Restaurant at Culloden House Hotel

Culloden is a handsome, typical Scots country house which has the dubious distinction of having been Bonnie Prince Charlie's quarters at the time of the Battle of Culloden. It was to this house that many of the wounded Jacobites were brought after the conflict only to fall victims to "Butcher" Cumberland, who carried out his orders with awful precision. Nowadays a happier atmosphere prevails and those who prize a taste of the better things in life beat a path to the door of this peaceful house. Scottish dishes are in great evidence and many of the ingredients have known no other environment than the surrounding lochs, hills and sea.

A meal might start with tartar of sea trout and smoked salmon with marinated cucumber, lemon and pepper oil. A timbale of haggis, neeps and tatties takes a nod to more Lowland tendencies, though in truth the Highlands have been happy to adopt them. Medallions of beef fillet coated with a creamed grain mustard sauce topped with whole shallots, chestnuts and bacon lardoons arrive with a wonderful selection of vegetables which you know instinctively are fresh. If you have never tasted Atholl brose, now's the time, a wonderful blend of honey, cream and whisky, with a coating of toasted caramel to provide a very Scottish finale to the meal.