Channings Restaurant

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• What are these?

• Average price 2 courses: £15 (set lunch) / £18/19
• House wine: £14 per bottle

• High point: The cassoulet - I want more!
• Low point: Service not up to scratch
• Food served: Mon-Fri noon-3pm, 6-10pm; Sat/Sun 12.30-3pm, 6-10pm
• Bar open: Mon-Sun noon-12.30am
• Private dining: 3 rooms. 3
• No. overnight rooms: 41
• Open since: 1990
• Also offers: Vegetarian options (at least 25% of menu), Childrens high chairs

The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 is now in the shops.

This review is from the 2007 edition.

Hidden in the depths of a large Georgian townhouse, this hotel dining room (open to non-residents), adjacent to a quietly buzzing bar, has a polished, no-nonsense feel about it. Channings has recently had a revamp and it's looking very smart indeed. Furthermore, a particular sense of freshness and innovation is evident from the menu which illustrates the chef's passion for Scottish food with a healthy Gallic influence. Try a gamey terrine of rabbit and fruity chutney, the soup of the day or a big, steaming bowl of Scottish mussels for starters. Main courses are similarly uncomplicated, yet inspired. An Aberdeen Angus ribeye is cooked perfectly, succulent and almost falling away from the knife, and accompanied by a perfect square of dauphinoise potatoes. The duck cassoulet could have come straight from a Languedoc farmhouse kitchen - all baked sausage, preserved duck and slow-cooked white beans. Desserts again follow this simple theme - a classic tart aux pommes and a bread and butter pudding are lifted from the ordinary by sweet plum custard. The wine list is extensive and reasonably priced, with a few good dessert wines. Hotel dining can be a bit hit or miss, but this restaurant just about makes the mark.