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There are three restaurants in this stylish country house hotel, only a short distance from the Scottish Border and surrounded by 15 acres of mature woodland. The Borders is a traditional dining room. The Music Room, overlooking the sea, and the panelled Gallery offer the same high quality of service and food in a more intimate setting. A good place to unwind before the meal is the Duck and Grouse Bar, where an open log fire and discreet lighting helps create the tone. Game features largely on the menu and fresh seafood comes daily from Eyemouth. The generously stocked cellar spans both New and Old World.

A Grade II listed Georgian building, The Collingwood Arms Hotel in Cornhill has been lovingly made over in collaboration with award-winning architects and local craftsmen to restore it to its best. Having worked up an appetite after casting for salmon in the River Tweed, which passes only yards away, or exploring the splendid countryside around, guests can enjoy wholesome traditional fare with gusto in the subtle splendour of its Dining Room.

Serving appetising seasonal home style dishes, the kitchen team uses only the best, locally-sourced ingredients for the daily changing menu. A tranquil garden in the rear offer diners the opportunity to eat alfresco during the summer months. The comfortable bar, embellished with warm oak and antique leather, is just the place to sit back and relax and put away a few local beers, a glass of fine wine or a dram of some excellent Scotch whisky. And, if it's too late to return home consider putting up for the night in one of the hotel's rooms named after ships that took part in the Battle of Trafalgar.

A splendid baronial mansion built by Charles Barry, of new Westminster Palace fame and now providing a useful staging post en route to Scotland. As you might expect everything is gracious and comfortable, and the food is traditional and safe. Downstairs you can eat cosily in the bar with much the same food for significantly less. A challenging wine list with house wine at £10.50.

Fancy a lunchtime meal at a vintage shop where you could take home your plate, fork and even your table perhaps, once you're done! Café Curio on Bridge Street is a unique restaurant and antique shop rolled into one, with lampshades, chandeliers and Victorian furniture, all lending a nostalgic feel. Going by the number of diners who throng its door, you can be assured that this concept has gone down well with the locals.

After you've absorbed those classic collectables, its time to focus on some French fare credited with the use of local ingredients, think homemade soups such as smoked Northumberland cheddar cheese and rocket pesto to a Berwick seafood plate featuring crab. The menu changes weekly and embraces dishes like fresh Eyemouth cod with capers, cherry tomatoes and flat leaf parsley, aubergines cooked with tapenade and goat's cheese, and raspberry and almond torte.

The shop-while-you-eat concept can hardly be bettered in this part of Northumberland, and Café Curio does well to stir up one's curiosity.