Best of the Rest: A Recommends miscellany

Published on Tuesday 3 February 2009 19:39

BEST MEAT: I enjoyed a rare delicacy – salt beef – in this case, horseshoe brisket, provided by Border Meats, (High Street, Lockerbie, 01576 203664 – five days notice required).

It was much appreciated by New Year guests. Why is this fantastic beef dish not better known?

BEST BUTCHER: I agree that Anderson & Forsyth are great butchers, but for value Aytoun Fine Meats on the High Street in Musselburgh (0131-665 3158) is fantastic. For 6.99 you get a couple pack – half pound of mince, half a pound of stewing steak, a small steak pie for two, four slices of Lorne sausage, half a pound of back bacon, four slices of black pudding and half a dozen eggs. The quality is excellent.

BEST REASONABLY-PRICED PLACE TO EAT: The Tailend Fish Restaurant & Fish Bar, Leith Walk, Edinburgh, 0131-555 3577

As well as being a superb chippie for a carry-out, the Tailend is also a great place for a sit-in lunch or fish tea.

The creamiest tastiest of Cullen Skink was on the menu when I visited, as was a magic prawn cocktail, and the half-portion of haddock and chips, served with tartare sauce and peas as part of a two-course lunch deal was more than enough to set you up for the day. There is also a wide range of specials and a reasonably priced wine list offers plenty of choice to wash down the meal. The restaurant itself has no frills, but it doesn't need any, the fish speaks for itself.

Crusoe Hotel, Lower Largo, Fife, 01333 320 759 www.crusoehotel.co.uk: Named after the famous castaway who has his origins in Lower Largo. The hotel has a cosy, atmospheric little bar and delicious food with fantastic fish and chips, rivalling Fife's best.

BEST SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

The Westward, in the wonderful Crinan Hotel, Argyll, 01546 830261 ( www.crinanhotel.com). Looking out over Loch Crinan with a sensational view. And the seafood? Well!

The Bass Rock Bistro, Quality Street, North Berwick, 01620 890 875 www.bassrockbistro.co.uk. The Bass Rock Bistro is a family-run and friendly little eatery with a varied and fresh menu. It also has a good value tapas menu and serves local fresh produce in a relaxed atmosphere.

BEST CHEAP HOBBY: You know the quote "Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes" – Henry David Thoreau (US scholar 1817-1862)?

Well, here's a new hobby that doesn't involve buying the latest Lycra leggings and keeping up a costly gym membership: why not join the Cloud Appreciation Society (Cas) for total relaxation and enjoy watching clouds as you walk in the park, lie on the beach or just look out the window?

The Cas manifesto pledges to fight oppressive management-style "blue-sky thinking wherever we find it" and support dreamers instead.

The organisation has 14,000 members in 68 countries and has a chat forum and a cloud gallery on its website where members can post photographs of cloud formations including those with unusual shapes.

Cost to join: 4.52.

New clothes: 0.00.

Visit the web at www.cloudappreciationsociety.org

Save those pennies, and any unwanted coins from overseas together with a used wine bottle with a nice label.

You can easily adorn the rest of the bottle with the coins using a lightweight household cement-type filler or heavyweight glue and buy a special lamp holder to fit the bottle top. Use your own lampshade and you now have an inexpensive and interesting table lamp.

Walking – it's a no-brainer! Good for your health, sociable and something for every level of fitness. Work your way up from an excursion around Holyrood Park to one of our many long-distance paths. Set goals and bag Munros, or just try for a different terrain every weekend – hills, coastal paths, moorlands.

Join the Ramblers if you want company, or look on the web for inspiration. Visit www.conneryscottishwalks.co.uk for starters.

BEST PLACE TO GET THINGS FIXED: I wholeheartedly agree with your suggestion of Willowbrae Service Centre (Meadowbank Place, Edinburgh, 0131-661 1338).

One of our uplighters blew, and a new bulb did not solve the problem. My husband took it to WSC and for less than 5 it was sorted.

The following week a ceiling fixture failed and the same day the owner came to the house and solved the problem for little cost. A fantastic service.