Port Of Menteith, Scottish Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: “Well worth the lengthy detour” – “hidden away up a long narrow road”, with views over Lochs Voil and Doine – Tom Lewis’s “unique” boutique hotel puts a contemporary slant on traditional Highlands hospitality, while chef Marysia Paszkowska’s menus rely heavily on home-grown produce.

Limited but very enthusiastic feedback on this two-year-old outpost of the Nairns’ empire, whose most notable feature is a vast outdoor space, but whose attractions also include a home shop run by the celebrity chef’s wife. ‘Paul’s Pizza’ is a mainstay of a menu of fairly straightforward brasserie-style fare (burger, chicken Milanese, venison meatballs, steak…). The Scotsman’s Gaby Soutar is also a fan – in her February 2023 review she dubbed it “a beautiful space” that’s “well worth a detour” and “hard to leave”.

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”.