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The Tea Garden Cafe in Mallaig behind its terrace and flowers.
Lochaber

The Tea Garden, Mallaig

A cafe and restaurant with a flower-filled garden terrace by the harbour in Mallaig, serving fish and seafood straight off the boats.

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Welcome

Just up from the harbour in Mallaig, the Tea Garden is a cream building with blue gables and a terrace spilling over with hydrangeas and flowers.

It is a cafe and restaurant, with a small backpackers' hostel upstairs.

Mallaig is a working fishing port, and the Tea Garden makes the most of it. Diners have praised fish and chips and prawns so fresh they could see the boat they came off, along with warm, friendly service. There is local craft beer from the Isle of Skye Brewing Co, and dogs are welcome in the restaurant and at the outdoor tables.

The Tea Garden opens from Monday to Saturday, from nine until half past five. It is a short walk from the station, so it is an easy stop off the Jacobite steam train.

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Before you go

Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5.30pm; closed Sunday.

Where
Station Road, Mallaig, PH41 4PU.
Serves
Fish and seafood off the boats.
Also
Hostel beds upstairs.

Opening hours

Their website
Monday
9am–5.30pm
Tuesday
9am–5.30pm
Wednesday
9am–5.30pm
Thursday
9am–5.30pm
Friday
9am–5.30pm
Saturday
9am–5.30pm
Sunday
Closed

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Did you know

Mallaig harbour, fishing boats along the quay under grey cloud.
Did you know

The fish comes off the boats.

Fresh fish is brought up from the boats and the harbour every day, and as much of the rest as possible is local too.

Mallaig's waterfront curving round the harbour.
Did you know

Dogs get ice cream.

Dogs are welcome in the restaurant, and there is ice cream for them as well as for you.

The main street in Mallaig on a wet day.
Did you know

The croft's old fireplace is back.

Inside is stone and wood, with the original croft fireplace restored and coal fires to sit beside.

Hidden Scotland

From our guide to Lochaber

Just up from Mallaig harbour, the Tea Garden is a cream building with blue gables and a terrace spilling over with hydrangeas. It's a café and restaurant, and it makes the most of the fishing port on its doorstep, with fish and chips and prawns so fresh that diners can see the boat they came off. There's craft beer from the Isle of Skye Brewing Co, and dogs are welcome inside and out. It's a short walk from the station, so it's an easy stop off the Jacobite.

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Gulls lifting off a wave-washed rock at Mallaig.
What is on

What is new across Lochaber, day by day.

New places, news and stories, as we find them.

What is on in Lochaber
01 / 05
Where it is

On Station Road by the harbour in Mallaig, PH41 4PU, close to the station.

Close byMallaig.
  1. The Mallaig Heritage Centre, a low building under a pitched slate roof beside the railway platform, a brick path and planters in front.Mallaig Heritage CentreA small museum beside Mallaig station telling the story of West Lochaber, its people and landscape, through films, collections and displays.Under a mile 1 min by road
  2. Empty café dining room with pale wooden tables, white chairs and hanging pendant lightsThe Cabin Restaurant and TakeawaySeafood at the Cabin.Under a mile 1 min by road
  3. Picnic tables outside the West Highland Hotel overlooking Mallaig's church and coastlineThe Chlachain InnAn inn on the harbour.Under a mile 1 min by road
  4. The white Fisherman and Child statue on a round grassy platform at the end of Mallaig's harbour wall, an anchor beside it and the harbour behind.The Fisherman and Child StatueA white statue of a fisherman and a child on the harbour wall at Mallaig, the fisherman pointing out to sea.Under a mile 1 min by road
  5. Minch Adventures, MallaigMinch Adventures, MallaigUnder a mile 1 min by road
  6. White houses along the shoreline at low tide, seaweed-covered rocks in foregroundArisaigThe village down the coast.8 miles 11 min by road
Directions
Minch Adventures boat approaching steep rocky cliffs along a narrow sea lochAttractionsPrivate Loch Coruisk, Isle of Skye adventure0.2 miles
Railway tracks curve past a "Welcome to Helensburgh" sign and hillside housesAttractionsMallaig0.2 miles
Rocky, moss-covered hills rise above a calm loch with distant mountainsAttractionsStatue at Rubha Raonuill2.1 miles
Two silhouetted diners watch a tall ship sail past mountains beyond the windowCafeKnoydart Pottery and Tea Room2.1 miles
Black sign reading "The Old Forge" among trees, rooftop visible behindRestaurantsThe Old Forge, Knoydart2.1 miles
Gift shop interior with wooden shelves, antlers and a pegboard display wallCafeKnoydart Shop2.1 miles
Weathered wooden post on a seaweed-strewn beach beneath a forested mountainAttractionsLong Beach, Knoydart2.1 miles
Yellow boat moored in a tidal river winding through a sandy beachAttractionsSilver Sands of Morar4.0 miles
Loch Etive framed by steep mountains under a glowing evening skyAttractionsLoch Morar6.9 miles

Recommend to a friend

Stay nearby

Places to stay near the cafe, and when each is next free.

A keeper's cottage and lighthouse stand together on a rocky headland overlooking the sea at Eilean Sionnach.Eilean Sionnach Lighthouse Cottage
  • Sleeps 8
  • In Isleornsay
  • 10 miles from the Tea Garden
Check datesKinloch Lodge, Isle of SkyeKinloch Lodge
  • To stay
  • In Sleat
  • 12 miles from the Tea Garden
Check datesStonechat Bothy, a timber-clad cabin with a grey corrugated roof, at the end of a grassy double track among birch, pine and rushes.Stonechat Bothy
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Drumfearn
  • 12 miles from the Tea Garden
Free 1–4 MarBothan Beileag, Isle of SkyeBothan Beileag
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Heasta
  • 13 miles from the Tea Garden
Free 31 Oct – 2 NovPlaces to stayEvery stay in LochaberAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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