Milton Restaurant and Conservatory, The

Situated opposite Crathes Castle at the gateway to Royal Deeside and the start of the Castle and Whisky Trails, The Milton Restaurant and Conservatory offers fine food in picturesque surroundings with high standards of service.

With a reputation as one of the most accomplished restaurants in the North East of Scotland, The Milton's kitchen team of award winners is renowned not only for the taste, texture and depth of flavour they impart to their cooking, but also for the stunning presentation of the dishes.

Open daily throughout the year (except Christmas Day and New Year's Day) the innovative dining Restaurant and Conservatory menus offer contemporary European cuisine using the finest seasonal ingredients from Grampian's abundant markets and ports.

Just fifteen minutes from Aberdeen, The Milton offers a quintessential dining experience, be it a romantic meal for two, a wedding reception or a corporate function requiring private dining facilities. The Milton also has its own private marquee and can provide bespoke menus, themed nights, live jazz, fun casinos and a private helipad. They have introduced a Brasserie style menu served all day which offers a variety of dishes accounting for a lower Average Cost per Head.

The all day menu might include starters of smoked haddock fishcake, seared breast of wild pigeon, or seared King scallops with warm chorizo. Wild Scottish venison not unnaturally appears amongst the main dishes, roasted and served on braised red cabbage with hotch-potch potatoes. Warmed chocolate and marmalade pudding with fresh egg custard appears alongside the Milton crème brulee with gingernut biscuit.

However, The Milton is an admirable setting for something rather more sophisticated in the evening, and the a la carte will come to your aid in the event. Seared breast of squab is served on creamed Savoy cabbage with a carrot puree to make a tasty starter from a list of five, or there's smoked chicken consommé with herb dumplings.

Moving to main courses the eye may well stray to the roasted rack of Grampian lamb, or fillet of Aberdeen Angus beef with pommes Dauphinoise, glazed shallots, winter mushrooms and a Merlot jus.

One sometimes feels slightly despairing about Scottish desserts - cranachan or Athol Brose and that's about it, but The Milton comes to the rescue with their own crème brûlée, infused with Seville orange zest and served with MacAllans 10 year old ice cream and a cinnamon tuille.

They say, 'Selecting wines for The Milton continues to be an interesting task . . . ' an observation with which most of us would hardly disagree. Suppliers T M Robertson, Inverarity Wine Vaults and Oddbins play their part in the process, the results of which must make this one of the most interesting lists in Scotland. Their Director's Selection hosts serious grand wine, most of them with only a token mark-up.

This is a list of which the house wine alone is in a class of its own.

More information is available on their Website or contact Neil Rae or Jan Leatham on +44 (0)1330 844474.