Edinburgh and East of Scotland Edinburgh Northeast Perthshire Fife

Champany Inn, Linlithgow, nr Edinburgh. Phone 01506 834532
This restaurant with rooms is just 20 minutes from Edinburgh, and is something of an institution amongst seafood and, especially, steak-lovers. The very comfortable rooms include a wonderful breakfast and complimentary Taittinger Champagne. Champany's dining room is beautiful, if very traditional in character. The drama begins in the bar, where a saltwater pool contains live oysters and Lobster straight from the Western Isles: shellfish doesn't come much fresher than this. But beef is Champany's glory, and my Aberdeen Angus steak was simply one of the best money can buy, hung for three weeks to develop its flavour. Chargrilled, the steaks are cooked to your own idea of perfection inside. We shared a few plates of the superb, thick-cut French fries and onion rings with these. Starters include hot-smoked salmon, salads and soups, and desserts are calorific and substantial. Prices in the restaurant are breathtaking, with a steak costing £29.50 without vegetables or sauce. Add £10 for starters and £7 for desserts, and you realise that an evening in Champany will be memorable - for more than one reason! But a lovely place, and what a steak (2007). Closed Sunday, dinner only Saturday. £130 for dinner. Note, Champany also offers the more casual "Chop and Ale House" with considerably lower prices.

Harvey Nichols, St Andrew's Square. Phone 0131 524 8388
The punnily-named "Forth Floor" restaurant is indeed on the fourth floor, and does indeed enjoy a spectacular panorama over Edinburgh, as far as the Forth estuary. Walk through the excellent food market, and into the pristine, bright and modern space for pristine, bright and modern food. I chose two starters rather than a conventional starter and main course, and no one batted an eyelid. A gazpacho with grilled goat's cheese was fine: the gazpacho quite rough-textured and rustic, a disc of still chalky fresh cheese in the middle. I followed this with seared scallops on a bed of buttery polenta, served with a bitter endive and mixed leaf salad. Excellent espresso and chocolates rounded-off a very nice summer lunch, which had been washed down with Spice Route's excellent Chenin Blanc from a globe-covering wine list (2005). Open for lunch every day, dinner Tue-Sat. £60 for lunch.

The Plumed Horse, 50-54 Henderson St, EH6 6DE. Tel: 0131 554 5556
Having enjoyed a few meals at this one-Michelin-star restaurant when it was located in Crossmichael, a village in the Scottish Borders, I was intrigued when chef/proprietior Tony Borthwick announced in 2006 that he was shutting up shop and moving the whole operation to Edinburgh. His new premises is in Leith - culinary hotspot, already home to Martin Wishart and The Kitchen, both with Michelin stars - and its refurbishment caused Borthwick and his partner dear. Delays in opening meant that Michelin could not make their annual inspection, and so the coveted star is missing in the 2007 red guide. Finally the restaurant did open just days before Christmas 2006, and early teething problems saw some lukewarm reviews. But Borthwick is made of stern Yorkshire stuff, and has carried on, with minor tweaks to the menu and pricing. I had a superb meal on my recent visit. The dining room may lack the polished sheen of his rivals, but it is fresh and airy, with large picture windows flooding the room with light on a summer's evening. My first course of roasted, hand-dived scallops on a bed of sweet onion compote, was topped with sautéed foie gras and sprinkled with confit of citrus zest. The textures and flavours were superb, the delicately briny flavours of the scallops melding with the unctuous richness of the liver, and the snap of the citrus zest adding vibrant pinpoints of flavour. Pancetta-wrapped monkfish was perfectly moist, and a coconut panna cotta with pineapple sorbet and spiced rum syrup managed to be both clean and sumptuous at the same time. With high hopes of regaining his fallen star in 2008, Borthwick has expanded and improved the wine list. Mark-ups are moderate, with wines like 1999 Riesling Clos Ste Hune from Trimbach at £80, or the 2000 Barolo Bussia from Prunotto at £49. The Plumed Horse offers excellent food, at modest prices for such quality. (2007)
£38 for three courses, Open Tuesday - Saturday for lunch and dinner.

Oloroso, 33 Castle Street. Phone 0131 226 7614
Just a stone's through from Princes Street, elevators whisk you to a rooftop world of smartly-suited waiters, plush, modern surroundings, and fantastic views over the skyline. This is pretty serious foodie territory, with a range of set menus on offer from £30 up to an eye-watering £100 tasting menu at dinner. But fear not, there is also a selection of smaller dishes available à la carte, at a modest £7.50. I thoroughly enjoyed a starter of pan-fried foie-gras on citrus brioche, which came doused in a tangy dressing. Fillets of sea bream were next up, sitting on a warm salad of saffron-onions, chick-peas and pesto. My only complaint was the main-course-sized plateful, half of which was left uneaten knowing a chump of lamb on flageolet beans lay waiting in the wings. The lamb was perfect and delicious, served in an unusual sauce of goat's cheese, rosemary and red wine. Another tiny niggle was on balance: following chick-peas with beans was rather over-doing the pulses in my book. Dessert was spectacular: two cannellonis (thin, rolled pancakes), filled with pineapple and accompanied by exotic coconut and pineapple sorbets. Oloroso's wine list includes the "Oenothèque" collection of Dom Perignon vintage Champagne, back to 1959, but also a nice selection of less expensive bottles and good half-bottle and by the glass options (2005). anything from £40 to £200, depending on your choice. Open seven days

Number One, The Balmoral, 1 Princes Street. Phone 0131 222 8888
Number one is the Michelin-starred fine dining restaurant which occupies the basement of the Balmoral, Edinburgh's iconic hotel that dominates one end of Princes Street. The clubby restaurant has dark panelled walls, with many of the tables at cosy banquettes and natural light through below-street-level windows. The staff are extremely attentive (more of the excellent breads, water and topped up drinks come fast, and bordering on the furious, on my most recent visit) though Sommelier Sam Aitken works the room with a relaxed charm. There is a £25 lunch menu, but we dined a la carte which means starters at around £14, mains at £25 and puds at £9. My mille-fuielle of east coast crab was beautifully fresh, with white meat crammed into a delicate top and tail of thin pastry, surmounted by three perfect little quenelles of avacado mousse, and the accompanied by dainty but flavourful asparagus and softly boiled quail's eggs. My main course was triumphant: Confit Fillet of Beef came on an onion purée, and was topped with a Rossini-style chunk of seared foie gras. The minimalist support act was three delicate little cocotte potatoes, and a wonderfully deep madeira reduction. A truly exemplary meal finished with a passionfruit soufflé that was fluffy yet dense, sweet yet sharp, and came with beautiful little slice of lime and coconut pie. Excellent chocolates and petit-fours were served with coffee. The wine list is expensive but impressive, with by the glass choices starting at £7, leading onto the whole Oenotheque collection of vintage Dom Perignons topping out with the 1966 at a shade under £1,000. But it also includes good value wines in the mid-£20s from all over the world in amongst a fairly starry line-up. The 2003 Châteauneuf 'La Bernadine' 2003 from Chapoutier was lovely with the steak. A terrific meal in one of Edinburghs very best restaurants. (2007)
Lunch Wednesday to Friday, dinner all week. Around £180 if drinking modestly

The Pompadour, Caledonian Hotel, Princes Street. Phone 0131 222 8888
The historic "Calley" five-star hotel dominates the opposite end of Princes Street from the Balmoral. Rather tucked away up on the first floor is the splendid Pompadour restaurant, which is open to non-residents. This is one of the capital's most beautiful dining rooms; an ornately plasterworked oval dating from 1903, with sweeping views to Edinburgh Castle. Rather than go for a modernist overhaul like many top hotel dining rooms recently, the Pompadour has gone whole-hog with a glamorous fin de siécle, swags and tails decor, including a grand piano surmounted by a vast floral arrangement. The food too has eschewed any hint of nouvelle cuisine, instead making a play of dining from the great days of grand hotels, with much flambéing of crêpe Suzette and slicing of Châteaubriand at the table. In fact the food is pretty good. I started with a roast pigeon breast, sitting atop an onion tart, with sweetly reduced thyme-infused sauce. The Châteaubriand was served in several thick, beautifully cooked slices with a slightly pedestrian Bearnaise sauce. Dessert was a disappointing multi-layered cream and fruit concoction in a tall glass. The wine list is strong on classic French regions, but offers New World choices too, at reasonable mark-ups for an operation of this type. A romantic setting and a chance to re-live a little of the belle époque. (2005)
Closed Sunday and Monday. Around £100 for dinner.

Rhubarb, Prestonfield House, Priestfield Rd. Phone 0131 225 1333
Prestonfield House was a rather crumbling old pile, set in magnificent parkland just 10 minutes from the city centre. Now, hotelier James Thomson of the Witchery and Tower restaurants has spent millions refurbishing the hotel into a decadent, moody, lovers tryst-type hideaway with sumptuous rooms and fine dining restaurant called Rhubarb. The dining room is opulently furnished with fabric-covered walls, deep crimson and black colours and beautiful plasterwork picked out subtley in gold. The kitchen uses very good local ingredients, like my seared scallops which came on a grainy mustard sauce with a slick of olive-oily potato mash beneath. These were really good scallops: firm and plump, and just cooked through with a caramelised crust. Main course fillet steak was one of the best I've had in a while: a superb piece of beef (Highland cattle roam the grounds, but surely not...). Dessert was also an absolute triumph I have to say: a crottin cheescake, which was a thickly-textured, creamy, baked cheescake tower with a real bite of goat's cheese, served with a ring of just-poached plums that retained all their acidic bite to act as a counterfoil to the cheese, and drizzled with a sweetening sabayon. The wine list is already good, with reasonable mark-ups, but is being improved as cellars are refurbished. Whether you will dig Prestonfield House's rather eccentric vision of romantic - verging on the tacky it has to be said with so much velvet, brocade and tartan - is a personal thing, but on this evidence the kitchen keeps things simple and very good. (2005)
£110 for dinner. Open every day for lunch and dinner

Vermilion, 20 North Bridge. Phone 0131 556 5565
Vermilion is the fine dining room of the plush Scotsman Hotel. A striking effect has been created with rows of fine wine sitting on back-lit shelves which surround the room. Only faintly visible through diffusing screens, this simple but very clever device somehow creates a tantalising sense of expectation. I ate from a limited-choice menu, offered as part of a terrific deal called The Screening Room, which includes a classic movie after dinner in the hotel's private cinema (click here for a full report). I started with a Tian of crab, langoustine and Granny Smith apple which was beautifully fresh; a chilled tower of the finely chopped ingredients bound in a light mayonnaise sandwiched between paper-thin discs of celeriac root, and topped with a scoop of citrus sorbet. With a respectful nod to oriental cuisine, young chef Chris Smart created a lovely main course; a breast of aromatic duck sliced atop a Shitake mushroom risotto, scented with star anise. This was a fine dish, the duck not over-cooked, but moist and soft-textured, and the risotto dark and earthy. The wine list at Vermilion runs the gamut from well-chosen, affordable bottles to high-end Bordeaux and Burgundy (2003). Closed Mondays, around £90 for dinner

The Vintners Rooms, 87 Giles St. Phone 0131 554 6767
Dinner at the Vintners Rooms offers the chance to dine in one of the UK's most historic wine-related buildings, constructed in 1580 for the storage of wine landed at the nearby docks in Leith. After various expansions, the current building dates substantially from the 18th Century. The formal dining room is festooned with intricate plasterwork originally commissioned by the Edinburgh Vintners Guild, though the same menu can be taken in the more relaxed, but atmospheric bar area. I have eaten at the Vintners Rooms several times in the past, but a recent change of ownership and chef has, by all accounts, transformed the quality of the kitchen. I noticed first that the interior has been nicely spruced-up without losing any of the unique ambiance. Front of House Laure Pagès and Chef Patrice Ginestière have come from the highly regarded Hotel du Vin, and offer a menu with around half a dozen choices at each course. My terrine of foie-gras and thyme with a fig chutney was sensational: as beautiful a piece of buttery, densely-textured foie gras as I've eaten anywhere, with the fig chutney made chunky, sweet and sour. For main course I chose peppered venison, which was seared on the outside, yet meltingly soft to cut, and was served carved over a mound of spicy red cabbage. The fondant potato was perfectly cooked (sadly all too rare an occurrence). Desert was a vacherin, in a very upmarket interpretation, based around a berry water-ice, soft meringue and autumn berry garnish. I am looking forward to a return visit to the Vintners rooms: if the new team can produce such excellent food consistently, then the Port of Leith has another terrific dining destination (2005). Closed Sunday night and Mondays. £80 for dinner.

Fife

Esperante, St Andrews Bay Hotel, St Andrews. Phone: 01334 837000
Esperante is the fine dining restaurant within the five star St Andrews Bay resort hotel, a modern, luxury property with spa and two championship golf courses. The hotel has a slightly too corporate feel, and those in search of a romantic hideaway should look elsewhere. But otherwise, it is very comfortable with first class rooms, breathtaking sea views and extremely helpful and friendly staff. The designers have done a good job with Esperante too: tucking it away in a corner, lighting it beautifully, and dividing up the space cleverly to give a sense of intimacy. Chef Scott Dougal is a former "Scottish Chef of the Year" who presents a Mediterranean-influenced cuisine, but based around seasonal Scottish produce. I attended a Burgundy wine dinner, where the kitchen created some really terrific dishes, starting with a cauliflower and truffle panna cotta, served as a soft-textured, smooth little pudding on top of the most delicate carpaccio of tuna. This was a really imaginative dish, but more than that, it was perfectly executed, managing to avoid overpowering the dish with truffle, and creating a delicate contrast between the main ingredients. A chorizo and basil risotto was similarly well-cooked, though perhaps a more oily and pungent chorizo would have had even more impact. A main course roast loin and cassoulet of rabbit was triumphant: a delicious ballotine of dense white meat served over an earthy, slow cooked stew, with a properly cooked fondant potato (all too rare). For dessert, two featherweight quenelles of whipped brie were served with a Dacquoise biscuit and tangy pear and fig chutney. This was food that was original and well-executed. Coffee and petit fours rounded off an impressive first visit and most enjoyable dinner. (2005)
Closed Monday and Tuesday, £120 for dinner for two.

Perthshire

The Four Seasons, St Fillans, Perthshire. Phone 01764 685 333
This has been my year for country house hotel breaks. The week prior to this I'd been at the superb Airds. In many ways the hotels are similar, with fantastic loch-side settings, only around 10 rooms, and reputations for excellent food. In other ways they differ completely; not least on price (Airds is double the price). Rooms in The Four Seasons mostly have lovely views of Loch Earn, and they are comfortable and spacious. They are quite simple, with every convenience, but they are not luxurious. Details like a Bose sound system, a bookcase stocked with novels and a friendly rubber duck or two in the bath set the tone for a hotel that has many individual and quirky touches. A recent, stylish makeover of the public rooms is set to extend to the bedrooms over time. The food here is very good indeed, with an emphasis on Scottish produce. My salad of Pittenweem crab, shredded and served with a Jerusalem artichoke salad was fresh and delicious. Beautifully cooked Halibut was served as two thick steaks, topped with a generous slice of foie-gras entier, in a red wine reduction. The wine list is one that I barely want to share. With good value throughout, it is the fine wine selection at the end that realy sets the pulses racing: we drank Krug at £79.99 (£74.99 retail) or you could have 1983 Château Monrose for £50 for example. For those prepared to splash out on the wines, there is value to be found. I can also heartily recommend the clotted cream scones for afternoon tea, and the almighty breakfast, with home-made kedgeree and porridge both top-notch. Tiny criticisms? Well, a couple of the seasonal waiting staff really struggled to cope I felt, and the vegetarian menu chosen by one of my party was pronounced as disappointing. But the Four Seasons delivers a lot of individuality, style and quality at moderate prices. At just over an hour from Glasgow or Edinburgh, and with that wine list, I will definitely be back. Dinner, bed and breakfast for two is around £140 per night off-season, £180 in summer. (2007)