The best restaurants in Scotland

Always excellent food with warm, friendly and welcoming service.

As it’s a small popular place booking in advance is probably recommended. We were looking for a table on a Saturday night during the Spring Fling event in the region so left a message with the restaurant whilst traveling to Kirkcudbright. The owner returned the call and fortunately, thanks to a cancellation, was able to arrange our reservation for dinner the following night - a promising start. On the evening of our visit the bistro was busy however there was still a relaxed ambiance about the place. The sole waitress taking orders and attending to the tables was pleasant and seemed knowledgeable about the menu and the only other member of staff appeared to be the owner/chef. He popped out and chatted with us towards the end of service to allow the waitress to get home as a few diners like us were finishing off drinks and still to receive their desserts and settle their bills. He seemed sociable and relaxed and clearly hadn’t adopted the Gordon Ramsay approach to the restaurant business. Being a small place we were not surprised at the outset that the menu was limited to about half a dozen items per course including specials however it gave a decent choice in our view. We both ordered a “special” for starters - Tempura Battered Prawns (£7.95). As was the case throughout the evening, the dish was served up to the table in good time. Six king prawns each with a sweet chilli sauce with a salad garnish and balsamic. It was a tasty start. For mains my wife ordered the Seabass, served with king prawns, a white wine & tomato sauce and fresh vegetables (£21.00). I had Duck a L’Orange (£21.95) which was another item from the specials board. Neither of the mains dishes would be winning prizes for presentation however most importantly they both tasted good. The fish was nicely cooked and my wife enjoyed the other parts of the dish. The duck was also good albeit the chef was later surprised I’d left the fat on the plate. I queried if people normally ate the fat and he commented that they often do and that he rendered it to make it more appealing. Thankfully this was not an overly fatty duck breast in any case but I was quite happy to leave the small amount I did on the plate. For dessert my wife had Sticky Toffee Pudding with ice cream and I had a Citrus Tart served with a small selection of fresh berries and cream. The puddings were £6.50 each and both enjoyable. Overall we liked our experience at the bistro and with our three course meal for two costing just under £72 we thought it was reasonable value for money. We had added a bottle of NZ Yealands Sauvignon Blanc wine for £25 only just keeping the bill under £100. A walk to the harbour to watch the sunset as we headed back to our accommodation rounded off the evening well.

On a solo sailing trip to Tarbert I was fortunate to get a call back confirming that a table had now become available. I don't normally do fine dining without the wife. My starter of Scallops in garlic butter with Samphire was excellent, no, they were better than excellent, followed by delicious Cod Fillet in sauce. The team were welcoming and the whole dining experience was first class. Meeting a friendly and knowledgeable couple from New Zealand made the "Dinner for One" a more relaxed and enjoyable evening. Go there, eat good food, get great service, and meet nice people.

We’ve eaten here several times since The Newport reopened. The food is excellent, lovely relaxing atmosphere and you can sit and look out the window with the best view of the River Tay as well! Highly recommend

Lovely environment. My friend and I loved there coffee and cakes, super outside seating area as well

Good address a little away from Picardy Place. The food is very good and the atmosphere in the restaurant is rather calm. Large choice of dishes including many options for vegetarians

We go there a lot and never had to acomplain.but we went on mothers day after booking we sat for 25 mins before we were asked if we wanted a drink,then 45 minutes past before we got a menu. Meal was beautiful. I said to the waitress I wanted crumble and she replied I will bring you a menu.we sat and sat but did not get sweet menu so just left.the place was not as busy as we have seen it.very disappointed with service

Amazing food and able to cater for gluten free. Staff great.

I popped in last night and had a meal to remember. Took two of the specials. A delicious fresh aromatic vegetable biriani with a succulent tandoori leg of chicken on a creamy piquant sauce with potatoes. Can't remember the description but I will never forget the taste. Now looking for an excuse to return ASAP!

Fine gourmet dining experience, unique in the city. Some dishes were lacking perfection for various reasons, but generally left satisfied.

Disfrutamos de la comida, que era un alejamiento de la comida estándar en un restaurante indio. El personal de la nueva sucursal en Montagu Terrace, amablemente apagó una luz cuando estábamos allí, ya que de lo contrario se sentía como sentado en una cantina! Colocar un interruptor de atenuador y agregar más velas podría persuadir a más personas a sentarse, en lugar de entrar para llevar.

In the area for a few days and popped into The Anglers for lunch. Beautiful entrance and restaurant well appointed, beautifully decorated and pristine. Warm welcome from the staff who were very attentive. Very appealing menu to cater for all tastes. Food fantastic and plentiful. Reasonable prices for the quality on offer. Toilets immaculate. Cannot recommend this place highly enough and would visit again if in the area. Superb!

Great place- very friendly- especially to yhe dog. Cake selection is epic

Sadly it was not what I had hoped for, the meals seemed to be microwave meals and not presented well 😕 It is now closed....

It's a really great place to eat. I do hope it can continue.