The Inn at Kippen - Kippen

Recently taken over by members of the Heirs family, this refurbished hostelry in a sleepy Stirlingshire village now functions as a lively inn-with-rooms. Inside, the stylishly cosy interior is decked with old sepia photos, and there's a courtyard and beer garden (complete with a pizza oven) for alfresco meals.

Beef from a local butcher features heavily on the menu, along with seafood from the north of Scotland and ingredients from further afield (cheese comes from France, for example). The kitchen mixes pub standbys with a few more ambitious dishes: prawn cocktail, steak pie and scampi sit alongside haggis and black pudding fritters, veal saltimbocca and pan-roast rump of lamb with a mini shepherd's pie. To conclude, get stuck into the chocolate fondue with fruit kebabs, marshmallows and biscotti or sweet Belgian waffles with maple syrup and ice cream.