The Wheatsheaf Restaurant with Rooms

The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 is now in the shops. This review is taken from the 2007 edition.

About halfway between Kelso and Berwick upon Tweed, Swinton's Wheatsheaf Restaurant with Rooms enjoys the best of two worlds. Its proximity to the Berwickshire coast means that daily fish specials feature whatever has been freshly landed in Eyemouth. Its snug location in the Scottish Borders, however, gives access to one of Scotland's great larders, with locally-raised game, lamb and beef featuring heavily on the menu. And while the capable cooking of head chef John Kier has merited awards such as two AA rosettes and 2006 Taste of the Borders Best Formal Meal, the atmosphere here is distinctly relaxed, verging on casual. Most diners prefer to tuck into dishes such as Highland venison with fondant potato and chocolate sauce in the pine-clad conservatory. Starters, such as a messy, generous dish of six fresh langoustines with lemon mayonnaise, or a smoked haddock Scotch egg with curried mango mayonnaise, seem to fit this casual atmosphere well. As does the service, which is helpful without any touch of pretension. The rich, generous starters and mains mean you are likely to be beaten by your pudding. But with a gooey chocolate fondant pudding and hot sticky ginger and pear pudding as your potential opponent, this is one battle you'll enjoy losing.

• High point: Abundance of fresh fish and local game
• Low point: Lack of vegetarian choices