The Skerries Seafood Restaurant

This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 – in the shops now or buy online.

Dunstane House Hotel's opulent drawing room is the backdrop for Skerries Seafood Restaurant, where inspiration is drawn from the Orkney and Shetland Isles. The lunchtime set menu of two or three courses offers a range of good-value options – a starter platter of prawns with Marie Rose sauce is fairly standard, while the main course of Orkney salmon in mustard sauce is well-cooked and nicely presented. The evening menu offers far more choice, whether it's à la carte from the Skerries favourites or the daily set dinner menu. This is where the produce from the islands really shows its stuff, with starters including Orkney seafood chowder and Orkney smoked salmon. Mains include Orkney scallops and king prawns and a grilled fillet of sea bass. Island meat is also well represented, with Orkney fillet steak accompanied by a choice of sauces. The plush room is decorated with heavy linens and long drapes, as well as paintings of Orkney standing stones and a Viking long ship. After a satisfying meal, you can retire to the cosy Stanes bar next door for an after-dinner dessert of sumptuous Drambuie crème brûlée.

• High point: An air of grandness in plush surroundings
• Low point: Very quiet at lunchtime due to lack of background music