Crofter’s Kitchen, the award-winning eatery on the NC500 next to Scourie Beach, has expanded, with the opening of a converted 40-foot shipping container restaurant.
Situated in northwest Sutherland at the very edge of Scotland, where the road runs out and the Atlantic begins, the new restaurant has been 18 months in the making, navigating planning applications, funding pitches and complex infrastructure challenges on a working Highland croft far from the national grid.
The new indoor dining space sits metres from the Atlantic on Croft 17, Scouriemore, and opens year-round for the first time in the business’s history.
For the first time, the kitchen will be able to cook through every season, not just for summer NC500 visitors, but for anyone who makes the journey to Scotland’s far northwest edge.
Inside, the space is described as being ‘unlike anything else on the NC500’. With rustic timber walls, and authentic sheepskins in white, grey and brown on every chair, the interior was designed to feel like a cosy fisherman’s cabin — warm, characterful and completely rooted in place.
Three custom-commissioned circular artworks by local Sutherland artist Sheilah Cunningham hang above the tables like portholes looking out to sea, each depicting the Atlantic waves that crash onto Scourie Beach metres away.
“We wanted to create the cosiest dining space in the Highlands,” said Heather Mercer, co-founder of Crofter’s Kitchen. “Paint-splattered timber, sheepskins on every chair, artwork by a local artist and the Atlantic metres away.
“We have taken the very best of what is on our doorstep and we are cooking it for everyone.”
But the Crofter’s Kitchen food has always been the heart of its story – favourites include tandoori monkfish kebabs, wild garlic pesto gnocchi with fresh local fish and a prawn and crayfish roll dressed in a house-made Irn-Bru hot sauce.
Head Chef Grant Mercer, who left his role as head chef at the Kylesku Hotel to open the layby food truck in spring 2024, built the business around a 30-mile sourcing radius that is less a concept than a geographical reality.
The lobsters, langoustines and crab come from a neighbour who goes out on his boat every morning and brings the catch directly to the kitchen. The scallops are hand-dived just off the coast in northwest Sutherland — the signature dish pairs them with a chorizo risotto and local black pudding.
The meat comes from local crofting families, so there are no middlemen and ‘every supplier has a name’.
The new container restaurant opens alongside the existing outdoor food truck operation, giving diners the choice to eat outside with views across Scourie Beach or inside the new indoor space.
Through summer, the core menu will focus on fresh seafood and Highland produce. As the season moves into autumn and spring, the menu will shift to a dedicated seasonal dining offering croft-grown vegetables, Highland game and the finest coastal seafood the northwest can provide.
The business has received support from Highlands and Islands Enterprise and was awarded the Scottish EDGE Regional Award in 2025.
In just two seasons, Crofter’s Kitchen has become one of the NC500’s most celebrated food stops, winning Scotland’s Best Street Food at the Scotsman Scran Awards 2025, earning 4.9 stars across 500 verified Google reviews and holding the number one TripAdvisor ranking in Scourie, with 94% year-on-year turnover growth in year two.
