No. 35 at The Bonham

Classy restaurant in a boutique hotel, serving imaginative food using well-sourced Scottish produce.

The 2019/20 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).

This intimate wood-panelled dining room belies its status as a hotel restaurant. No soulless design vacuum, the Restaurant at the Bonham is instead a warm, inviting refuge that's often at capacity, even on a snowy Tuesday night, which does much for the atmosphere as couples of all ages dine beside solo business travellers and chatty groups. The food lives up to the surroundings, thankfully, as quality Scottish seasonal produce is cooked with skill and care, and given some creative flourishes by head chef Maciej Szymik. A starter of delicate smoked haddock is paired with cauliflower, raisins and curry foam to great effect, while an old-fashioned crab cocktail gets a new lease of life with some smoked tomato and confit lettuce, only slightly let down by being served ice-cold from the fridge. Beautifully cooked pork is matched with traditional flavours of cider and apple, and roast cod fillet benefits from its accompanying smoky aubergine puree, a scattering of mussels adding sweetness. Desserts are playful: think pineapple 'carpaccio' with mango sorbet and Malibu foam, or rhubarb with gingerbread and mouth-tingling honeycomb. Genial staff and some wallet-friendly offers seal the deal, ensuring regular custom from locals as well as hotel guests.