Rhubarb at Prestonfield - City of Edinburgh

Prestonfield is the result of a £2m refurbishment of what was once the Lord Provost's place of residence, and is one of the most remarkable venues to hit Scotland for a long time. 'It's so exquisite that you could spend an entire weekend lazing around without even venturing into the city', noted the Guardian's reviewer.

Rhubarb (the restaurant) is housed in two exceptionally grand oval-shaped Regency rooms with lush aubergine, dusky red and green colour schemes, stargazer lilies on the tables and gold-roped drapes at the windows, overlooking 18 acres of parkland.

Flashy cooking is the order of the day. A pressed terrine of foie gras, monkfish and trompettes de mort mushrooms with Madeira dressing throws down the gauntlet, before main courses ranging from seared fillet of turbot on langoustine crushed potatoes and a blanquette of seasonal vegetables, breast of Loue chicken on creamed Savoy cabbage with tarragon jus or even classic roast fillet of Angus beef Rossini.

Puddings naturally include an assiette of rhubarb desserts, along with a trio of sorbets and ice creams or warm dark chocolate fondant with basil crème anglaise and Greek yoghurt ice cream. The wine list is as impressive as everything else at Prestonfield and it's divided up not only into countries, but regions as well.