Dining Room at The Colintraive Hotel

With stunning views up and down the Kyles of Bute, this comfortable and homely hotel that guards the access by ferry from the Cowal Peninsula to the Isle of Bute is a real haven from the hurly burly of modern life, and its restaurant is open to all throughout the year. Recently taken over by Patricia Watt it has been refurbished without losing its essential character.

The ferry provides easy access from Bute and passing yachts make regular calls as the word spreads. Working mainly from a blackboard the menu offers good traditional dishes in generous proportions, with local scallops and langoustines, beautifully cooked tournedos and desserts that round off the meal with panache.

Local ales are well supported by the locals and visitors alike, for whom the hotel provides the nearest decent pint for quite a few miles. A sensible wine list seems to meet the menu on equal terms. On the last occasion we were there it was an untypically hostile June evening, and everyone was glad of the log fire in the bar, leaving the pleasant dining room rather deserted.

On more amiable nights one can enjoy the surrounding scenery over a pint with a midge-eater doing its work most efficiently. These Scots think of everything.