Set dinner pounds 17

Set dinner pounds 17.95 (three courses)But 'n' BenCouthie Scots country cooking served up in old fishermen's cottages. Most of the seafood is caught locally - smoked mackerel pate with bannocks costs pounds 2.80, while Arbroath smokie, hot and buttered, costs a mere pounds 5.10. The high-tea menu is just the thing to warm you up after a pebble-hun along Auchmithie beach.GUY DIMONDAuchmithie, nr Arbroath, Tayside (01241 877223) Lunch 12noon-2.30pm Mon, Wed-Sun. Tea 4-5.30pm, dinner 7-9.30pm Mon, Wed-SatJigsawBargain bistro where a tenner buys you a choice from four starters, five mains and four puds. The menu is built around simple but well presented constructions such as daube de boeuf or vegetarian pancakes.

A pounds 2 supplement brings five more dishes, including bouillabaisse into the equation. From 14 April, the bistro will become a brasserie on Sundays, opening from midday to 1l pm. Young Shepherd's Bush folk flock here.PHIL HARRISS74 Askew Rd, London W12 (0181-743 8002) Lunch 12noon-3pm, dinner 7- 1lpm, Tue-Sun. Set meal pounds 9.95Punch Bowl InnBet that Crosthwaite doesn't Roux the day last year when Steven Doherty, a Gavroche-trained chef, took over the village boozer. Now the kitchen produces such delicacies as fillet of salmon with leek fondue and red wine sauce (a mere pounds 6.50) and lamb persillade with garlic and parsley breadcrumbs and a grain mustard jus (pounds 7). Puds are similarly elaborate: floating island (pounds 2.50) involves poached meringue wobbling on a caramel and almond custard. Even wines are a snip.PHIL HARRISSCrosthwaite, nr Kendal, Cumbria (01539 568237) Lunch 12noon-2pm, dinner 6-9pm.

Set meal (Sun only) pounds 7.95 (two courses), pounds 9.95 (three courses)Red LionThe flint cottage exterior of the Red Lion hides a bright main bar with wood-burning stove, and a no-smoking snug The menu embraces bar snacks and unfussy Norfolk cooking. Perhaps start with Morston moules mariniere (pounds 2.95) and follow with spicy baked crab salad (pounds 5.25) and treacle tart (pounds 2.50) Vegetarian dishes are often enticing. Chips and piped music are banned.PHIL HARRISSUpper Sheringham, Norfolk (01263 825408). Lunch 12noon-2pm, dinner 7- 9pm dailyRoyal Oak of LuxboroughVenerable country pub within Exmoor National Park, where exemplary country cooking is served in the evening: venison casserole (pounds 8.95), or own-made game pie (packed with local wildlife, pounds 7.25).

Fish on Fridays could be scallops in cream and dill sauce (pounds 9.25). Drink in the list of 33 wines, or plump for the farmhouse cider.PHIL HARRISSLuxborough, nr Watchet, Somerset (01984 640319). Lunch 11am-2pm, dinner 7-10pmSeguendo di StagioniWales meets Italy in Aldo Steccanella's kitchen, where Welsh onions might grace the pasta sauces and sewen could be paired with fresh basil for a main course. Ciabatta with roasted peppers, anchovies and garlic (pounds 2.99) might kick off a meal from the seasonally changing menu, chocolate semifreddo (pounds 3.50) complete it Cooking constantly belies the modest setting. Wine's great too.PHIL HARRISSHarford, Pumpsaint, Llanwrda (01558 650671). 12noon-2.30pm Sun, 7-10pm Wed-SunUbiquitous ChipThe Chip is in two parts (downstairs cheaper), with Scottish ingredients to the fore.

Plaice in a Howgate cheese sauce (pounds 9.85) is one of the simplest and most successful dishes, while the complexity of other concoctions is almost perverse. Wines are a forte.GUY DIMOND12 Ashton Lane, Glasgow Gl 2 (0141-334 5007). 12noon-11pm Mon-Sat; 12.30- 11pm SunThe Valvona & Crolla CafeOne of the UK's finest Italian delis and wine merchants branches out into the cafe/bar business this Monday. Light meals, snacks, cakes and desserts will be served in premises at the rear of its shop. For an extra corkage charge you can even buy any bottle off the shelf to accompany the food.KEITH DAVIDSON19 Elm Row, Edinburgh EH7 (0131-556 6066). 8am-5pm Mon-Wed, Sat; 8am- 7pm Thur, FriWindmillBread is baked in the kitchen from flour milled in the windmill across the yard. Menu changes every six weeks: pear and walnut salad with Stilton croutons, followed by cheese and oatmeal roast with mushroom sauce (pounds 12.95).