Dollar Restaurant Guide

“Beautifully cooked food in an opulent setting perfect for a special occasion” wins nothing but praise for this legendary property’s traditional dining room (which leaves the culinary showing off to Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, and concentrates on more old-school luxurious fare). Well… almost nothing but praise – a couple of reporters do note that while it’s “a very good restaurant, we are in Perthshire, not Mayfair or St James’s” and notwithstanding its many virtues the experience can still seem a tad “overpriced”.

“Just sublime!… Couldn‘t fault it in any way!… The highlight of my year… and have booked again for 2025!” – “Andrew Fairlie may no longer be with us, but his legacy is in good hands and lives on” at this famous dining room bearing his name, where chef Stephen McLaughlin (who worked with Andrew for 26 years before the latter passed away) creates what many diners consider to be Scotland’s finest cuisine (“there’s no getting away from the fact that this has to be up there with the best gastronomic experience we have ever experienced”), with “each fabulous course a testament to the skill of the kitchen brigade”. GM Dale Dewsbury presides over “a team of the loveliest people” who breathe life into this elegant (if windowless) chamber at the heart of this famous property.

“This real gem” on Auchterarder’s high street has just celebrated 25 years’ serving “fine food at good value for money”. It’s “a short drive from Gleneagles” – where “lovely friendly owners” Jon (chef) and Fernanda Lewin used to work – so “you must go when staying”, but “booking is advised because it is small”.

2021 Review: A bright Indian street food design is laid on strong at this large yearling, serving a variety of boldly flavoured bites. One or two encouraging early reports of “amazing flavours” win it an inclusion, but too few reports for a rating as yet.

2023 Review: “The best steaks we have ever eaten!” – the Davidson family’s roadside inn near Linlithgow has built its renown over four decades in operation, for the quality of its meat; and there’s also a selection of prime-quality burgers. Reflecting their heritage, South African wines are the backbone of what’s a high-quality list to bolster the generally red-blooded vibe.

2022 Review: Chef-patron Fabrice Bouteloup combines his classical French training with “lots of local produce” to create excellent meals at the “very good” restaurant with rooms he opened with his wife Alison in 2007.

No reports as yet on this spring 2023 newcomer – the latest opening in the expanding empire of MasterChef: The Professionals 2018 finalist Dean Banks. But The Scotsman’s Gaby Soutar is a fan – in her February 2023 review she noted that the “foraging theme only seems to extend as far as the branding” with a menu that only “features the prerequisite pub classics, like fish ’n’ chips, Sunday roast, pies” along with some “fancier bits”. But she concluded that “Scotland has another excellent country pub”.

Handy for Stirling Castle and the train station, this well-established venture has won an embarrassment of accolades over the years, including ‘Restaurant of the Year – Scotland’ at the country’s 2022 Food Awards. Reporters love its “retro menu of good old-fashioned cooking” (haggis with mash, chicken supreme), “though the layout and ambience make it feel a little more like a café than a really good eatery, which is what it is”.