La Stazione, Ryries Bar, Haymarket, Edinburgh

La Stazione is an Italian osteria/trattoria. It is sat immediately above Ryries Bar, an old Scottish pub that has been in operation since the 1860s, in a building that dates back to the 1749. La Stazione is a good local eatery, while there we noticed a number of tables occupied by tourists, like us, but it seemed clear that there were a good number of local customers, it is a popular place and rightly so.

Dorset – the place to find The Stable diet…

A recent addition to the Dorset food scene is The Stable, heralded as ‘a new concept in eating’ which aims to draw on some of the best of Dorset’s local produce in their fayre. Part of Bridport’s Bull Hotel. The Stable claims to be a family-friendly environment with plenty of space for the kids and a menu that is likely to appeal to them. This looks like a venue that will take off.

The Bank, Adamo Hotel, Stirling

The Adamo Hotel in Stirling is an imposing building, having been converted from its previous incarnation as a bank, it seems quite natural that they should give that name to their restaurant, which occupies much its ground floor space, together with a bar and lounge area. The Bank is a relaxed haven serving good food and is certainly a place to visit.

Bistro Bruno Loubet, London

I wasn’t in town the first time round when Loubet was doing his thing at Bistro Bruno and L’Odeon, but I’ll certainly join in with the ‘welcome back’ chorus. Just as long as the chef keeps busting out dishes like the Mauricette snails…

Viajante. London

Viajante is not your average eatery, let’s be honest… it is more of an ‘experience’ than a run-of-the-mill restaurant, but it is quite special indeed. I think that it is definitely somewhere that the consummate foodies among you should experience before it becomes too trendy, too popular and too impossible to get a reservation at.

A foodie weekend in Aberdeenshire

Venison and whisky lord over the menu when Anita Pati takes a foodie trip of Aberdeenshire. And the cock pheasants spar while the Cairngorms twinkle. What else in a land where monarch of the glen, stovies and a warming dram bring a welcome fit for royalty?

Fish n Chips – still flying the flag after 150 years

Fish and Chips, now 150 years old is, depending on where you live in the UK, good bad or downright terrible. The dish that helped batter Hitler – it was never rationed and special trains were laid on to ensure the whole country got their portions every day – has in too many places descended to be a sad shadow of its former sel