The Silver Darling

As befits its quayside location at the mouth of Aberdeen harbour, the Silver Darling has a firm focus on the bounty of the sea. The name is a colloquial reference to the herring that were once the mainstay of the local economy, and you can still watch the trawlers come and go from the luminous conservatory-style dining room perched atop a foursquare granite building. The appetite for fish and seafood duly stimulated, a menu of French-accented contemporary treatments proposes starters such as yellowfin tuna carpaccio with tapenade and basil, or a classy meat and fish combo of slow-cooked pork belly with squid a la plancha, pak choi and shiitaki mushrooms. Spot-on technique and timing are the hallmarks of elaborate main courses: chorizo-crusted roast monkfish with piperade, deep-fried herb potato gnocchi, and basil and orange dressing, say, or pan-fried black bream with pesto couscous, sweet chilli purée, courgette and aubergine fritters, and roast pine kernel dressing. Desserts are impressive too - chocolate fondant, perhaps, teamed with pistachio ice cream, and chocolate and roast pistachio sauce.