A speciality coffee shop on Bayfield Road in Portree, roasting its own beans on the island since 2021.
Birch sits on a corner of Bayfield Road, a few steps from Portree's main square, behind a sage-green shopfront with pendant lights hanging in the window.
Visited and photographed by Simon Hird
Inside it is bright and simple: pale wooden tables and chairs, a dried-flower wreath on the wall, stools along the window, and a counter stacked with the day's bakes beside the espresso machine.
The coffee is the point. Birch roasts its own on the island, so the beans in the hopper change as new coffees come in, and a bag can go home with you. Brunch runs alongside, cooked from Highland and island produce, with sourdough, eggs and seasonal dishes on a short menu. It fills up in summer, when most of the island's traffic comes through Portree, but it is a good place to start a day on Trotternish, or to warm up at the end of one.
Arrives at 5am every day.
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Birch is on Bayfield Road in the middle of Portree, a minute from Somerled Square.
Its Bakery & Roastery is another café, on the edge of town.
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The long mural of the Old Man of Storr on the wall opposite was painted in four days in 2021 by Donnie Munro, Runrig's former singer, as a favour to his son Niall, who runs Birch. The wall had been falling apart.
Niall Munro set up Birch after visiting his older sister in Melbourne, wanting its café style at home, made with produce from the Highlands and Islands.
Birch began as a small coffee van, and opened on Bayfield Road just before the first lockdown in March 2020. It could open again only for a spell that summer.
When Nigella Lawson came to Birch in Portree, her favourite was scrambled eggs on sourdough with chorizo, lacto-fermented chilli and parmesan.
Niall spent the second lockdown setting up a roastery, and since 2021 Birch has roasted its own beans on Skye, in small batches, from coffee traced back to the grower.
In 2025 Birch opened a third café, the Bakery & Roastery on the edge of Portree, with pastries led by the Parisian pastry chef Tessa Biriotti.
A specialist coffee shop run by Donnie Munro’s son Niall, Birch was set up in 2020 and aims to recreate the vibe and style of Melbourne’s famed café scene – with the notable difference of using locally sourced products from the islands and Highlands.
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New places, news and stories, as we find them.
What is on on SkyeOn Bayfield Road in the middle of Portree.
Antlers Bar & GrillSalads, burgers and seafood in the Portree Hotel.Under a mile 1 min by road
Somerled Square War MemorialPortree's war memorial, a small copy of Edinburgh's Mercat Cross topped by a seated lion.Under a mile 1 min by road
ÒR Shop SkyeTwo shops in Portree for contemporary art and craft.Under a mile 1 min by road
Dulse and BroseModern Scottish cooking above Portree's harbour.Under a mile 1 min by road
The LumpThe wooded hill above Portree harbour, home of the Skye Highland Games since the 1890s.Under a mile 1 min by roadPortreeSkye's main town, its painted houses set round the harbour Thomas Telford built.Under a mile 1 min by road
Scorrybreac CircuitA 3-kilometre loop round the headland on the north side of Portree Bay.Under a mile 3 min by road
Isle of Skye Candle CoCandles hand-poured in Portree, with a shop, a pizzeria and a cinema under one roof.1 mile 4 min by roadPlaces to stay near Birch, and when each is next free.
The Bosville
Marmalade Hotel
Cuillin Hills Hotel
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For further reading, before you go. The details on this page were checked on .
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