4 Best Restaurants in The Borders and the Southwest, Scotland

Decorated in muted colors, this lovely little café and bookshop named for a traditional folktale (you can find it on the tables) provides a tranquil refuge in the town center. It's a perfect spot for a light lunch; choose from a limited menu that includes soup, delicious meze, and burgers with or without meat. Fair-trade products are used. The bookshop holds regular readings and book launches, and you can buy the beautiful rugs laid around the café. Somehow the relaxed environment seems to add extra flavor to this retreat.

The arrival of this tiny family-run restaurant has lifted Dumfries' status in the culinary world. The menu is small and changes regularly but is always creative and adventurous with clear Mediterranean influences. Try the slow beef with polenta or the wolf fish with broccoli and wild garlic. Reservations are essential.

Lovely and old-fashioned, this white-washed inn is always full, mainly because of its good beer and hearty, well-cooked food including steak and ale pie. Located directly on the harbor, it has few local rivals, but customers come from far and wide to eat here and walk the headland behind the pub to the rocky shore of the Solway Firth. That exercise may help you appreciate the excellent housemade desserts. When weather permits, you can eat at tables in the garden. For those who want to linger, there are also seven reasonably priced guest rooms, five of which overlook the pretty harbor.

Whitewashed walls, oak-beamed ceilings, and an open fire welcome you into this converted 19th-century bobbin mill just across the river in Gattonside. The cuisine is a blend of British and Mediterranean styles with occasional Asian influences. You might have lamb served with rosemary mashed potatoes and red-currant sauce or roast chicken breast with leeks and a grilled peach. Rabbit and guinea fowl also appear regularly on the menu. The inn lies in Gattonside, Melrose's across-the-river neighbor, but a 2-mile drive is required to cross to the other side; you can reach the inn more easily via a footbridge.