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The picturesque and awe inspiring landscape of the town of Perth is home to the smart New County Hotel where the award winning Opus One restaurant continues to gather laurels and awards for their impeccable modern British gourmet cuisine. The hotel is located on County Place in the heart of Perth City Centre and is an ideal retreat whether you're there for business or pleasure. The marvellous adventure sports scene in Perth draws many an enthusiast, and at the end of the day the respite offered by the hotel is enough to rejuvenate even the most exhausted participant.

The light and airy bedrooms are furnished splendidly in stylish monochromatic colours, where white teams up with black for a classic look, and with beige for a more understated but elegant feel. The en-suite bedrooms are equipped with every conceivable comfort including flat screen TV, direct dial telephone, hair dryer and a well stocked hospitality tray.

The 2 AA Rosette awarded Opus One restaurant has garnered other prestigious awards too, such as a Silver Award from EatScotland at the end of 2008 and a Platinum Plate for their outstanding food with Hotel Review Scotland. And to add to that they were named the 'Rising Star Restaurant for 2009' and also achieved a runner-up place for Scottish National Hotel Restaurant of the Year in the Scottish Hotel of The Year Awards; while in 2010 they were 'Urban Restaurant of the Year' in the Scottish Restaurant Awards. Little wonder that the restaurant's popularity has been increasing from strength to strength and their Head Chef, Romuald Denesle from Normandy, who has worked in many excellent restaurants, most recently as Senior Sous Chef at The Ardeonaig Hotel on Loch Tay, is busy as ever trying to raise the bar even higher.

Opus One, we are told, could mean several things, such as the first masterpiece of an artist or composer or the famous wine from Napa Valley. The restaurant, which can be perceived as a magnum opus on its own, has been furnished with a contemporary taste where elegance combines graciously with modern style. The seasonal menu draws on the best of local produce and for lunch starters might include chicken liver parfait with red onion jam and oatcakes, or wholemeal blinis with thick cut smoked salmon with salad leaves and a grain mustards crème fraîche.

Main courses could involve delights such as slow roasted belly of pork with braised red cabbage, truffled potatoes and a sultana and thyme jus, or breast of corn fed chicken with celeriac and potato rösti, Savoy cabbage and Madeira jus. Dishes tend to become more elaborate in the evening, where meals could typically begin with goats' cheese pannacotta with caramelised beetroot and rocket salad, or carpaccio of monkfish cured in lime oil and a caviar dressing. Follow this with fresh market fish of the day or pan-fried fillet of beef.

Luscious and decadent, the desserts at Opus One could easily meet your calorific fantasies more than half way, for who can resist the pineapple and star anise mousse with roasted pineapple and green apple sorbet, or sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream and butterscotch sauce? To ably accompany such excellent food be sure not to miss the selection of fine wines and spirits. Their signature wine is understandably the Opus One, a Napa Valley number that is produced meticulously as a result of the inspired collaboration between Baron Philippe de Rothschild and Robert Mondavi.

There's much more information about opening times, menus and drinks lists on their elegantly designed Website and a few clicks will bring you closer to this wonderful dining destination. Do note that they do not accept children under the age of ten.

Every so often there comes into the orbit of this website a restaurant virtually in a class of its own. Of such an ilk is Ardeonaig, tucked away on the south shore of Loch Tay, but well within reach of those for whom true excellence in culinary matters represents the Holy Grail.

The chef/owner is Peter Gottgens, a fourth generation hotelier who grew up in South Africa. Amongst his achievements is the world's biggest known barbecue, for 35,000 people, and being Nelson Mandela's Chef of choice in the UK for many years, resulting in him being the lead chef for State banquets, etc.

Peter says, 'I've taken the things I love about my birthplace and married them to the very best of what my adopted home can offer'. Guests can choose to relax in the new and unique cellar dining room or dine in the restaurant or the more casual Study.

The cuisine, which won them a Michelin Bib Gourmand and an Inn of the Year award, is based on ingredients locally grown with the emphasis being on flavour driven food. There is a seasonal restaurant menu and a very popular six course signature gourmet menu. Within the comprehensive carte, examples are St Monans? smoked haddock with buttered leeks, lightly fried quails egg and grain mustard sauce, or Glen Lyon Estate wood pigeon breast with bone marrow, pearl barley and vegetable casserole.

Main course choices could include trio of Glen Quaich reared pork with cured belly, braised cheek, fillet ?a la plancha? and parsley mash, and roast line caught Strathy turbot with locally grown rooster potatoes, Amalfi lemon and capers. No menu at Ardeonaig would be complete without Scottish beef in one form or another, and amongst the variations you may spot a fillet with potato crumpet, bone marrow, snails, garlic and parsley.

Desserts, which are clearly a forte, follow the same pattern and include a Windward Island banana soufflé with Amarula ice cream and caramel sauce, or the chocolate mielie meal pudding with Madagascan vanilla bean ice cream. The wine list represents a triumph for South African wine, and must be one of the best live showcases for the product in this country. The same could also be said of the array of malt whiskies, one of the finest collections for quality.

Being snowed in at Ardeonaig must be one of life's most fulfilling experiences; however, don't take my word for it, find out far more about this wonderful spot on their exceedingly informative Website.

Lying in the very heart of Scotland, Perthshire has for centuries been the crossroads of the nation and thus benefits from excellent road and rail networks. Comrie is just over an hour's drive from the principal cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow and their airports. Nestling on the edge of the Highlands, in the heart of the riverside village of Comrie, The Royal Hotel, a handsome 18th century coaching house awaits you with a warm Scottish welcome and some excellent, beautifully prepared, Modern British food in their restaurant. Comrie's central position also makes it an ideal touring base for exploring the local region.

With its homely but luxurious atmosphere and open log fires, you will quickly succumb to their elegant charm, evocative period furnishings and genuine Highland hospitality. Eleven beautifully appointed bedrooms cosset you from the start, each has its own identity - individually planned and furnished with an eye for detail by local craftsman. The Hotel also has a luxurious self catering townhouse, Melville House, which is available for short term lets from two days to a week.

Stylish soft furnishings, antiques, polished wooden floors and open log fires, create a luxurious, homely charm. An atmosphere perfectly complemented by the Milsom family, who also own and run the Tufton Arms Hotel, Appleby, and their staff's cheerful, friendly hospitality.

You may dine in the walled garden during summer or choose the lounge bar for a light lunch with friends, but you are assured the very best in Scottish cuisine. After walking through the glens on a frosty morning, relax with a glass of wine by the crackling log fire.

Perthshire is often referred to as Scotland's larder and the Royal's chefs have an enviable reputation for their inspired use of natural ingredients - prime Scotch beef, lamb, venison, salmon, trout, game, sea fish, shellfish and the best soft fruit in Europe. All are harnessed to give you the very best of Scottish cuisine and a memorable culinary experience worthy of your stay at the Royal.

Award winning Chef David Milsom, who trained at his cousin's famous Le Talbooth restaurant, uses this fresh local produce, prepared with skill and flair, to create delicious classic dishes with a modern twist, matched with an extensive and well compiled wine list. The kitchen's achievements have not gone unnoticed and they have received a Taste of Scotland accolade for cooking, as well as One Rosette from the AA.

Their signature dishes include coarse venison and pork terrine served with griddled bread and beetroot chutney; and fillet of Scottish hake wrapped in Parma ham, sliced over braised cabbage and bacon, surrounded by tomato butter sauce and new potatoes.

Comrie, originally Gaelic speaking, has played host to many larger than life figures including Robert the Bruce, Rob Roy McGregor, Robert Burns and Queen Victoria - whose stay bestowed the name of The Royal Hotel on Comrie's major coaching inn. Over 150 years later, The Royal is still fit for a Queen having, in the years between the two world wars, been frequently visited by Queen Wilhemina of the Netherlands whose signed portrait hangs in the principal suite.

Why not join this exalted company and enjoy modern day comforts combined with old world charm by visiting the Royal to dine or stay?

More information can be found on their Website.

Established in May 1996, Victoria's has gone from strength to strength under the careful and dedicated ownership of Fiona and Angus John MacLellan and their enthusiastic, young family of three; indeed, the restaurant was given the name of their youngest child. Victoria's operates as a coffee shop from 10 am till 5.30 pm.

From 5.30 pm, it offers a bistro style menu until late, offering a cosmopolitan blend of quality cuisine set in informal surroundings, with an emphasis on friendly, attentive high standards of service.

During the day the wide ranging choice varies from full breakfast menu, baked potatoes, burgers, salads through to main courses. Luxury sandwiches include Mexican chicken wrap - chicken breast slices, peppers and onions with salsa, guacamole, sour cream and chives, rolled in a flour tortilla or American club sandwich - a three tier toasted wholegrain bread sandwich, layered with tender chicken breast slices, bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise, or steak sandwich - freshly baked panini with grain mustard mayonnaise, grilled steak, caramelized onions and blue cheese.

Whilst a full à la carte menu is also available, this makes it difficult to give an exact average cost per head, as it could vary from a fiver up to twenty five or thirty pounds, if you push the boat out.

In evening the mood changes from bustling coffee shop to bistro style dining. Lights are dimmed, tablecloths spread and candles appear on the tables. The menu varies from such tempting starters as tasty calamari, authentic nachos with chilli beef or 8oz sirlon steak with tiger tail prawns.

There is a wide selection of mains courses ranging from fresh landed East Coast haddock and French fries, or authentic fajitas with beef, chicken, prawns or combo, or prime Scottish salmon grilled with lime butter, and served with Hollandaise, asparagus and creamy pesto mash. Superb Scottish beef, supplied by award winning butcher Simon Howie is also much in evidence, cooked to your wishes on the charcoal grill.

And if you have room don't forget their puddings, as they are memorable. For instance their sticky toffee pudding, made to a secret family recipe served with warm toffee sauce, pecan pie or chocolate fudge cake to die for.

Be assured that whatever time of the day you choose to visit Victoria's you will receive a warm welcome and attentive, friendly service.

For their full details, which encompasses everything on the menu and details on everything to see in the locality, visit their Website.

The Beefeater Grill range of restaurants, owned by the well established firm of Whitbread has transformed over time into what is now predominantly a cooking platform for chargrill. The restaurants are warm, modern and stylish, with low lighting and contemporary artwork. A comfortable, cosy, mainly booth layout offers guests their own space with no feeling of being hurried at any point. Staff are friendly and helpful if need be - what a difference that can make to a good evening out.

Be it the wide open spaces of Argentina, the intimate setting of a French restaurant, or a busy grill in London's West End, there's no denying the popularity of chargrill. As the production of quality beef, chicken, fish and lamb has grown, prices have come down by comparison, and the simple and traditional art of minimally cooking dishes by chargrill, sealing in the flavours and tastes by intense heat has caught the public imagination.

All the steaks at Beefeater Grill are matured for a minimum of 28 days before being seasoned. Whether it be juicy rib eye, the classic sirloin, that emblem of the Sunday lunch, a tender fillet, or a delicious 7oz rump, all grilled to your own specification, you're never far away from perfection. Even beefburgers have shaken off their dubious image and the highly popular Beefeater burgers are made from 100% beef.

The popular sirloin with giant prawns offers a treat to those for whom an alliance between sea and pasture is a natural attraction, whilst a 16oz steak platter links rump, fillet, sirloin and rib eye into one mouth-watering dish served with chips, battered onion rings, grilled tomato, a flat mushroom and peppercorn and brandy sauce.

Many of us love rib meat, and the rack of ribs at a Beefeater Grill has a meaty rack smoky flavour; maple ribs of pork with a choice of three sauces, mojito, smoked caramel and apple glaze, or Bourbon and black BBQ. And if all else fails and you are totally baffled by the wealth of choices, ask to have a word with the Steakmaster who will help find what is right for you, together with the best cooking method. These guys leave nothing to chance.

On a menu that is a delight to read, let alone choose a meal from, expect to find smaller dishes such as traditional prawn cocktail, whitebait, chicken liver pâté and baked Camembert, or juicy lamb koftas served with yoghurt and mint dip. There's something about a good steak meal that always leaves a gap for a little temptation to sweeten up the scene and from amongst twelve options look for Belgian chocolate cheesecake, treacle sponge pudding or a caramel apple crumble pie.

Throughout the day a wide range of more general dishes are yours for the ordering, sandwiches, jackets, classic favourites like fish and chips, pasta, salads, and sharing dishes of nachos, potato shells and a Beefeater Grill combo. Next door to many of the restaurants are Premier Inns, so staying the night whatever the circumstances need not be a problem.

And what about wine? Endorsed by Matthew Jukes, wine writer in the Daily Mail and bon viveur in his own right, a wine list that marches with the menu completes an impressive and compelling invitation to enjoy whatever takes your fancy at the nearest Beefeater Grill.

Click on their Website for menu updates and special offers.

Brewer's Fayre restaurants offer a warm welcome to those who want a reliably tasty meal in pleasant surroundings, with plenty of choice, minimal fuss and friendly service. With a reputation going back 25 years they should have a fair chance of doing that, but don't take our word for it. Give them a try and see if you agree that this is how good quality pub food should be served.

Whether it's snacks, grills, pub classics, fish, Sunday roasts or side dishes they think their way through the options, talk to their guests, and then come up with the goods. Not everybody wants a full meal so they've considered the needs of those who want to keep the gap filled and the children contented, perhaps on a journey or a day out.

Hot filled baguettes are always popular be it sausage and red onion or a classic chicken club sandwich. Jacket potatoes are good on their own but filled with mature cheddar cheese and beans they take on a new dimension.

More paced occasions demand a wide menu, perhaps with starters of breaded butterfly prawns, chicken goujons or breaded camembert bites. Grills are there for the hungry and whole rack of meaty BBQ pork ribs served with extra sauce, chips and coleslaw can be very welcome. The days of the mixed grill are back - or did they ever go away - a 4oz rump steak, two pork sausages, and a gammon steak topped with a fried egg served with all the trimmings will remind you if they did.

Salmon and prawn fishcakes are served with buttered new potatoes, tartare sauce and a lightly dressed salad. A combination of sea and land comes with a rump steak, whole grilled chicken breast and breaded breaded butterfly prawns, served with chips and a side salad or garden peas.

The rise of eating out in pubs has brought into our daily lives a whole legion of what might be termed 'pub classics'. Many of them have their roots in what used to be called 'good home cooking' and include such dishes as sausage, egg and chips, beef and ale pie, chicken and mushroom pie and for the very daring a beef lasagne. Well, all of them and many more are on the menu at Brewer's Fayre, supplemented by such new regulars as vegetable Goan chicken curry, pork chop, chilli con carne and grilled chicken and bacon salad.

It has often been said that chicken tikka masala is now the most popular dish in Britain. Some may not really want to believe that, much as they love curry, but travel, population movement and other factors have widened our scope and they are probably pretty keen on fish and chips in Timbuktu.

What is certain is that the great British Sunday roast is exclusive to these islands, though copied maybe elsewhere or in ex-pat outposts. No surprise therefore that it's on the Brewer's Fayre menu. A trade of three roasts with an opportunity to trade up to a mega roast for a modest sum. With it come two Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, fresh seasonal vegetables and that important element - gravy.

A fine list of immensely tempting desserts may well bring the most ardent weight-watcher to their knees. A short but well thought out wine list offers all choices, except champagne, by the glass. Staying the night - check to see if there's a Premier Inn next door - chances are you'll be lucky.

A quick click on their Website is always worth while. The only thing that stays still permanently is the quality which is helped by a changing menu, and some very special offers.

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 husband and wife team of Willie and Margo Deans have taken up the reins of this prestigious Perth restaurant, Let's Eat, since October 2005 and retained the previous AA Rosette status; a member of the Master Chefs of Great Britain, Willie, has a good repertoire of recipes which have brought him some top notch awards in his 25 years in the industry.

Willie describes his cooking as vibrant modern Scottish. The focus is firmly on flavour and seasonality, most of his ingredients at Let's Eat are sourced locally and quality is not compromised. All aspects of the dishes are freshly made with great attention to detail and shown in the homemade breads, sauces and chocolates to name but a few.