The Wildings

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A small family-run hotel and restaurant located just a mile from Turnberry in the seaside village of Maidens, the Wildings is the sort of neat, but modest-looking, place you'll find in many parts of Scotland. For the most part, what you see is what you get, but this place has been consistently defying preconceptions for a number of years now, earning a reputation as a dining destination not just among residents of the grand golfing hotel nearby, but up and down the Ayrshire coast. The clean décor of stripped wood and white walls sets the confident, non-chintzy tone. The menu goes beyond bar food but doesn't aspire to aloof fine-dining, yet touches on both bases. Look out for simple grilled lamb cutlets or mignon of pork with a coconut milk and mango chutney curry sauce at lunch. In the evening you'll find a lightly-smoked haddock and bacon risotto as a typical starter alongside mains such as chicken served with salmon and two sauces: shrimp, and creamy Noilly Prat with mushrooms. Alcohol and cream are common ingredients in many dishes, not least dessert, which ranges from rice pudding to meringue vacherine with berries in a liqueur syrup.

• High point: Grounded but crowd-pleasing food
• Low point: Don't expect to happen upon free tables at Sunday lunch