Sugar Boat is making waves in Helensburgh.

The Bank Holiday weekend may be over but the 5pm Dining blog is taking a wee jaunt to the seaside.

To be precise, we’re off to Helensburgh where Sugar Boat, a new bistro, bar and wine shop, launched just over a week ago.

It is named after a local landmark, the MV Captayannis. Laden with a cargo of sugar, the ship sunk just off Helensburgh in 1974 and its wreck has remained visible on a sandbank ever since.

Will Smith helms Sugar Boat

Hopefully, Sugar Boat bistro has a happier future ahead.

The omens are good. Captain of the Sugar Boat is Will Smith. No, not that one.

Until recently, Mr Smith was best known as the boss of the hugely successful and Michelin-starred Arbutus and Wild Honey restaurants in London.

Obviously, what works in Mayfair may not necessarily be what the residents of Helensburgh are looking for.

Located on Colquhoun Square, the new venture is pitching itself as an all day, neighbourhood hangout.

The sort of joint where you can drift in for morning coffee or cake; swing by for weekend lunch or settle down for a leisurely three course dinner.

Seasonal and local

As you might expect, the regularly changing menus place a lot of emphasis on using ingredients which are both seasonal and locally produced.

Starters on the current menu include hand-cut pappardelle with rabbit and mustard and grilled sardines with a tomato chutney.

Main courses on offer include the whole roast chicken with watercress and bread sauce; crisp stone bass with a red pepper sauce and confit fennel plus a Scottish lamb hotpot served as a sharing portion.

Come dessert, you could go French with a hazelnut Paris-Brest – praline cream-filled choux pastries – or you could stay closer to home and order the Ecclefechan tart with whisky cream.

The 5pm Dining blog wishes the good ship Sugar Boat every success.