Red Squirrel Cottage Pet Friendly Family Adventure Retreat in Aberdeenshire

There is a luxurious feel to this smartly renovated pub, where the cooking mixes the modern with the traditional. Among the well-executed dishes on the menu are some contemporary choices alongside recognisable classics like rib-eye steak, fish & chips and chicken liver parfait. Come at lunchtime to enjoy their classically served haggis, neaps and tatties, which is a real treat. Four bedrooms, cosy sitting rooms and an immaculate terrace complete the very pretty picture.

Forming part of The Macallan Estate, this is a beautiful restaurant from top to bottom. It sits on the first floor of the futuristic distillery, with floor-to-ceiling windows affording Speyside views that are just as stunning as the open kitchen, the whisky wall and the wine cellar. There’s immaculate presentation in the cooking too, on a menu overseen by the Roca brothers from the famed El Celler de Can Roca in Girona. Their signature ‘Lactic’ dessert makes an appearance, as do several nods to Scotland. Go for the whisky pairing, as it seems appropriate here.

Queen Victoria made this area fashionable when she started visiting Balmoral Castle in the 1840s, and this restaurant inside The Fife Arms hotel certainly has its own brand of eclectic chic. Murano chandeliers hang from the ceiling and a huge stag oversees proceedings, while the staff are dressed in tartan that matches the cubist painted walls. Come in winter and you'll be welcomed by the glowing embers of the fire. Prime Scottish ingredients from lobster to venison are presented in classical dishes that often incorporate the smoky aromas of a wood fire.

Thai

Restaurant

Café