Creagan House

Secreted away in Strathyre's sheltered valley at the head of Loch Lubnaig, this converted 17th-century farmhouse has life-affirming Highland views worth making the trip for. Husband-and-wife-team Gordon and Cherry Gunn have run their restaurant with rooms for the best part of a quarter of a century with warmth, enthusiasm and amiable good humour. Meals are served at burnished refectory tables in a baronial dining room with a vaulted ceiling and grand stone fireplace. Gordon mans the stoves with skill and confidence, sending out classically inspired French dishes with a firm sense of Scottish terroir; herbs and vegetables come from the garden and local small-holdings, while meat is all reared on Perthshire farms. Among starters might be roast monkfish in pancetta, served with Jerusalem artichoke purée, and orange and vermouth sauce, followed by Isle of Gigha halibut with warm pâté of scallop, langoustine and crab with shellfish sauce, or venison loin with mulled pear purée and green peppercorn sauce. A bar stocked with 50-odd malts should ensure a sound night's sleep.