I keep a running list of where to send people who ask me about the best places to eat in Scotland. These are the restaurants worth planning your trip around, from the best new tasting menus, small plate wine bars to the spots the locals are trying to keep quiet. Here are the places to eat in Scotland in 2026.
Killiecrankie House, Perthshire
Tom Tsappis and Matilda Ruffle’s restaurant with rooms in a former manse in Highland Perthshire was awarded a Michelin star in 2026, making it the most exciting new Scottish star in years. Tasting menu only, every ingredient sourced with care, and a wine pairing that’s worth taking. Stay over night for the whole experience, the breakfast is also served tasting menu style.
Book Killiecrankie House and read my review.
The Grandtully Hotel by Ballintaggart, Perthshire
The team behind Ballintaggart Farm took over the Grandtully Hotel and turned it into a dining destination in the pretty village of Strathtay. With fabulous food and cocktails including tasting suppers in the restaurant or a farm to fork dinner in the bar, upstairs there are beautifully designed rooms to choose from many with views of the River Tay outside.
Book the Grandtully Hotel
The Pierhouse, Port Appin
In the Michelin Guide for 2026, the Pierhouse specialises in seafood, the Loch Linnhe langoustines come from the loch outside the window, scallops are hand-dived, oysters come from Loch Creran ten minutes away. The setting, on the pier looking across to Lismore and the Morvern peninsula, is stunning.
Book the Pierhouse, Port Appin
Edinbane Lodge, Skye
Calum Montgomery has built Edinbane Lodge into Skye’s most ambitious chef-led restaurant, with four AA Rosettes and rooms in a 16th-century hunting lodge. The tasting menu is hyper-local, the cooking is technical without being showy, and the wine list is taken seriously enough to make a night of it.
Book Edinbane Lodge
The Fish Shop, Ballater
Marcus Sherry and his wife run The Fish Shop in Ballater on Royal Deeside, a few miles from Balmoral, and the restaurant earned a Bib Gourmand in 2026. The seafood comes from Peterhead and the day boats it works with, and the cooking lets the brilliant seafood shine through. Go for the set lunch – brilliant value.
Inver, Argyll
Pamela Brunton and Rob Latimer’s small whitewashed restaurant sits on the shore of Loch Fyne, looking across to the ruins of Old Castle Lachlan. A Green Michelin star recognises the sustainability of how the kitchen sources its ingredients: Argyll venison, Loch Fyne langoustines, crab from the boats that land twenty minutes away. Stay over night in one of their bothies for the full experience.
Book Inver and read my review.
The Wee Restaurant, North Queensferry
Craig and Vikki Wood opened The Wee Restaurant in North Queensferry in 2006, in a stone-walled space the size of a large living room. The cooking is modern Scottish: pigeon, scallops, brilliant beef, proper bread. The wine list and cocktail menu have been built up carefully over two decades. One of my favourite restaurants in Scotland: family-run in the best way.
Book: The Wee Restaurant
The Kinneuchar Inn, Kilconquhar
The Kinneuchar is a farm-to-fork country pub run with London-restaurant attention to detail. The menu is short, daily, and almost everything on it comes from the Balcaskie Estate around the village. Pork chops the size of dinner plates, whole roast chickens for sharing, giant steaks and brilliant bread baked that morning.
Book: The Kinneuchar Inn
For more on the area, read my guide to the East Neuk of Fife.
Mara, Aberdeen
Carolina and Ross Cochrane opened Mara on Thistle Street in late 2023 and earned a Bib Gourmand in 2026. A small Italian wine bar with a 100% Italian list, a bottle shop attached, and a signature dish called the “Mara-ncini.” Look out for parmesan gnocchi with black garlic and truffle, or smoked aubergine pizzette.
Book Mara, Aberdeen
The Dipping Lugger, Ullapool
David Smith’s fine dining restaurant occupies an 18th-century manse on the Ullapool waterfront, and the tasting menu makes the most of the boats that land at Ullapool harbour and the produce of Wester Ross. The team also distils their own gin. If you’re driving the North Coast 500 and you want one proper dinner along the way, this is where to book. There are also rooms upstairs.
Book The Dipping Lugger
1887 at The Torridon, Wester Ross
1887 is the restaurant inside The Torridon, a 19th-century shooting lodge on the banks of Upper Loch Torridon with the mountains rising straight up behind. The restaurant won its first Michelin star in February 2026 alongside a Green Star for sustainability. The hotel has 18 rooms in the main house and the more informal Stables room next door, with kayaks on the loch and hillwalking on your doorstep, this is a restaurant to build a long weekend around.
Book: 1887 at The Torridon or book a room
Moss, Edinburgh
Henry Dobson, who cooked at Noma before coming home to Scotland, opened his farm-to-table restaurant in Stockbridge in with the aim of everything on the menu coming from Scotland, and much of it from the restaurant’s own organic farm in Angus. Moss’s tour of Scotland (£85pp) has nine stops which may serve up brill from the North East or wild boar from the Scottish Highlands.
Book – Moss, Edinburgh
Skua and Cardinal, Edinburgh
Tomás Gormley’s first foray into restaurants in Edinburgh began with a Michelin star for Heron in Leith. He followed up with a small solo empire, the tiny speakeasy style Skua in Stockbridge (fantastic sharing plates and organic wines) was followed by Cardinal in Eyre Place, a dark and moody spot perfect for date night. Book the full experience, an eleven course tasting menu (£135).
Eòrna, Edinburgh
Brian Grigor, who ran the Michelin-starred Number One at the Balmoral, has built Eòrna into one of the hardest tables in Scotland to get. Chef’s Table style, Eorna has twelve seats, one counter, one tasting menu, one chef and one Scotland’s best sommeliers, Glen Montgomery.
Book Eòrna, Edinburgh
Vinette, Edinburgh
Over the last few years Stuart Ralston has opened some of Edinburgh’s best dining spots, from my favourite Tipo to his Michelin-starred seafood restaurant Lyla. Ralston opened Vinnette, his Parisian style wine bar in 2025 serving up bistro classics. Downstairs there’s a basement cocktail bar called Vivien, named after a Belle Époque poet which also serves up small plates.
Book Vinette, Edinburgh
Dogstar, Leith
James Murray cooked at Timberyard, Lyle’s and Le Manoir before joining the Nauticus bar team to open Dogstar on the Newhaven-Leith border in November 2025. The interior is gorgeous with a Battenberg-tiled counter, an à la carte menu rather than a tasting one, and a focus on seafood that reflects how close the restaurant is to the River Forth.
Book Dogstar, Leith
Pomelo, Edinburgh
Jun Au has been pulling noodles by hand at Pomelo since 2021. Go for lunch and Pomelo’s famous hand-pulled biang-biang noodles, or for dinner which serves up Chinese family-style sharing plates with Sicilian and Cantonese tastes. There is also a chef’s selection if you want to taste your way through the menu.
Book Pomelo, Edinburgh
Montrose, Edinburgh
This neighbourhood spot from the Michelin-starred Timberyard sits on Montrose Terrace in Abbeyhill. Montrose offers up an all-day wine bar serving light plates alongside a seasonal tasting menu which offers up sharing dishes from the main menu.
Book Montrose, Edinburgh
The Palmerston, Edinburgh
The Palmerston is a bistro in a converted bank on Palmerston Place. The dining room runs around a central open kitchen and owners James Snowdon and Lloyd Morse run it like a proper neighbourhood restaurant. There is a daily-changing menu and the cooking is European, ingredient-led, and confident enough to leave things alone. Bread is baked in-house and is some of the best in Edinburgh.
Book: The Palmerston
The Free Company, Balerno
The Free Company is a working farm on the outskirts of Edinburgh that doubles as a restaurant on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They grow organic vegetables, raise pasture meat, and supply some of Edinburgh’s best restaurants. Food is served at communal tables in a converted farm building with views straight out to the Pentland Hills.
Book: The Free Company
The Table, Edinburgh
Sean Kelly’s chef’s table restaurant has one table that seats ten and one chef who cooks the entire menu in front of you. It’s a brilliant way to spend an evening if you like a bit of theatre with dinner. The cooking is what the chef fancies that week. Conversations with strangers are part of the format.
Book – The Table
Brett, Glasgow
The little sibling of Michelin-starred Cail Bruich (you might be sensing a theme here) Brett is located on Great Western Road and has an open kitchen-style concept. The food is european style, and may include ethical foie gras, a sand carrot cooked in Sauternes or XO linguine. The chef’s menu is £95.
Book Brett, Glasgow
Corner Shop, Glasgow
Conor McGeady opened Corner Shop on Old Dumbarton Road in April 2025, billing it as Basque and Catalan-inspired and fitting most of the room out himself. Much more than your traditional tapas bar, Corner Shop is your local neighbourhood restaurant done very right.
Book Corner Shop
Sebb’s, Glasgow
The subterranean bar underneath Margo on Miller Street, run by the Scoop Restaurants group (Ox and Finch, Ka Pao, Margo) received a Bib Gourmand in 2026, plus Michelin’s Exceptional Cocktail Award the same year. Head chef Danny Carruthers does globally-inspired small plates and the cocktail list is as much of a draw as the food.
Book Sebb’s Glasgow
Margo, Glasgow
Sebb’s older sister upstairs is the same group’s biggest project to date, a 140-cover restaurant with an open kitchen, a mezzanine and Danish-influenced furniture. The menu is sharing plates that sit between Mediterranean and Scottish.
Book Margo, Glasgow.
Frequently asked questions
How many Michelin star restaurants are there in Scotland?
There are 15 Michelin-starred restaurants in Scotland in 2026: two with two stars (Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles and Glenturret Lalique in Crieff) and 13 with one star. Four Scottish restaurants hold a Green Michelin Star for sustainability: Inver, Timberyard, 1887 at The Torridon, and The Free Company.
What are the new Michelin star restaurants in Scotland for 2026?
Two Scottish restaurants picked up their first Michelin star in 2026: Killiecrankie House in Pitlochry (a restaurant with rooms in a former Highland manse) and 1887 at The Torridon in Wester Ross (the restaurant inside The Torridon hotel). Both are restaurants with rooms, both worth a journey.
Where is the best fine dining in Scotland?
For a really special meal, Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles and Glenturret Lalique in Crieff are the two two-Michelin-starred restaurants and the obvious picks. For something more relaxed but still extraordinary, try Inver on Loch Fyne (Green Michelin Star) or Killiecrankie House in Pitlochry (new 1-star for 2026).
What is the best restaurant in Edinburgh?
Edinburgh has seven Michelin-starred restaurants. Restaurant Martin Wishart has held a star for over 20 years and is the godfather of the scene. The Kitchin is Tom Kitchin’s flagship in Leith. For something newer, try Lyla or Avery. For an Edinburgh institution that doesn’t have a star but probably should, try The Palmerston or The Little Chartroom.
What is the best restaurant in Glasgow?
Glasgow’s two Michelin-starred restaurants are Cail Bruich on Great Western Road and Unalome by Graeme Cheevers in Finnieston. Beyond the stars, Ox and Finch, Stravaigin and Partick Duck Club are the Glasgow restaurants I tell people to book. The city also picked up two new Bib Gourmands for 2026: Sebb’s and The Clarence.
What is the oldest restaurant in Scotland with a Michelin star?
The Peat Inn in Fife won Scotland’s first ever Michelin star in the 1980s and still holds one today. Head chef Geoffrey Smeddle runs the kitchen. Restaurant Martin Wishart in Edinburgh has held a star for over 20 years and is another long-standing fixture.
Where can I eat the best seafood in Scotland?
Head to the west coast and the Highlands. The Pierhouse in Port Appin, Loch Bay on Skye, the Applecross Inn, the Kylesku Hotel and the Seafood Shack in Ullapool are all brilliant. In Edinburgh, Restaurant Martin Wishart and The Kitchin both do excellent seafood. On Skye, the Oyster Shed at Carbost serves oysters straight from its own farm.
Do you need to book restaurants in Scotland in advance?
For Michelin-starred restaurants, yes. Book several weeks ahead for weekends and several months ahead for the biggest names (Andrew Fairlie, Glenturret Lalique, Loch Bay). For popular non-Michelin restaurants in peak season (June to September), book a few weeks ahead. Out of season, you can usually book a few days ahead.
Where are your favourite restaurants in Scotland?
Love from Scotland x
Read more
- The best restaurants with rooms in Scotland
- Killiecrankie House Michelin star review
- Inver restaurant and bothies review
- The Meikleour Arms review
- Where to eat seafood in Scotland
- Traditional food to eat in Scotland
- Field to fork restaurants in Scotland
- Boutique luxury hotels in Scotland
- The foodie guide to the North Coast 500
- Best pubs and bars in Edinburgh
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