What a carnivore discovered on the UK’s first ‘vegan trail’

Naysaying friends told me expect a plate of beans – maybe some lentils. As a proposed dinner, that seemed inoffensive enough, even if it was the kind of Saturday night meal that might leave you furious. So you can understand my delight when the full three courses arrived.

First, chilli, lime and coconut potato gratin with cox-apple tartar. Then buckwheat, lentil and barley haggis wellington with charred-leek purée, concluding with sea-buckthorn ice cream, vanilla tuile and fresh berries. I could have kissed the chef.

Two days earlier I had set off from Glasgow with the aim of tackling the UK’s first vegan food trail, which launched at the end of May.

“Tackling” being the operative word. I was born a dyed-in-the-wool carnivore. I like my beef smoked and my pork pulled, and have long been of the opinion that every meal can be improved with a rasher of bacon on the side.

But we’re in 2021 and things are changing. Every meal is now linked to the ethics of its ingredients – from the treatment of farm animals to the moral consequences of our choices – and carries with it the threat of dinner-table conflict.

Throughout the pandemic, I’d tinkered with eating more vegetables and had come away with a new outlook on aubergines. And yet, I felt I could do more. I wanted a tasty trip and educational break – even one that was meat-free. If it was a success, maybe I could do a Meghan Markle and become a self-declared “part-time vegan”?

I knew next to nothing about Argyll’s newly launched Taste Trails, but was immediately tempted. There are five in total, covering an array of subjects, from seafood and farm produce to spirits and beer, plus coffee and cake, with each self-guided route developed by producers and food advocates who know Argyll and its 23 inhabited west coast islands – Mull, Islay, Jura and Iona among them – intimately.

Thoroughly intrigued – and before anyone could say “lockdown” again – I headed north along the plant-based food trail, a route underpinned by vegan menus: bring on the cheatin’ ham, unchicken and sheese.

I soon found myself driving past Loch Fyne’s oyster hatcheries, thinking fondly of all the times I had slurped those buttery bivalves to my heart’s content. This is the sexy, much-photographed Argyll of your imagination, all pure salty west-coast air and shaggy Highland cows, and in no time I was a long way from Glasgow and outside a vegan B&B north of Lochgilphead.

In both culinary and ethical terms, Kings Reach Vegan Bed & Breakfast feels like a guesthouse from the future. There is no leather in the armchairs, no wool in the blankets, no feathers in the pillows. Owners Sean and Sara wear plastic shoes and, naturally, there is no meat or cow’s milk at breakfast. No dairy full stop, in fact – even the soap and hand sanitiser are vegan. That it is surrounded by a century-old sheep farm is all the more remarkable.

“We’ve always quietly got on with the locals,” Sara told me, over a plate of scrambled tofu the next morning. “Argyll’s reputation is for seafood and farm produce, but there is no reason why vegan options cannot sit alongside that.”

For its critics, veganism can be a swagger, but the couple’s efforts seem subtle and sincere, including providing guests with hyper-creative chocolates produced by artisan vegan chocolatier Fetcha in Campbeltown.

One thing is certain: there can be few lovelier places in which to ponder the changing needs of the foodie traveller. Kilmartin Glen, with standing stones, fort ruins and castles that wouldn’t look out of place in Brigadoon, is a good place to start. Here, I climbed spartan Dunadd Fort, from where the ancient kings of Argyll ruled. Then, deep inside Knapdale forest, I worked up a hunger looking for one of Scotland’s most famous vegans: the flat-tailed, herbivorous Eurasian beaver. That night, dinner at Loch Melfort Hotel was a melange of mushrooms, a mixed-bean burger and dairy-free cheesecake.

Next morning, the road to Oban led me past Catchacarrot, Argyll’s trendiest vegan cafe, and I was surprised to find it an almost natural instinct to pull over. Inhaling the aromas drifting from the kitchen – scents of coconut and fresh lime – I settled for a not-halloumi wrap on the terrace, the staccato skank of reggae humming through the window. “I find all sorts for my dishes around here,” said owner Janine Calder. “Wild garlic, watercress and borage, strawberries, mint and nettles. Seaweed is on the menu next.”

In the late afternoon, I drove north to see Argyll once again laying on the temptations thick. The hallmark of the region has always been seafood, and seeing salmon farms and fishermen’s kitchens is nothing out of the ordinary. The Oyster Bar, overlooking the island of Easdale, was heavily thronged with scampi eaters; Oban, Scotland’s seafood capital, besieged by fish and chip shops.

On my last day, I passed over the Connell Bridge towards Port Appin, past the astonishing 14th-century Castle Stalker – a knobbly watchtower on Loch Laich. At the Pierhouse, one of Scotland’s most spectacular hotels, I contemplated one final meal without muscle, now neither pining for prawns nor fully converted, but settling into a sort of happy medium.

There was whole Scottish lobster on the menu, aged sirloin, and – god forbid – raw oysters: my favourite. I ordered one of the deliciously non-sentient morsels, followed by a lentil haggis (OK, I had three oysters, but it still felt a satisfactory compromise).

So there you have it. With this new trail, Argyll has the unique distinction of creating not just a new way to travel through food, but a new type of visitor. As for me, I won’t be seizing upon a fully plant-based diet any time soon, but I will travel more meaningfully, keeping an eye on how our culinary story plays out.

How to do it

Double rooms at Kings Reach Vegan Bed & Breakfast in Kilmichael Glassary, from £70, B&B. Doubles at the Pierhouse in Port Appin, from £125, B&B. Catchacarrot Vegan Cafe is open from Friday to Monday, lunch only. Wild About Argyll’s Taste of Place Trails interactive maps will launch soon. For more inspiration on where to stay, see our guide to the best hotels in the UK.