So far my favourite place to eat in Aberdeenshire is Buchanan's Bistro at the Woodend Barn just outside Banchory. Every mouthful is an exploration into something different. I know that sentence sounds like something that advertisers use, but I am not giving you empty promises. When they say 'salad' their imagination does not disappoint. They use different grains - like pearl barley and quinoa (yes I know not strictly a grain), with fab combinations of vegetables. On their website (which shows just how original their ethos is) their sample menu suggests Roasted onion, mushroom and aubergine skewers, herb and parmesan risotto or Finzean venison haunch, cooked rare and sliced cold, with rowan jelly. Neither vegetarians, nor those with food allergies are at a loss for something to eat. Everyone is catered for.

Buchanan's is also a beautiful space. Massive windows overlooking the Aberdeenshire hills (unfortunately the recently built Tesco's is also in the eyeline but it's one of the less intruive Tesco's I have seenn.) There is underfloor heating for cold days, or tables outside for warm days. Have a coffee (wonderful coffee), or a full meal. Read one of the many books available for browsing or buying. It's just a lovely day/evening/ moment out. Have a look at their website www.buchananfood.com.

Our weekly ritual is to have lunch at Molly's in Stonehaven. The menu isn't particularly different from most other Scottish eateries but the service is wonderful and the food is good. As I often find, if there is good coffee everything else kind of falls into place and Molly's follows that rule.

Today the view from the front was of a black stormy sea with dirty white horses riding the waves. So warm and welcoming inside yet looking out at that dark sea. I had an omelette with red onion, cheddar and tomato served with a simple but decent side salad and very crunchy (in a wonderful way) chips. And of course a lovely americano. Not too watery, a thin layer of creamy foam. Lovely.

Stonehaven - the Marine Hotel

I need to ramp up these postings. I/we have eaten in so many places but not made enough notes so here is the first of hopefully many to follow. We are exploring the North East now in terms of its culinary appeal. There is a lot going for it - local ingredients, atmospheric locations and sometimes as everywhere people get it so right and sometimes so wrong. And then there are the ones inbetween.

So today I'm talking about the Marine Hotel. It's way up there in my favourite places to eat. The food is lovely, the bar is atmospheric but the loos are nothing to write home about....

Let's start with the food. A comprehensive menu with gluten free and vegetarian options (haven't checked to see if the veg options are also GF I have to admit!), fish, shellfish and lovely cuts of meat. This is complemented with a specials board, which has been different every time we have been in there. Most recently I had the scallops - locally caught. I must admit I don't know if they were diver caught :( They should have come in their shell with a ginger and cream sauce with a crust but they did me a special one to be GF. The scallops were cooked to perfection, that soft but not too soft tenderness. The ginger was not to obvious but to be honest scallops are such a treat, it's nice to let them be the star of the show rather than the sauce.

We often sit in the bar. The sitting area has fishing nets draped around it but not so much that you feel like an end of life cod. The art work is quite rustic, very unique, colourful and reflecting the sea but not in a twee way. Does that make sense? It's so easy for coastal restaurants, shops etc to all interpret the sea in their interiors in the same way, the Marine Hotel manages to take its own path.

So now we're on to the loos....One night we ate in the restaurant upstairs - it was a special occasion, and a lady from the next door table commented to her partner how disappointing the loos are. I hadn't thought about it before, which was strange in itself as I have often found the state of the facilities matches the attention to detail in the rest of the establishment. Until now I had made an exception here and subconsciously ignored them. It's not that they are particularly dirty, but they just don't match the rest of the building, they let it down. It's a small point but somewhere nearly every customer will visit.

I will go back to the Marine Hotel, probably most weeks. They are children friendly, in law friendly, husband friendly, awkward diet friendly, local and tourist friendly. I look forward to seeing how they grow.

Blue Mountain cafe

How nice it is to walk into somewhere where they say yes when you ask "do you have gluten free products?" And not only that but their gluten free bread was fresh and didn't taste like cardboard. I had an avocado and roasted pepper sandwich. And literally that was all that was on it which I suppose it understandable as I said no to butter and marg but still it was a bit of a surprise. It was served with salad so I just added some of that to the sandwich. I also ordered the chicken and veg broth. And yet I was still surprised that I got broth. It was nice I suppose, very thin with bits of chicken and veg but I think I'll have the other soup next time. Yes there will be a next time, worth a visit. And it's open on Sundays.