Restaurant at The Rutland

The wonderful city of Edinburgh has the capacity to retain its sense of history, antiquity even, yet at the same time to respond to the times. The result is a vibrant city which manages to have it all without losing dignity and certainly not its credibility. Glaswegians, who have other fish to fry, tend not to acknowledge or even appreciate this special quality and make dour jokes about weddings and funerals.

I mention this simply because The Restaurant at The Rutland which has recently landed the Most Exciting New Restaurant 2009 prize given by the Scottish Hotel Awards, in many ways underlines this quality with precision. A centrepiece of The Rutland Hotel, Edinburgh's most exciting and elegant new boutique hotel, with twelve individually designed guestrooms, the very epitome of tasteful glamour, each room offers all the latest technology and home comforts including real filter coffee and homemade muffins. But for many the ultimate stunner is the majestic views of Edinburgh Castle as you wake to a new day.

In the restaurant, described as 'a feast for the senses', head chef David Haetzman and his team work from a menu that embraces much of what is good about the best Scottish produce from which traditional dishes, some with a twirl of the glens and the lochs about them, are all impeccably prepared and served. The start of the day combines delicate and diet-conscious plates with the more hearty offerings that touch upon such treats as Crombie's pork sausages, Stornaway black pudding and McAllister's Loch Fyne kippers.

Being where it is the restaurant is a natural haven for those who lunch, whatever their reason, and to be able to order an excellent lunch of quality at their prices is perhaps a tribute to the impact of a competitive market as well as a tour de force for the hotel. Theatre goers welcome a similar approach to pre-event suppers, again at prices and quality which will not molest the digestion.

I am never sure whether restaurants respond to the special quality of evening or the mood of their guests, but yet again this restaurant reacts like litmus to an indefinable something and as you tuck into a dinner starter of roast breast of Perthshire partridge or a terrine of Borders hare, the magic enfolds. Do try the Scrabster mackerel Three Ways, pâté, Japanese and pickled, a nice tribute to this much under-rated but very sustainable fish.

A natural progression to loin of Glen Lyon venison seems like a good idea, both at the time and afterwards, or perhaps a simply wonderful Scottish seafood broth, made with hake, mussels and clams, aromatic broth and couscous. Always popular is the breast of woodpigeon pie with creamed Savoy cabbage and game jus. Dishes from the grill are predictably superb, employing nothing but Scotch Aberdeen Angus beef, dry aged for 21 days, from the much respected Hendersons Butchers in Fife.

An evening tasting menu affords an opportunity to those who want something simple and quick to avail themselves of such delights as sausage and mash, roast suckling pig and Thai beef salad, a wonderful way to eat informally but comfortably in every sense. Nobody mentions the word tapas, but it does sort of spring to mind.

A wine list drawn from well over one hundred bins tours the world with an impish delight that blends with the skills of a keen nose to produce a list that is comprehensive enough without being inscrutable. Beginners to the pleasures of combining fine food with equally fine wines could do well to become regular visitors to the Restaurant at The Rutland.

Their Website is beautifully done, a pleasure to visit and agreeably informative.