Sample some of the best local produce in an intimate home-based restaurant on the Isle of Mull.

It was my last night at home before returning to London for a few months so I went to the nearby village of Dervaig for a meal with my Mum.

The venue is Ar Bòrd, which is Gaelic for ‘our table’.

Dervaig is a short but scenic drive from Tobermory. The village has a wonderful community, beautiful views and amazing seafood.

Ar Bòrd is very much home cooking, in that the venue is literally in the home of the hosts, but it’s certainly not comfy-casual. This is fine dining with exceptional local produce, including a wealth of inventive and beautifully surprising foraged items.

Critically for the purposes of this blog, the venue is unlicensed, with a BYOB policy.

I decided that as a treat for my last night, I would pre-make a martini to accompany me. I poured a classic gin martini and garnished it with lemon peel (expressed into the glass for the oil).

I then poured the martini into a jar and placed it in the freezer for a few hours.

I specifically didn’t want to garnish it with an olive or a pickle as I didn’t want to crowd out the food of the meal. The word about the island is that the food was very special so I didn’t want my drink or it’s garnish to get in the way.

As in most things in island life you need to be thoughtful towards others, whether that’s making sure you don’t over-forage, closing gates and using the roads appropriately. Follow the parking guidance at the venue!

The garden is filled with cultivatable goodies, and when you step into the house, you will be struck by the amazing light.

While Tobermory, and indeed most of the settlements on Mull, are situated on the more sheltered east coast of the island, Dervaig looks out to the north west, where the summer sun sets in the evening.

After a day of near constant rain, the clouds lifted over the horizon at dinner time and a clear light streamed in through the windows, filling the dining room with a lovely, airy feel with an almost cleansing characteristic.

We were seated, given beautiful homemade bread and butter to start and I poured the drink, using a martini glass I’d also brought from home.

The salt and pepper dishes are simple but elegant and very Hebridean in feel.

The menu is both traditional and delightfully adventurous, combining traditional island fayre with surprising twists and flourishes that absolutely delight.

We were served a very generously proportioned amuse-bouche which was both exceptionally tasty and absolutely perfect with my martini. It was a smoked trout paste with blowtorched mackerel with cucumber and pickled wild garlic seeds gathered in the Spring, all served atop a toasted slice of homemade sourdough. Delicious.

Next came the starters. Both Mum and I ordered the Croig Crab, which we knew would never disappoint. Croig, which sits a short drive from Dervaig has amazing, ecological and community-spirited families who know the seas extremely well. You will be hard pressed to find anyone else with such a keen sensitivity to sustainable aquaculture. Their catch is excellent quality but also gathered with heightened environmental sensitivity. The skipper’s Instagram account is also beautiful and helped sustain me mentally during those hard Covid winters I spent far away from Mull in the joyless desolation of lockdown.

Back to Ar Bòrd, I can only describe the crab starter as phenomenal. The crab meat was juicy, chunky and generous, with delicious seasoning that underpinned the crab flavour but allowed it to shine in its own right. It also came with miniature pancakes, gluten-free and delicious. The family is very accommodating to allergies and intolerances.

The dish was also surrounded with local mussels, a spicy-umami XO sauce and topped with a striking squid ink coral tuile.

I feel like the tuile was almost made for a martini. Maybe it could accompany this one in particular.

For the main course, Mum and I both chose the pork shoulder. The portion was hearty, the meat tender, the vegetables naturally sweet and the whole dish beautifully but simply presented with garnishes of chive flower.

For dessert Mum enjoyed a panna cotta but I prefer savoury food so was more than happy with the selection of local cheeses with a delicious rhubarb chutney that cut the cheese nicely, tartly but gently.

We finished the meal with a delicious and beautifully presented selection of miniature custard creams and the last word of the night – the hogweed seed and fennel meringue: what a surprising delight.

It was a crunchy and creamy texture combination with the earthy-grassy lift of the hogweed flavour followed by the cleansing sensation of the fennel, much like mukhwas at the end of an Indian meal.

The flavour was still with us on the drive home and both Mum and I mentioned it at the same time as we were rounding the corners up the hill towards Tobermory.

All in all, this is a highly recommended, intimate, creative and extremely high quality gem on the Island of Mull.

It’s a must visit, and if you want a martini to kick start your flavour journey, be sure to mix it up in a jar in advance, put it in the freezer for a few hours, and bring your own martini glass.

Note also that booking is essential. You can see all the relevant details on their website.

Drive safely, or book one of the local taxis – there’s no über in the Hebrides!