Seafood Shack

🌧️ Haddock Wrap Heaven at The Seafood Shack, Ullapool 🐟🌯

Ullapool greeted me with rain — not the polite drizzle, but the full “west coast welcome” that soaks your hoodie in minutes. Still, Vanilla was parked up, and I wasn’t about to miss out. The target: The Seafood Shack, a small but mighty hut by the harbour that has become a bit of a legend for anyone doing the NC500.

Opened in 2016 by two locals with a love of good food and fresh catch, The Shack was their way of showing that seafood didn’t need to be hidden behind posh white linen. It could be honest, bold, and served to you in a cardboard box with the sea breeze in your face. Word spread fast — newspapers, TV chefs, and hungry travellers all sang its praises. Now it’s a rite of passage: no NC500 trip feels complete without a stop here.

So, in the rain I queued up, ordered the famed haddock wrap, and grabbed a seat at a slick, wet picnic bench. Freshly battered haddock — golden, hot, and perfectly flaky — tucked in with crunchy slaw and a sharp kick of lemon. This wasn’t just fish in a wrap; it was the very essence of Ullapool wrapped in greaseproof paper. The gulls eyed me jealously, but I wasn’t sharing.

With every bite, the rain stopped being an annoyance and started feeling like part of the experience. The harbour shimmered, Loch Broom stretched grey and beautiful into the distance, and my wrap was pure comfort in the storm. This is what the NC500 is about: not just driving the route, but braving the weather, finding the little gems, and tasting the Highlands in their freshest, most authentic form.

⸻Read more