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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.

In the elegantly refined ambience of the Bollinger Bar at the Palm Court in Princes Street guests may linger over afternoon tea, enjoy a delicious dinner or celebrate with champagne. Lilting strains from a harp and piano give the occasion a certain sensuousness.

Afternoon tea at the Palm Court includes a variety of sandwiches, a selection of scones with Cornish clotted cream and preserves, tea pastries and coffee or loose leaf tea. The champagne tea comes with a glass of Bollinger special cuvée, Ayala rosé or Bollinger rosé special cuvée. Choice of teas includes Royal Scottish Balmoral, Earl Grey, Darjeeling, Ceylon, silver needle, lapsang souchong and China keemun. Sandwiches with fillings of honey roast Scottish ham, brie and tomato, roast Blairgowrie beef and egg mayonnaise as well as seafood such as Loch Fyne oysters and traditional Scottish salmon add substance to the menu. A selection of innovative cocktails, fine liqueurs, Scotch and Bourbon vie for the connoisseur's indulgence at the bar.

To gain further information, just visit their extremely comprehensive Website.

Situated in the heart of Edinburgh is the gorgeous Balmoral that oozes with luxury, synonymous with the reputation of the Rocco Forte Collection. Even the location can't be bettered, with the famous sites of Edinburgh such as Arthur's Seat, The Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle, just a step away.

The interiors of the individually designed bedrooms and suites are beguiling and themed around natural colour tones and fabrics reflecting their Scottish heritage. Step into the Royal Suite and you will soon realise you don't want to go anywhere, with a fireplace, well stocked in-room bar, double walk-in shower and breathtaking views over the historic old town of Edinburgh, all are sure to evoke a wowed response.

Michelin-starred Chef Jeff Bland, awarded the honour of being named as Drambuie Scottish Chef of the Year in 2003, ensures that number one lives up to its name. It's currently the only hotel restaurant in Edinburgh to have gained a Michelin Star, first awarded in January 2003, which it has retained to this day, a fine tribute to Chef Bland and his brigade.

Using only the finest Scottish ingredients, Bland creates outstanding à la carte dishes using favourites such as French rabbit niçoise, halibut, beef fillet and West Coast scallops. It is easy to see why number one was given the Fine Dining Experience Award at the inaugural Scottish Restaurant Awards 2008, when the panel delivered their verdict that number one restaurant offers its customers 'the ultimate sophisticated dining experience'.

With that sort of accolade it might seem slightly superfluous to proceed any further, but a little detail might not come amiss. The success of number one revolves round the wonderful dishes on offer on the à la carte, with a Chef's tasting menu that is recommended for the whole table, to which we will return.

A stunning starter is provided by the mushroom soup with girolles, chicken boudin and parmentier potato, and Scottish lobster with leek purée, asparagus and shellfish foam, quite one of the best dishes out the five choices on offer. It has close competition from the roulade of foie gras with oxtail beignet, pistachio and pickled cherries, traditional but beautifully prepared.

Seafood is fast becoming one of life's great treats, and here it is lemon sole with langoustine, Israeli cous cous, confit fennel and choron sauce to make an outstanding main dish, though you may find it a hard choice between that and the loin of Cornish lamb, confit breast, black olive with carrot and apricot purée. Fillet of Borders beef again has that magic touch, this time with shallot purée, sweetbread and Bordelaise sauce.

Scottish cooking has, with one or two notable exceptions, to make do with more widely spread attributions when it comes to desserts, which makes them no less tempting. Terrine of milk chocolate with apricot, basil, melon sorbet and malt crisps is a work of art, and the slow cooked cherries with goat cheese sorbet, honey and fennel mousse seldom fails to please wherever it goes.

A pre-theatre dinner offer of three courses is available if ordered before 7pm. Whilst, as previously mentioned, the Chef's tasting menu is an seven course affair, each with its own wine pairing. At £62.50 a head, or an extra £50 with wine pairings, this is not for the faint hearted, but should you wish to travel along this most wonderful of gourmet roads you would be hard pushed to find anywhere better to do it than number one at The Balmoral.

Click on the Website for more information about number one, particularly about private dining and gifts.

If there's one thing you can get the British hooked on, it's seafood, pun predictable. So up in Scotland, which can usually be relied upon to show us the way in quite a lot of things, they are surprisingly a bit behind the times on the fishy thing, which is extraordinary when you think they have so much of the stuff around them. Not only lots of it, but real quality as well.

But both the Edinburgh and Glasgow Mussel Inns are doing their best to make sure that Scotland catches up and tells the world that Scottish seafood is streets ahead of the rest.

In Rose Street to be precise, that well-loved Edinburgh thoroughfare that offers a parallel pedestrian alternative to much of Princes Street, is friendly and well-used, and has rather sadly tended to shake off its formerly slightly louche flavour. Unlike its sibling in Glasgow the Rose Street Mussel Inn has not won any awards, but the food is every bit as good.

Creamy seafood chowder and the soup of the day both come with fresh crusty bread, or there's crab salad, which comes with claw meat and crayfish tails in a lime mayonnaise with cherry tomatoes on a toasted foccacia and drizzled with basil oil. The grilled platters give an option between starters or light meals, and oysters are either chilled natural, or grilled with gruyere cheese and bacon. Goat's cheese makes an excellent foil for seafood flavours, none more so than when grilled and served on toasted baguette slices topped with bell pepper and caper relish, as here.

Plump, juicy King scallops are a weakness for many, and at Mussel you can have them char grilled, on a skewer, or seared. Their small cousins, mussels, come in kilo pots, again with choices, this time natural, shallot, roasted pepper, leek, Moroccan, blue cheese, or corona, of which the Moroccan, with chillies, garlic, ginger, coriander and cumin sounds highly toothsome. But you would have been diverted well before then by thoughts of the hot seafood platter with its mix of fish and assorted shellfish poached in their own seafood sauce topped with grilled sea bass fillet and chive cream fraîche.

Round off with a chocolate crème brûlée, and then shuffle off into a dark corner to rest until it's time to come back. The wine list is predictably mostly white, though with some concession to heathens who occasionally like to have some wiry red with their shellfish. Their Cuvee Bouchard lives up to its claim of being excellent taste and value.

The Scottish passion for deep-fried Mars Bars is well catalogued, but not available at the Mussels, where lime cheesecake served with mango and passion fruit sauce may challenge the odds just as much, but do it with more grace.

Both Mussels are doing a first class job for their public and the cause of seafood in general. Any differences or preferences are purely personal and slight and do not affect the excellence of either.

For far more information - including their full menu - try a visit to their fun-packed Website, from which I was delighted to have authoritative evidence for what my instincts have been telling me ever since my first mussel, that seafood is seriously good for you.

Situated opposite to Crathes Castle at the gateway to Royal Deeside and the start of the Castle and Whisky Trails, The Milton Restaurant and Conservatory certainly occupies an envious location. Their private marquee by the riverside only adds to the appeal and with customized European and Scottish menus, live jazz and themed nights, the whole experience will be one to remember.

Being recognized as one of the most accomplished restaurants in the North East of Scotland is no mean feat and the kitchen team certainly deserve credit. The cooking places equal emphasis on flavours, textures and presentation, and endeavour to bring the market to the table by making the best use of the seasonal bounty that Grampian's markets and ports have on offer. Winners of numerous awards including Chef of the Year in 2007 and 2008, Restaurant of the Year in 2007 and Young Scottish Seafood Chef of the Year 2009 and Seafood Chef of the Year 2010, the Milton are also the proud recipients of an AA rosette.

The all day menu might include starters of smoked haddock fishcake, tempura prawns, or breaded Devenick brie. Supreme of chicken with haggis mousse and sirloin of Aberdeen Angus beef are just some of the many delights that are offered. Desserts featured include Milton crème brûlée and iced whisky and oatmeal parfait served with fruit compote.

However, The Milton is an admirable setting for something rather more sophisticated in the evening, and the á la carte will come to your aid in the event. Venison loin is served with fondant Swede, red onion marmalade and bramble jus to make a tasty starter from a list of five, or there's twice baked red pepper and goats? cheese soufflé.

Moving to main courses the eye may well stray to the lobster dish or even the mushroom casket - puff pastry filled with woodland chanterelles and tarragon served with poached duck egg, wilted spinach and sauce béarnaise.

One sometimes feels slightly despairing about Scottish desserts - cranachan or Athol
Brose and that's about it, but The Milton comes to the rescue with their own crème brûlée, served with a lime and passion fruit cupcake or a tasty gooseberry and orange crumble.

They say, 'Selecting wines for The Milton continues to be an interesting task' an observation with which most of us would hardly disagree. Suppliers Wine Importers, Inverarity Wine Vaults and Oddbins play their part in the process, the results of which must make this one of the most interesting lists in Scotland.

More information is available on their Website or contact Neil Rae or Jan Leatham on +44 (0)1330 844474.

If there's one thing you can get the British hooked on, it's seafood, pun predictable. So up in Scotland, which can usually be relied upon to show us the way in quite a lot of things, they are surprisingly a bit behind the times on the fishy thing, which is extraordinary when you think they have so much of the stuff around them. Not only lots of it, but real quality as well. But both the Glasgow and Edinburgh Mussel Inns are doing their best to make sure that Scotland catches up and tells the world that Scottish seafood is streets ahead of the rest.

In Hope Street to be precise, that well-used thoroughfare that offers a pleasant link between Bath Lane and St Vincent Street, is friendly and well-used, and passes close enough to Blythswood Square to make life interesting. The Glasgow Mussel Inn has won many awards, one of them being the EatScotland Award, for extraordinary seafood.

Creamy seafood chowder and the soup of the day both come with fresh crusty bread, or there's crab salad, which comes with claw meat and crayfish tails in a lime mayonnaise with cherry tomatoes on a toasted foccacia and drizzled with basil oil. The grilled platters give an option between starters or light meals, and oysters are either chilled natural, or grilled with gruyere cheese and bacon. Goat's cheese makes an excellent foil for seafood flavours, none more so than when grilled and served on toasted baguette slices topped with bell pepper and caper relish, as here.

Plump, juicy King scallops are a weakness for many, and at Mussel you can have them char grilled, on a skewer, or seared. Their small cousins, mussels, come in kilo pots, again with choices, this time natural, shallot, roasted pepper, leek, Moroccan, blue cheese, or corona, of which the Moroccan, with chillies, garlic, ginger, coriander and cumin sounds highly toothsome. But you would have been diverted well before then by thoughts of the hot seafood platter with its mix of fish and assorted shellfish poached in their own seafood sauce topped with grilled sea bass fillet and chive cream fraîche.

Round off with a chocolate crème brûlée, and then shuffle off into a dark corner to rest until it's time to come back.

The wine list is predictably mostly white, though with some concession to heathens who occasionally like to have some wiry red with their shellfish. Happily this little foible is recognised by a short section on red and roses, crouching on the list rather like a well hung fillet steak on a vegetarian menu. Their Cuvee Bouchard lives up to its claim of being excellent taste and value.

The Scottish passion for deep-fried Mars Bars is well catalogued, but not available at the Mussels, where lime cheesecake served with mango and passion fruit sauce may challenge the odds just as much, but do it with more grace.

Both Mussels are doing a first class job for their public and the cause of seafood in general. Any differences or preferences are purely personal and slight and do not affect the excellence of either.

For far more information - including their full menu - try a visit to their fun-packed Website, from which I was delighted to have authoritative evidence for what my instincts have been telling me ever since my first mussel, that seafood is seriously good for you.

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.

In many ways The Rutland underlines this quality with precision having won the Boutique Hotel of the Year 2010 prize given by the Scottish Hotel Awards. 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.

Some restaurants may 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 ravioli of slowly cooked beef shin or a terrine of Ayrshire pheasant, partridge and rabbit, the magic enfolds. Do try the grilled Fraserburgh mackerel with a salad of pickled vegetables and mustard dressing, a nice tribute to this much under-rated but very sustainable fish.

A natural progression to roasted Highland venison haunch seems like a good idea, both at the time and afterwards, or perhaps a simply wonderful spinach, chickpea and aubergine tagine, with preserved lemon and mint ricotta and couscous fritter. Always popular is the whole baked sea bass with Sicilian roasted vegetables and basil vinaigrette. Dishes from the grill are predictably superb, employing nothing but Scotch Black Gold beef, matured on the bone for a minimum of 28 days, from the much respected Mathers in Aberdeenshire.

The canapé and finger food menu affords an opportunity to those who want something simple and quick to avail themselves of such delights as mini pork, apple, black pudding and mustard sausages, tapenade and anchovy crostini and lamb kofta skewers with harissa, 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.

Oloroso, which translates as aromatic, the brainchild of Tony Singh and the late James Sankey, opened its doors in 2001 and from the outset its meteoric rise to the top in this city of fine restaurants was never in doubt. Now that James is no longer with us, Tony has ensured that maintaining and improving their joint legacy continues with undimmed fervour, and Oloroso is the place to be.

Whilst the majestic views from their rooftop deck are a major feature of the restaurant, never let it be thought than anything takes precedence over the quality of the food, and the essentially Scottish contemporary cuisine that Tony has established.

He has been well-equipped to do this by means of a star-studded career that includes periods with The Royal Scotsman Train, The Balmoral Hotel, Martin's Restaurant and the Royal Yacht Britannia. In 2000 he was awarded the prestigious title of ITV Chef of the Year.

A subdued approach to the elegant décor is seasoned by the background music and the voices of the Edinburgh professional classes and intelligentsia in full cry. Three menus embrace a grill, à la carte and bar. Tony Singh categorises his food as 'global comfort food' and items such as seared Marlin, Irvine of Perthshire sirloin steak sourced with all the precision of a surgeon's scalpel combine with truffled potato mash and mushroom purée, braised beef shin and wild mushrooms to keep the customers guessing. Well marbled cuts, the sources of which are well known to the restaurant, are aged according to the size of the joint.

The grill menu also features 16oz T-bone veal steaks, and the tuna loin comes from some of the cleanest waters in the world, often at temperatures which help to produce fish that are well structured and with good flavour.

The bar food is also wildly popular, served every day with a simple easy-to-choose menu featuring culinary delights of Tony Singh's favourites. It is somehow refreshing to find the same degree of care being applied to this robust fare as to the more sophisticated cuisine in the restaurant - as it should be.

By contrast the fact that the wine list tops out at £575 for a bottle of 1964 Dom Perignon should not be allowed to worry you overmuch since there are options at under £20, though the great majority of this majestic List is above that mark.

In these days of increasing awareness by those who are particularly selective in their choice of places to go, the elegant Cocktail Bar is one of the 'must-be' locations. The views from the Rooftop Terrace of Edinburgh Castle and the Kingdom of Fife as you sip a hot cocktail devised by their resident award-winning mixologist must be some of the best in this outstandingly beautiful city, as well as being ideal for a pre theatre supper, quick lunch or somewhere to hang out with friends.

Oloroso is, in the view of many, the pick of the bunch in Edinburgh and one can only endorse that by saying what a pity it is there are not a few more like it. Check out their Website for menu changes and news of any fresh developments. Please note that they describe their dress code as 'casual elagance', which sounds perfect to me.

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.

Strada describes itself as 'a group of stylish, contemporary Italian restaurants, serving good quality, simple and freshly prepared dishes'. The statement sums up what this group of around seventy restaurants offers to people looking for good Italian food. The first outlet opened in Battersea in 1999 and their clientele has been increasing steadily ever since.

Though Strada has grown into a fair sized group, each outlet retains the feel of being a local neighbourhood Italian restaurant. The menu includes pastas, risottos, salads, and fish dishes, but they are best known for their quality pizzas.

They present authentic Italian dishes in contemporary surroundings and aim to use only the freshest and finest ingredients, such as Luganica sausages, Parma ham and buffalo mozzarella, imported from Italy to provide exactly the kind of rustic, traditional dishes one would expect to find travelling around its regions.

A meal could kick off with zuppa vongole e fregola, a traditional clam soup with Sardinian fregola pasta grains, wine, chilli and parsley, served with bread, or the delicious sautéed king prawns with garlic, white wine, chilli, and lemon butter served with your choice of bread.

Move on to their creamy risotto verdure, freshly grilled asparagus, broad beans, peas, spring onions, zucchini, green beans, white wine and mint, finished with baby spinach leaves. Or you could opt for the healthier, tagliolini nero granchio, black cuttlefish ink pasta with crab, courgette, red and yellow peppers, spring onion, and a hint of chilli and parsley. A real treat for the taste buds comes in the form of the bistecca manzo, a 10oz rosemary-marinated char-grilled, rib-eye steak with fries and fresh rocket.

A range of pizzas, all spun by hand, is an integral feature of each restaurant. They include the rossa, with spicy southern Italian salami, roasted red peppers, chilli, caramelised onion, garlic, fresh oregano, tomato and mozzarella. Nor are vegetarians are overlooked, and can be found tucking into dishes such as fiorentina, made of spinach cooked with garlic, nutmeg and black pepper with mozzarella, parmesan, tomato and an egg.

For those wanting to satisfy their sweet tooth, there is torroncino affogato, an iced nougat semi freddo with a shot of espresso to pour over, or a classic Italian tiramisu and, as you might expect coffee to round off the meal.

A wine list consisting of purely regional Italian wines, beers and liqueurs, all carefully chosen to complement the menu comes as no surprise and in addition, every table receives a complimentary bottle of purified water.

For further details including their latest news, menus and deals, and to find a Strada nearest to you, their Website certainly warrants a visit.