182 Best Restaurants in Scotland

This old-style bar and conservatory restaurant serves what many locals claim is the best pub food in Aviemore. The menu changes with the seasons, but you can always expect simple dishes built around quality ingredients such as local lamb chops or Angus beef, as well as a variety of fresh fish. Order some crispy, golden roasted potatoes on the side if they're on offer. The bar serves a wide selection of local brews, and there's often live music playing. Roaring fires are very welcome in a place that can have cool nights any time of year.

On the waterfront, this 1722 barn has been converted into a lovely, reasonably priced restaurant. Expect simple but tasty plates of local fish and seafood—think haddock, monkfish, scampi, and salmon—prepared in a French-bistro style. Try the Cullen skink, a thick and tasty fish soup. Make a night of it in one of the six cozy guest rooms for around £130 for a double, including breakfast.

With an old mill wheel the only reminder of its past, the Old Mill Inn features a range of gastropub-style options, including a fish platter, generous shared platters, and a range of vegetarian options. Its generous portions are served in the large main interior space or in the spectacular beer garden, protected by a huge marquee that features live music during summer weekends. It has some unpretentious rooms with splashes of color and Edwardian-style fabrics if you wish to stay the night.

This casual and unassuming pizza place holds a special place in the hearts of Glaswegians and visitors alike. Serving up Naples-style pizzas with large bubbly crusts, the short but confident menu (you choose from a rotating selection of 8 pizzas) is extremely affordable, with prices beginning at just £7.50. No reservations are allowed, which often leads to long lines on weekend nights. The kitchen works quickly, however, and the wait is never too long. 

Since 2006, chef Geoffrey and Katherine Smeddle’s cozy restaurant with rooms has served elegantly presented, contemporary Scottish dishes using the finest seasonal and local ingredients, including East Neuk seafood, Angus beef, and locally sourced game. For one of Fife’s best culinary experiences, you can splurge on a tasting menu dinner (6 courses for £115) in the stylish dining room or choose an overnight package to stay in one of their fancy rooms.

This small basement eatery on Perth Road, with wooden tables and chairs and a quirky staff, attracts a diverse clientele. It serves well-crafted pasta dishes and mains that showcase fresh Scottish ingredients. It's a very intimate and quiet place—so usually a good choice for couples—but be warned that it books up on weekends. Many characterful West End pubs are nearby.

At the historic Stronachlachar Pier, this light-filled coffee shop has a satisfying lunch menu (burgers and sandwiches) and a deck with beautiful views over Loch Katrine. Cakes, scones, and soups are made on the premises. You can also have breakfast and lunch or afternoon tea (which needs to be booked in advance). Many people get off the boat from Trossachs Pier here before cycling or walking back along the road around the loch; it's lovely and not too demanding.

The friendly Quaich is a local favorite, serving great cakes and other baked goods, outstanding full Scottish breakfasts, warming porridge, and a plethora of snacks and sandwiches. Unusual dishes include a salmon omelet and haggis panini. The outdoor seating is a plus in summer.

Head chef and owner Alfie Little draws heavily on local inspiration to shape the menu at this tiny riverside seafood restaurant, which has an interior as stylish as its appealing gray-and-white exterior. Start with mussels or oysters from the Scottish islands, then take your pick from mains based on native fish, such as Shetland halibut and Scrabster hake, and wash it all down with a local beer. Even the desserts are sourced from a nearby bakery. In summer, sit outside to make the most of one of the best locations along the River Ness, away from the hubbub farther up. The small number of tables means reservations are essential, especially in high season.

As you enter Dunblane from Stirling Road, the beautifully renovated Riverside Inn, once the Stirling Arms, has a welcoming and relaxed atmosphere. The interior of light wood is surprisingly expansive, as is the menu, which offers a varied pub menu that includes roast sea bream, seafood linguine, and excellent burgers. A pleasant terrace looks directly onto the river. It is one of three historic pubs in the area refurbished to a high standard.

This modish fish restaurant has remarkably reasonable prices for the quality of the food and size of the servings. Try the rich Cullen skink (a creamy smoked-haddock soup), a pint glass of fat prawns served with mayo and oat bread, or some freshly fried squid with a lime sauce, all beautifully presented on wooden boards.

Once local favorite the Westport, this reliable lunch and brunch stop has been revamped with swanky contemporary interiors complimented by a relaxed vibe, tasty cocktails, and excellent pub food. The reasonably priced menu offers everything from chunky gourmet sandwiches to seared scallops to heaped salads—all are best enjoyed in the flowery garden on sunny afternoons. Upstairs are four bright bed-and-breakfast rooms from £200.

This small, cozy, unpretentious restaurant in the center of Inveraray has earned a reputation for excellently prepared seafood, though it also serves meat and vegetarian dishes. Favorites include the seafood pie, and the Taste of the Loch medley of shellfish and crustaceans is a special treat.

It may be tiny, but this upscale, 20-seater restaurant is often packed; the vibe is relaxed and informal, while the cooking is imaginative and varied. The tasting menu may feature unexpected marriages such as smoked trout roe with cultured cream, scallops with elderflower and wild strawberry, or Drumfearn mussels with smoked leek. All the ingredients are locally sourced and very Scottish, enlivened with a light French touch. But at £95 for the evening tasting menu (without drinks), prepare for a sizeable bill at the end of the night.

The striking glass-walled venue perched above the West Sands consistently delivers the freshest and most refined Scottish-Italian-influenced seafood dishes as well as seasonal meat and vegetarian options amid a smart but laid-back marine setting. The emphasis is on prime Scottish seafood while adding Italian and other international flourishes in exquisite dishes such as the East Neuk crab risotto starter with chili, scallion, and coriander or the North Sea turbot main with Shetland mussels and courgettes. The open-plan layout and kitchen make for a buzzy atmosphere but insist on a sea-view table for the serene views. It's a fine place for a blowout meal but it's best to be selective if on a budget: the prime location, top-quality produce, and service come at a pretty penny.

One of Fort William's most upscale culinary spots, this restaurant is unfussy and modern inside, with low-hanging lamps, rich jewel-toned walls, and solid wood furniture. Expect filling dishes that make the most of local produce but add creative twists—like pan-seared duck breast with wild garlic pesto and ginger sea bass in a Thai green curry sauce. It's a welcome departure from the standard pub food that can be hard to escape in this town. The restaurant is part of Lime Tree An Ealdhain Hotel, which offers rooms from around £180 a night.

In a street of adventurous eateries, Six by Nico adds a new dimension of fun and wit. The concept at this intimate, modern restaurant with black tile, wood floors and tables, and black chairs is a six-course tasting menu linked to a theme that changes every six weeks, whether it's fish-and-chips or Route 66, with dishes that deconstruct and reconstruct the familiar. Five dishes are savory, one is sweet, and the staff lovingly introduces each course. Reservations are essential. The cost of the tasting menu is £25; there is a wine-pairing list for the same price.

This renovated croft house café, which is tucked just off the twisting Golden Road running south from Tarbert to Leverburgh, has a simple, delicious menu that changes daily. It serves everything from filling house-made soups to sumptuous smoked salmon to mouthwatering cakes. You can also buy works of art by resident artist Andrew John Craig, along with other handcrafted souvenirs.

Vegetarians and omnivores rave about the Malaysian-influenced vegan food served in this minimalist black-green dining room. Dive into their crispy fritter and spring roll starters followed by an aromatic main such as green curry with tofu or fleshy king oyster mushroom with tangy lemon sauce.

With its reclaimed woodwork and mismatched wooden chairs, rows of malt whisky bottles, decorative oak barrel-ends, and walls hung with prints, the Craigellachie Hotel's bar--restaurant (formerly the Copper Dog) is an edgy blend of cozy and shabby chic. The menu is equally relaxed, with mouthwatering steaks and seafood, locally produced gourmet sausages and pies, and outstanding platters of Scottish cheeses, charcuterie, and smoked fish, all of which can be matched with regional craft beers.

This pleasant pub, set within a converted farm building on the roadside of the A702, serves traditional, freshly prepared pub food like sandwiches, burgers, steaks, pies, fish suppers, and baked potatoes. It is right by the parking lot for the Snowsports Centre, from which several Pentlands walking trails begin.

Down a quiet lane near Glasgow Central station, this ultracool eatery dishes up a fantastic range of vegan food, from paella and gnocchi to a colorful platter with hummus, red-pepper pâté, and home-baked flatbread. The decor is homey and relaxed, and someone always seems to be nearby reading or writing. Paintings, posters, and announcements of upcoming concerts in the space downstairs line the walls. The music is excellent, but never so loud as to disturb the serious business of eating. The kitchen closes at 9.

A vibrant community arts project in the very center of Dumfries, the Stove is best known for its café that offers wholesome breakfasts, sandwiches, and cakes. You can enjoy your coffee surrounded by the work of local artists. It has music and other events throughout the year too.

The line of customers outside might be a bit off-putting, but just focus on the sweet smell of fish-and-chips from St. Andrews's best chipper. There's a busy light-filled dining room and modish seating area, or you can carry out and eat on the university grounds (though be wary of the dive-bombing gulls). The menu also offers tiger prawns, seared scallops, mussels, burgers, and a fish of the day, but you can't go wrong with the battered haddock supper with chips. Reserve in advance if you want to dine in. Their basement sister restaurant in Dundee shares the same excellent menu.

You might not expect to find quality West African food way up north in Aberdeen, but celebrating the city's increasingly diverse food culture, Tasty T tempts diners with mouthwatering meat skewers, spicy and hearty soups, jollof rice, okra, and plantain dishes. Visit on the first Friday of the month for a helping of Afro beats served up by DJs with your dinner.

This lovely spot overlooking the River Tay continues the tradition as a musical meeting place once owned by Scottish singer and composer Dougie MacLean. The restaurant places emphasis on Scottish fare, but there are burgers and pizza in the bar as well as an extremely popular beer garden right by the river. There's live music several nights a week, and open air cinema in the summer. The restaurant also has simple but comfortable rooms to stay the night.

Occupying a converted stable behind the Hillhead subway station on busy Ashton Lane, this restaurant is a Glasgow institution, with an untarnished reputation for creative Scottish cooking. Its street-level restaurant is a beautiful courtyard protected by a glass roof, and the more informal brasserie upstairs also serves less expensive dishes like haggis with neeps and tatties or a plate of mussels. The upstairs bar is invariably full and noisy with conversation. The creative menu might include cod with hazelnuts and truffles, or Galloway roe deer, and there is an excellent lunch and pretheater menu for two or three courses.

At this shop that represents the new generation of coffee producers, where in-house roasting and single origin beans are celebrated, the coffee is indeed very good and the cakes are a tasty accompaniment. There are also sandwiches for lunch and a romantic courtyard at the back of the shop where you can enjoy them. The shop also sells beans and various brewing paraphernalia.

This microbrewery serves beer brewed "according to German purity laws of 1516"—in other words, no additives to muddy the flavor. The German theme is continued with the slightly cavernous dining space dotted with large wooden tables, and the food, which includes wursts, Wiener schnitzel, and goulash. A more limited bar menu is served in the very popular beer garden. West is in the famous Templeton Carpet Factory on Glasgow Green, built to resemble the Doge's Palace in Venice. You can tour the brewery Friday through Sunday with four tasters as part of the price.