Press Releases

CAFE KISIMUL

Oct 19, 2007

Decide on a meal in the Outer Hebrides and you will expect and find eateries that specialise in succulent seafood plucked from the pristine waters or juicy lamb reared on crofts and heathery moorland.

Yet it is the international menus of India and Italy on offer in a tiny cafe/restaurant on a Hebridean island with little more than a thousand inhabitants which has to be recognised for its wonderful customer experience.

Just five years ago, husband and wife team Rohail and Pauline Bari who run Cafe Kisimul on the Isle of Barra were buying and selling property in Glasgow with no thoughts of catering to fishermen, crofters and holidaymakers from around the globe.

The recognition of excellence by their own customers comes courtesy of Who Cares Wins, a customer feedback scheme, funded by HIE Innse Gall, for island businesses which deal with the public. It collects and logs feedback from patrons by encouraging them to fill in and return freepost cards in which they are asked about the service that they have just had.

This past season, Cafe Kisimul has come top of the pile with an almost unbroken record of the most positive feedback and sincere praise from hundreds of satisfied diners who have been served by Rohail and Pauline and their staff in their pierside premises in Castlebay.

Nestling in the picture postcard scene that was made so famous in the 1949 film Whisky Galore, just a stone's throw from the landmark castle in the bay which gives the village its name and the Clan Macneil its seat, the cafe has been transformed from a typical visitors' cafe by the couple into an unusual culinary experience that curries favour with islanders and visitors alike.

Pauline explains that with both of them being from the south side of Glasgow, they used to come on holiday to the islands a lot with the kids and five years ago they thought about moving up.
"It had everyithing we wanted especially schools and good connections to the mainland. Then we found the ideal home on Vatersay which is connected to Barra by a causeway. We looked at Barra but there was not a lot going at the time. But this one came up and we went to see it on Rohail's 40th birthday. We decided it was time to go for it."

Having previously run a small property business on the city's south side, they took the plunge and sold up.
With Pauline having been taught the finer points of Indian cookery by her late mother-in-law Rashida and sister-in-law Shazia, they always had liked entertaining at home and word soon got round on their new island home. Soon locals who had a taste of their cooking asked them to put on a curry night for 120 people in Vatersay Hall. Pauline recalls how about 140 actually turned up on the night but it was a great success. People began to ask them if they would make pakora and other Eastern delights for them.

"We asked the council but they said we could not do that from home but from separate premises. So we began to ask around. I heard that previous owner Sheila Macintosh was thinking of selling the cafe on the pier so I just asked her and she said yes. That was it. It all went through smoothly."

Within two years of arriving, they were in business. "We just love cooking and as well as Indian food we really liked Italian dishes as well. It just all grew from there," says Pauline. Business has more than lived up to expectations. As we spoke, they told of their exhasusting season just finished and were looking to have a good autumn break. "We do all the cooking ourselves and we would not want it to get much bigger because that is when you lose control. We try and keep the standards up and we do all the cooking. The positive feedback is absolutely fantastic. It is just great. It is hard going and we sometimes do not get home till 11 o'clock at night. We have been asked by locals if we will do nights in the winter so we may do with takeaways and things like that at weekends. People assume we are an Indian resturant but we are not just that. Our big success this season has been the Italian food. But you can still come in for soup and real coffee and baking during the day lunchtime. So we do a lot more and we put a lot of effort into it all."

Pauline is an artist, who is now entranced by island seascapes, and has sung with Glasgow indie group The Orchids and Rohail is a guitarist. He says that, despite their success, it is very tiring because they do so much themselves although they do have staff. "They have been great. Without the staff, all this would not have been possible. We have been very lucky."

He thinks the Who Cares Wins feedback cards system is a fantastic idea because it allows the customers to be as frank as they like. "You get a genuine response - just what people think. We have thousands of people coming through the door over the summer so it is great that most are very happy. I think it would be harder to do this in the city but holidaymakers coming to the Outer Hebrides are very chilled out and want to be happy."

The Bari family have settled quickly into island life daughter with Fahria, 16, and son Harris, 13, taking after their parents' musical ways and are already performing at the Mod. The youngest, Adam, eight, is still deciding which direction he will go in. The Baris say their plans are now to continue to improve. Rohail is pleased that after just four seasons, of which the first two was about gauging just what their customers really wanted, they are now seeing the fruits and people are willing to say they enjoy what they do.
"People assume we are an Indian resturant but we are not. Our big success this season has been the Italian food. But you can still come in for soup at lunchtime. So we do a lot more and we put a lot of effort into it all."

Lisa McLean, the project co-ordinator of Who Cares Wins, says “Café Kisimul have received some fantastic feedback, with over 200 cards being received over this season. All businesses will receive their collated feedback by the end of October, which should help owners and manager address any issues to make improvements to their customer service.”