Menu-wise the Auld Alliance is alive and well at Cringletie, with award-winning chef Paul Hart, who has a well-known affinity for the local produce, in charge. If it's fresh and local produce it is unlikely to avoid Paul's attention.

Eating is divided between three rooms, the Sutherland, the Wolfe Murray Room, and the Maguire Room. The Sutherland Room takes most of the heat, partly because of its size, but also due to its famed hand-painted trompe l'oeuil ceiling which, combined with a handsome log fire ensures a warm and elegant aura.

Lunch is served from a 3-course changing menu, number of courses variable to suit the capacity of the individual. It is at dinner that the full joie de vivre of the kitchen comes into play, with a seven-course gourmet tasting menu, at £55 or £85 with selected wines, drawn from the dishes on offer that day as a serious option. The a la carte menu carries a number of traditional Scottish dishes, some with a strong French twist, together with the strong possibility that at the very least some of the vegetables will have been grown in the richly verdant kitchen garden of the hotel.

The wine list is designed to blend with the flavours featured in Paul Hart's menus, and includes a selection from most of the main wine producing areas in the world.