ARDANAISEIG, Kilchrenan by Taynuilt, Argyll, 01866 833 333,
www.ardanaiseig.com With sensational views across Loch Awe, the setting of the dining room at Ardanaiseig is as inspiring as the food. The five-cour
se gourmet menu is a lavish affair worth travelling for, with French-influenced dishes featuring local fish, as well as local game, meat and hand-picked wild herbs and mushrooms. Appetisers and pre-desserts are very special touches and even the chocolates are home-made. Both the restaurant and chef de cuisine, Gary Goldie, have won several awards. The baronial-style hotel is full of character.
FAIRMONT ST ANDREWS, St Andrews, Scotland, 01334 837000
www.fairmont.com/standrews Esperante, the fine dining restaurant at the five-star Fairmont St Andrews, has just got a new chef, and with the Balmoral and Gleneagles on his CV, he’s got some culinary weight. The restaurant has a Mediterranean feel with sunset-coloured walls and furnishings and colourful artwork. The menu also has a European flavour, with French – and Italian-influenced dishes. There is a second restaurant, The Squire, as well as the Clubhouse, which has a cliff-top location with sea views and is open throughout the day.
The hotel has recently been refurbished and has 17 new beautifully-appointed suites and 115 newly-designed luxury bedrooms.
MONACHYLE MHOR, Balquhidder, Perthshire 01877 384622
www.monachylemhor.com This small family-run farmhouse hotel in the heart of the Trossachs is known almost as well for its food as for its cosy accommodation.
The award-winning restaurant is run by chef Tom Lewis of recent TV fame, who was taught to cook by his blind mother. He cooks food fresh from the estate, and it is well worth the journey for a decadent lunch or perhaps a well-earned meal after a walk in the Trossachs. Dinner is a four-course affair, and might include guinea fowl accompanied by pak-choi and butternut squash or fillet of lythe with puy lentils, chorizo and Scottish sea kale. Eating is mainly done in a conservatory, with magnificent views.
Down a long single-track lane on the banks of Loch Voil, the 18th-century farmhouse has 14 individually designed rooms, including chic contemporary rooms in the stable conversion.
THE BALMORAL, 1 Princes Street Edinburgh 0131-556 2414
www.thebalmoralhotel.com The luxury hotel in the heart of Edinburgh is renowned for its Michelin-starred restaurant Number One, one of Scotland’s best restaurants. Chef Jeff Bland provides outstanding cuisine with emphasis on creative dishes whilst promoting the best of Scotland by using only the finest and freshest Scottish ingredients. Number One restaurant has just won the “Fine Dining Experience” Award at the inaugural Scottish Restaurant Awards 2008, and is a wonderful experience in central Edinburgh.
THE AIRDS HOTEL, Port Appin, Argyll 01631 730236,
www.airds-hotel.comThis family-run, four-star hotel is set among the romantic scenery of the West Highlands on the coast of Argyll. The hotel was awarded three rosettes by the AA. For utterly impeccable, yet informal service and fresh, local produce, this is your place.The dinner menu changes daily and serves a variety of food which is renowned as some of the best in Scotland. The dining room is formal, but well worth the effort of donning a tie and being on one’s best behaviour.
The full article contains 569 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
