Best Scottish Restaurants in the UK and Ireland

In total, there are 62 award winning Scottish restaurants in the UK and Ireland, based on the combined awards from the leading UK restaurant guides.

Were you expecting to see more Scottish restaurants listed? Remember, at Leading Restaurants we only list restaurants holding awards from major food guides in the UK and Ireland; that's less than 3% of all restaurants here.

The best Scottish restaurant in the UK and Ireland is Glenapp Castle in Ballantrae (based on our unique combination of the leading UK restaurant guides) where head chef Peter Howarth serves up award winning Modern Scottish Cuisine. Glenapp Castle currently holds 3 AA Rosettes.

There are currently no Scottish restaurants holding a Michelin Star in the UK and Ireland, however there is 1 restaurant holding a Michelin Bib Gourmand.

There are currently 62 listed AA Rosette Scottish restaurants in the UK and Ireland consisting of 7 restaurants holding 3 AA Rosettes, 24 restaurants holding 2 AA Rosettes and 31 restaurants holding 1 AA Rosette.

The UKs restaurant scene has seen a confident resurgence of Scottish cuisine, with chefs reclaiming the nations larder and presenting it with haute finesse. Places such as Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles, still regarded as a pilgrimage site for gourmands even after the passing of its legendary founder, demonstrate just how refined Scottish flavours can become when handled with precision and restraint. In London, the likes of Mac and Wild and the more polished One Square in Edinburgh show that Scottish cooking is no longer confined to tartan kitsch or heavy-handed rusticity. Instead, there is a palpable sense of pride in ingredients like hand-dived scallops from Mull, venison from the Cairngorms, or heather-fed lamb, all treated with a seriousness that would have seemed improbable a couple of decades ago. Celebrity chefs have also helped redefine what Scottish dining means in the British culinary landscape. Tom Kitchin, whose Leith restaurant The Kitchin earned a Michelin star, continues to champion the seasonal philosophy of from nature to plate with a rigour that borders on the scholarly. Nearby, Martin Wishart, another Michelin-starred luminary, offers a more classically French interpretation of Scottish produce, refining the robust flavours without ever diminishing their character. Even further north, Paul Kitching left a lasting imprint with his inventive, almost eccentric approach at 21212 in Edinburgh. Collectively, these chefs have elevated Scottish cuisine from a regional curiosity to one of the most confidently expressed culinary identities in the UK today.