Case Mia has rapidly earned a reputation as one of Dumfries and Galloway's top flight restaurants, serving a consistently good quality of cuisine with a decidedly modern European twist. Open seven days a week and situated literally minutes from Dumfries Town Centre, this delightful place is set in a secluded corner on the banks of the River Nith. Casa Mia has about it an air of elegance, refinement and sophistication that encourages return visits.

Under the expert management of Butrint Gashi, Case Mia benefits from his wide experience at Le Cafe du Jardin in Covent Garden and elsewhere with the result that the good people of Dumfries and Galloway find this restaurant highly desirable not only for intimate occasions when a good impression is required, but also for social and business events that demand efficient and competent handling.

Steak nights are a regular feature, so are seafood nights, and Greek cuisine gets a look in as well. From Sunday to Thursday from 5pm onwards, 5 - 7 pm on Fridays and 5 - 6 pm on Saturdays, Casa Mia is renowned for its Eat Late for Less menu, with 2 or 3 courses at under £16, that could start with chicken and apple Caesar salad, homemade beef lasagne served with garlic bread and cream filled profiteroles with warm chocolate sauce.

A lunch menu offers some twelve starters amongst which expect to find a tower of haggis, neeps and tatties with cream whisky sauce and air dried chips, or tempura battered fish skewer with marinated cucumber and sweet chilli sauce, succeeded by some 13 choices that include char grilled minute steak with peppercorn sauce and chips or fillet of plaice on baby new potatoes and mixed leaves salad with balsamic and lime juice. Wraps and ciabattas are there aplenty.

But it is the evening dinner menu, with its overtones of formality and relaxed enjoyment that brings people to Casa Mia, with homemade smoked haddock fish cakes with spring onion, tomato and salsa, cured Parma ham, melon and fresh fig platter with lemon and herb oil dressing, followed by Spanish style paella, or a rare grilled ostrich fillet on roasted red pepper and potato with port jus and mushroom duxelles.

The variety of their culinary achievements is amply supported by a wine list that bears all the evidence of a travelled approach to the subject, at prices which are a positive encouragement to combine the best of both. Robert Burns, the Scottish poet, was very familiar with Dumfries, nor was he lacking in an appreciative approach to matters of human refreshment. As a good democrat he would undoubtedly have approved of Butrint's friendly approach to local organisations, who find Casa Mia just the ticket for their fund raising dinners and events, or local artists who exhibit in the Casa Mia Gallery. Menus change fast, do keep an eye on their  Website for updates.

Dumfries and Galloway is a wonderful area of enormous scenic beauty attracting residents of skills and talents, and it is greatly to the credit of Casa Mia that they can rise to the implicit challenges so successfully.