Barley Bree Restaurant with Rooms

Barley Bree is a smart restaurant with rooms in a quiet conservation village, just a mile from the magnificent Drummond Castle Gardens. A one-time coaching inn dating from the 18th-century, it oozes spruced up rustic charm these days, with candles and flowers on scrubbed wooden tables, stone walls adorned with original artwork, old beams and boarded floors, and a double-sided wood burning stove that pumps out heat in the main dining room. Expect a cosy, informal atmosphere and good modish cooking with a distinct Gallic twist from Fabrice Bouteloup, the French chef-patron. Top-notch local ingredients are well sourced and traditional and contemporary techniques combine to good effect. A starter of succulent red mullet with a crisp fennel salad and rich, anchovy-infused caper dressing might precede melt-in-the-mouth slow-cooked blade of Aberdeen Angus with wild mushroom gratin, Jerusalem artichoke purée, roseval potatoes and black pepper jus. Round off with a simple, beautifully caramelised apple tarte Tatin.