1906

Golfing doesn't get any more serious than this. Turnberry regularly plays host to the Open Championships, and what a splendid location it is, on the wild Ayrshire coast with the hulk of Ailsa Craig in the background. The hotel itself is a long white building with a red-tiled roof and the flagship 1906 dining room at its heart. Surveying the pitching and putting below from panoramically sweeping windows, it isn't above a little tableside flambé theatre as the occasion demands, but the bedrock of the operation is impeccable regional produce treated with respect and old-school classicism. The preamble might be excellent Kilbrannan scallops with apple and celery shoots in walnut dressing, ahead of salmon Mercedes (herb-crusted, served with braised baby leeks in champagne velouté), or chicken marengo with forest mushrooms, langoustine mousse and a quail's egg. If the pyromaniac urge overwhelms you, get them to set fire to some Grand Marnier for the crêpe Suzette, or else opt for the less attention-grabbing, but still indulgent, Amaretto semi-fredo with praline and cherry sorbet.