 4 had a delicious and beautifully presented lunch. For the mains, I had their traditional fish pie and wife had their filet of seabass. Our travel mates had the rump steak and red pesto gnocchi. It got busy and the kitchen might have gotten backed up and it took a little while on the food, but we enjoyed hanging out here. Service was otherwise friendly and attentive. Highly recommended should you find yourselves in the lovely town of Inverness.

A partial view of the cozy 2nd floor dining space.

Mussels

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Another view of their 2nd floor dining space.

The Kitchen Restaurant

3.8(60 reviews)

0.1 mi

Word to the wise - get reservations in Inverness. We came our first night to the kitchen and they…read morewere fully booked so got in for a reservation on the second night. To start we went for the salmon gin cured appetizer with pickled radish and seaweed. This was a very good start to the meal and had really interesting flavors. I really appreciate and enjoy seeing what a chef can do with a vegetable and tonight was no different. The cabbage with potato and puréed carrot was my choice and wow was this good. The dare I say humble ingredients were elevated in a way that I felt really highlighted each vegetable. I all but licked my plate. My husband got the venison and after a dash of salt to lift the potato flavor a bit more to his taste, he also just about licked the plate clean. A few cocktails (tallisker old fashioned for him and Lost Scotsman for myself) added to the experience). Service was friendly and the view we had was looking out over the River. A really nice night all around.

It is popular so we weren't able to get a seat, but the host was so kind and offered great…read morerecommendations. I was impressed! Next time I will be sure to get a reservation!

Chicken supreme

Soup of the day with bread and beurre noisette whipped butter £6.95 (GFA,VG)

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Inverness Gin

Water Front

3.9(26 reviews)

We happened upon this lovely place by accident. The food was wonderful and the atmosphere was cozy…read moreand friendly. The service was nice and friendly too. Don't let them fool you... we ate there twice and both times we walked I. Without a reservation and both times there was a bit of "discussion" as to whether they would be able to seat us. They did. And they were never completely full either time! lol! Gets our full recommendation. Picture is the Trawlers Pie and the Steak and Ale pie. Try the Scottish Blaggis appetizer. And their bread pudding was really good as well!

Walked here from the Guesthouse since it was close and it was raining. We were lucky to get a table…read morewhich was nice. Got a bit noisy when a tour group arrived next to us. We got the Rump of Lamb (21 pounds) and Scottish Mixed Fish Grill plate (18 pounds). The Rump was a bit fatty and small portion. The mixed grill had 3 types of fish which were tasty. It's more of a 3.5 overall.

Smoked salmon and salad

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Hard cider on tap

Prime Steak & Seafood

3.5(39 reviews)

I ordered a smoke haddock soup that is a Scottish specialty. I found a piece of metal wire in it…read more The manager was nice enough to take the price off our bill. I ordered a salad to be shared according to the menu, but it was so small that there was not enough to share. My husband's steak was not worthy of the restaurant's name. My chocolate ice cream was nothing special. The ladies room had toilet paper strewn across the floor. It needed service. The waitresses gave good attention but it did not make up for the insufficiencies. When I went to past via credit card, I received a receipt that was totally blank as the machine was out of ink. This was a highly recommended place that was a great disappointment.

The Service was.very good but kitchen was slow. Atmosphere…read morewas cool. Mussels app was the right quantity, but they were stringy and the broth lacked depth. Camembert was good, not great, small with two pieces of bread. Ribeyes were two thin and cooked past the ordered temp. They did taste ok but nowhere near worth the price. Filets were closer. The sauces were okay but came in very small containers for an up charge. Onion rings to share is six normal size onion rings nothing special. Vegetables were fresh but could use some flavor. Very, very small salad. Fries were very good. Nothing was terrible and maybe it was an off night but there was no standout and for the price it was simply a letdown on this occasion.

The room

Trout.

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Contrast Brasserie

3.9(16 reviews)

0.4 mi

•£££

Beautiful place and excellent food, we didn't see Nessie that night. But the dining experience was…read moremuch better than a sighting.

Delicious food, excellent service, beautiful place. All made for a nice dining experience. I felt…read moreunderdressed but nobody seemed to mind. Had the pork belly and a rioja.

Vegetarian Dragon Roll

Cappachino and latte

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Toffee pud sundae

Riva Bistro Italiano

4.0(17 reviews)

Modern bistro, excellent location with great range of food choice. Staff friendly and helpfulread more

Went to Riva a few hours after completing the Loch Ness Marathon. Not a large spot but nice. I…read morestarted with a Bruschetta, which was excellent. There were two on the menu and our table had both, the other was well received too. I went pretty safe with the Lasagna and it hit the spot. It wasn't unique but traditional and tasty.

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Along the River Ness

Zizzi

3.5(35 reviews)

Perfectly fine food, not bad but nothing to write home about. The burrata was good, the calamari…read morenot as crunchy as expected, and the sea bass a bit bland. We were thankful that they were able to seat us Saturday 8 PM--the first two restaurants we tried were all booked up.

We found our way to ZIZZI because it was right next to the apartment where we stayed in Inverness…read more And I'm so glad we did, because ZIZZI was great! I don't know how to describe the interior exactly, so I'll just call it rustic chic. A variety of different chairs around simple wood top tables. But each table was ornately set with large clear glasses, a wine bottle with the table number and wheat stocks(?) in it, a small candle, and vivid, brightly colored menus. And let's talk about those menus, shall we? So many tantalizing options. So many things just looked absolutely fantastic, and we were just a one couple, so we had a difficult time choosing between all of the different dishes. We started off with a Garlic Bombe. It was amazing. For drinks, we started with an Amalfi Sundown and a Limoncello Spritz. Those were both very delicious and refreshing. For our main dishes, we shared a Mushroom and Truffle with Burrata pasta (cause I have come to learn that you can never have too much burrata cheese), and a Pepperoni Campagna Pizza. These were unbeLIEVABLY good. We really didn't need any more food after all this, but they went and put a Baked Lemon and Black Currant Cheesecake on their dessert menu, and I'd never heard of that before. So naturally, I had to try it. It was fantastic, of course, and an excellent way to finish off our spectacular meal. The service was very friendly, and I was quite impressed by how fast everything came out. The place was hoppin', so that's just another indication that it's a good spot to grab a bite, when it's full of customers. We absolutely loved our visit to Inverness, and should we be fortunate to go back someday, ZIZZI would definitely be on our list of places to stop in for a meal.

Interior shot

Tasteless Cocktails

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Brownie dessert

Little Italy

4.5(39 reviews)

0.4 mi

•£

If I could give 10 stars, I would! I'm still sitting at the table and I just had to leave a review…read moreimmediately. The service was spectacular and the food was exceptional. If we could eat here for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, for our remaining two days in Inverness, we would. And special appreciation to the young man who hustled with every table, every customer, and every request. He was fantastic!!!!

Ordered takeaway 1 x Pizza 1 x Spaghetti, told 30mins, right on time delicious and a good sizeread more