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Case Mia has rapidly earned a reputation as one of Dumfries and Galloway's top flight restaurants, serving a consistently good quality of cuisine with a decidedly modern European twist. Open seven days a week and situated literally minutes from Dumfries Town Centre, this delightful place is set in a secluded corner on the banks of the River Nith. Casa Mia has about it an air of elegance, refinement and sophistication that encourages return visits.

Under the expert management of Butrint Gashi, Case Mia benefits from his wide experience at Le Cafe du Jardin in Covent Garden and elsewhere with the result that the good people of Dumfries and Galloway find this restaurant highly desirable not only for intimate occasions when a good impression is required, but also for social and business events that demand efficient and competent handling.

Steak nights are a regular feature, so are seafood nights, and Greek cuisine gets a look in as well. From Sunday to Thursday from 5pm onwards, 5 - 7 pm on Fridays and 5 - 6 pm on Saturdays, Casa Mia is renowned for its Eat Late for Less menu, with 2 or 3 courses at under £16, that could start with chicken and apple Caesar salad, homemade beef lasagne served with garlic bread and cream filled profiteroles with warm chocolate sauce.

A lunch menu offers some twelve starters amongst which expect to find a tower of haggis, neeps and tatties with cream whisky sauce and air dried chips, or tempura battered fish skewer with marinated cucumber and sweet chilli sauce, succeeded by some 13 choices that include char grilled minute steak with peppercorn sauce and chips or fillet of plaice on baby new potatoes and mixed leaves salad with balsamic and lime juice. Wraps and ciabattas are there aplenty.

But it is the evening dinner menu, with its overtones of formality and relaxed enjoyment that brings people to Casa Mia, with homemade smoked haddock fish cakes with spring onion, tomato and salsa, cured Parma ham, melon and fresh fig platter with lemon and herb oil dressing, followed by Spanish style paella, or a rare grilled ostrich fillet on roasted red pepper and potato with port jus and mushroom duxelles.

The variety of their culinary achievements is amply supported by a wine list that bears all the evidence of a travelled approach to the subject, at prices which are a positive encouragement to combine the best of both. Robert Burns, the Scottish poet, was very familiar with Dumfries, nor was he lacking in an appreciative approach to matters of human refreshment. As a good democrat he would undoubtedly have approved of Butrint's friendly approach to local organisations, who find Casa Mia just the ticket for their fund raising dinners and events, or local artists who exhibit in the Casa Mia Gallery. Menus change fast, do keep an eye on their  Website for updates.

Dumfries and Galloway is a wonderful area of enormous scenic beauty attracting residents of skills and talents, and it is greatly to the credit of Casa Mia that they can rise to the implicit challenges so successfully.

Part of the Whitbread family, Table Table restaurants aim to bring great value tasty pub food to an ever increasing eating-out public who like well prepared and genuine food served by friendly staff in relaxing surroundings. If that sounds too much like a dream come true be assured that at Table Table they also walk the talk, and are pleased to have the chance to prove it.

Their well located restaurants are spread across a wide range of decors and styles, and all of them share a determination to provide comfort, warmth and relaxation. Their buffet menus for special occasions are remarkable value.

In keeping with modern trends they provide dishes to nibble or share as guests consider the spread of options on a menu that could be described as British with welcome incursions. So as you share long Italian flatbread, and dough balls and dips, or a sharing platter with an imaginative range of finger food starting with garlic and breaded mushrooms, it's time to think about the relative merits of aromatic duck parcels, a prawn cocktail, breaded Camembert or sticky chicken goujons to name but a few.

Many an innocent dish from the past has been hi-jacked in the best possible sense into becoming what is now called a 'pub classic'. Wiltshire cure ham with eggs is served with chunky chips and beef, mushroom and ale pie, or chicken and chips are all familiar with British tables, be they in the dining room or the kitchen. Now they have been added to by chicken fajitas, a sweet red pepper, crème fraiche and fennel tart, a leg of duck slowly cooked and served with a Bramley apple and cider sauce, or chilli con carne with basmati rice, sour cream and guacamole and nachos. So is the humble burger with six enticing toppings.

The point is they, and others, are all here at Table Table, well prepared with quality ingredients, and presented in a way that makes you hungry even if you thought you weren't.

Getting down to the more serious side of the table keep an eye open for the seafood pie, a delightful assembly of things fishy including crayfish, red snapper, prawns and clams. Many of their steaks are 28 days matured, including a 7oz fillet. All steaks are served with watercress, roasted cherry tomatoes, a flat mushroom and chunky chips. A choice from 4 sauces adds the final touch of enjoyment.

Pastas and salads embrace some well known and loved names, but for sheer enjoyment the hot smoked salmon salad takes some beating - flakes of hot smoked salmon mixed with a house salad and soy and ginger sauce. A real winner.

Snacks aplenty cover hot baguettes with the like of grilled pork loin and Bramley apple sauce, sandwiches filled with Cheddar cheese, or prawns and Marie Rose sauce, and jacket potatoes with such temptations as chilli con carne. Add a bowl of chips for only a little extra.

A well travelled wine list offers helpful advice for the uninitiated and there's an impressive choice of draught and bottled beers and lagers. All in all it would appear that Table Table are more than achieving their aims, providing the opportunity for people to eat out enjoyably, with excellent value for money. Long may they continue to do so.

For completely up to date information on menu changes and special offers do make a regular check on their lively Website.

The restaurant at Cressfield Country House Hotel serves modern British cuisine with a number of Scottish specials. Guests can look forward to dining here in a tranquil comfortable setting. Cressfield Country House in Townfoot, Ecclefechan is a charming hotel located in picturesque Dumfriesshire in the South West of Scotland, just minutes from the M74. Its beautiful rural setting makes it just the place for a weekend getaway or as the venue for a special occasion.

A meal in the restaurant at Cressfield Country House could offer such dishes as haggis stuffed flat cap mushrooms topped with Lockerbie Cheddar, North Atlantic prawns cocktail, Scottish smoked salmon, braised lamb shank with mashed potato, chargrilled pork loin with mixed vegetables, Whitby breaded scampi, steak and ale pie, Cressfield burger, and leek and onion hot pot. Round off the meal with sticky toffee pudding, homemade cheesecake or a Scottish cheese board.

The atmosphere at Del Amitri in Annan is that of cosy elegance, a dining experience that allows you to savour every minute of your time spent in the company of family and friends. The decor sets the tone for the meal with its rich plum coloured walls and furnishings and gleaming hardwood floors but the real star of the show would undoubtedly be the food, as it should rightly be. Only the finest local and seasonal produce from Southern Scotland is used to create dishes of the highest standard, a fact that is proved in the increasing popularity of this restaurant.

A look at the menu, which changes on a weekly basis, might reveal a ballontine of confit duck with caramelised apple, wrapped in Parma ham with smoked bacon and puy lentil amongst the starters. To follow, the pan roasted crown of partridge on bubble and squeak, with braised celery, Madeira and pearl barley jus is excellent, finally ending with the enticing rich dark chocolate, coffee and pistachio delice. The wine list at Del Amitri is notably global featuring numerous choices.

Blackaddie House is a small haven of beauty and relaxation set in its own gardens on the outskirts of the village of Sanquhar, on the banks of the River Nith. With nine bedrooms and three cottages, the hotel is a lovely place for a family holiday, a romantic weekend or weddings and family celebrations.

Owner and Chef Ian who has held a Michelin Star for 8 consecutive years in his previous restaurant is at the helm of affairs and it is not surprising that the dishes served at Ian@blackaddie are some of the best to be found in the area.

A daily changing menu offers delights such as rillettes of confit partridge with burnt oranges, seared foie gras and puy lentils; spinach and goats' cheese pannacotta with a salad of baby leeks goats' cheese and crisp croutons; a hearty courgette stuffed cannon of lamb on a bed of ratatouille, and seared fillet of wild salmon with salmon sausage.

Bring your Ian@blackaddie experience to an end with roast pineapples and black pepper ice cream.