Cartside House, 3/7 Clarkston Road, Cathcart, Glasgow, 0141 560 3898
Style: Contemporary chic
Food: Italian casual
Price: £25 per person for three courses
Wheelchair access: Yes
The wine bar. One-time habitat of what we used to call yuppies, where pints were swapped for the latest in sophisticated drinking - large glasses of dubious quality chardonnay. Bulging Filofaxes and brick-sized mobile phones at the ready, the wine bar environment was ripe for mockery, a chance seized upon by
John Sullivan in Only Fools and Horses.
EATING OUT: Why do tourists invariably head north when they cross the border? Why not turn left, to the stunning Solway Coast? Or right, to the peaceful Borders?
66 Hyndland Street, Glasgow, 0141 339 7180
Food: Fine delicatessen produce
Price: Around £23 for two courses
Wheelchair Access: Yes
Though open only a few months, Cafezique is already struggling with custom, as its young staff admit to being besieged by the locals' rapacious appetite for this upmarket new eatery. Weekend dining has become a seating lottery and driving past in the evening, with its giant glass tableau of diners lit up like Edward Hopper's Nighthawks, is like encountering a billboard for its delicatessen sister operation, Delizique, just a few doors along.
SHAW'S
21 Old Fishmarket Close, Edinburgh
0131 226 1300
Style: Contemporary chic
Food: Scottish-Mediterranean
Price: £15 for three tapas
Wheelchair access: No
It is not the most auspicious of days for a sunny Mediterranean meal in Edinburgh. Things look promising when a Vodafone rep hands us free tickets to an outdoor gig in Princes Street Gardens, but by the time we've got down there, we've missed the Sugababes and the rain is starting to fall. Worse, the Hoosiers' soppy brand of indie-lite makes the afternoon seem wetter than it already is. Thereafter the rain never stops, and a trip to a tapas restaurant - which had once seemed so alluring - starts to seem a bit of a chore.
The Giffnock Ivy
219 Fenwick Road, Glasgow
0141 620 1003
Style: Seasonal Scottish with a French flavour
Price: £35-40 for three courses
with wine
Wheelchair access: Yes
Well, there are no celebrities gossiping at tables or famous works of art gracing its walls, but then the Giffnock Ivy has nothing to do with its better-known London namesake. Nevertheless, it has a self-confidence that strikes you the minute you enter. Exposed stone walls, edgy damson damask wall and light fittings, crisp white table linen and large polished wine glasses create a beguiling welcome to the large, square space, which is beautifully lit and dominated by a large wooden bar. Uniformed staff stand ready to serve. We spot a private dining table hidden away in a snug.
Craigie's
West Craigie Farm, South Queensferry, Edinburgh,
EH30 9TR. Call 0131 319 1048
or visit www.craigies.co.uk.
Style: Farm cafe and deli.
Food: Lunches and snacks.
Price: Around £10 for main course, cake and coffee.
Wheelchair access: Yes.
21 Bath Street, Glasgow
0141 353 0678
Food: Malaysian
Price: Around £13 for two courses
Wheelchair access: No
Above the urban threads and coffee-table tomes of the Fat Buddha store, the name Rumours hints at the low-key, indistinct ambience of this recently opened Malaysian venture. Dominated by glass windows on two sides, the decor is wholly unremarkable and yet strikingly clean and modern, an aquamarine mosaic bar the sole indication - save for the menu - that this is a restaurant rather than a cafe.
01334 474371
Food: Seasonal and luxurious
Price: £50 for three courses
Wheelchair access: Yes
Below me lie the hallowed grounds of the Old Course at St Andrews. My husband has gone misty-eyed at the
sight of the Swilken Bridge, and even I instantly recognise the club house.
103-105 West Bow, Victoria Street, Edinburgh.
0131 220 1121
Food: Juice, smoothies and wraps.
Price: £10 for two courses and juice.
Wheelchair access: Yes.
It is hard to say what makes Hula more of an oddity: is it the display cabinet of vintage high-heeled shoes, a "new world of footwear" on sale to anyone with the right foot measurements; or is it the seed tray brimming over with wheatgrass sitting in the windows? Either way, this daytime juice bar-cum-lunch hangout, just around the corner from the Grassmarket, is a refreshingly quirky addition to the Old Town cafe circuit.
North of Bondi
2 Byres Road, Glasgow
0141 337 1145
Food: Australian/south-east fusion
Price: Around £16 for three courses
Wheelchair access: Yes
Despite a smattering of theme pubs flipping compliantly lean kangaroo burgers, North of Bondi would seem to be the central belt's first Australian restaurant. Eschewing the barbecue of monster prawns and whole sides of cattle, the menu proudly foregrounds south-east Asian influences on contemporary Antipodean cuisine, its descriptive entries characterised by stir-fries and light curries.
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