Conjure up some images of Scottish cuisine and what do you think about? Haggis? Fish and Chips? Smoked salmon? A deep-fried Mars bar?

     If you're like most people, you're likely nodding your head in reference to one or more of the above right now, and with the exception of the very real abomination that is the deep-fried Mars bar, it's all pretty tasty stuff. But really, it's just all just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Scottish cuisine.

     Around the end of March, Maggie and I spent ten wonderful days in Scotland, travelling from Glasgow to Inveraray to Campbeltown to Islay and back, and very rarely did the food we ate disappoint. In fact, most of what we ordered, from the curry houses to the pubs and a few nice but moderately priced restaurants, we enjoyed tremendously.

     But nowhere was the food as downright delicious and laudably local as it was at the Glasgow landmark restaurant, The Ubiquitous Chip.

     The name is a gag: The Chip, as it's known, doesn't even serve chips except to the occasional finicky kid, owner Ronnie Clydesdale told me. But such was the omnipresence of the fried potato more than three decades ago, when Clydesdale opened The Chip in a much smaller location across Byres Road from where it currently resides, that the name fit. It also riffed on the name of a play, "Chips with Everything," which Clydesdale admired.

     Today's Chip stands and thrives as testament to how wonderful simple, beautifully prepared Scottish food can be. Take haggis, for instance. Now, I've nothing against traditional haggis, and in fact, quite like it. But compared to The Chip's vegetarian or venison haggis, the mutton version seems about the weight and digestibility of a billiard ball. This is what Clydesdale does: Update Scottish dishes, using as many locally-sourced ingredients as possible, making them lighter and serving them in smaller portions. Believe me, it works. Big time!

     My beloved and I sampled many plates the day we patronized The Chip, and still had room for dessert, which is saying something. Local lamb was simply splendid; Aberdeen Angus beef was rich, flavourful and tender; organic Orkney salmon was savory succulence. And on it went.

     Oddly enough, I never enquired about the bottled beer list, since I was too caught up in enjoying the cask-conditioned Deuchars IPA, past winner of the Champion Beer of Britain, and The Chip's own Chip 71, specially brewed for them by Fyne Ales, whose name is not just a pun, but also a reference to the brewery's location on Loch Fyne.

     For those inclined towards dining with wine, The Chip offers an extensive and impressive list. Naturally enough, there is also a selection of malts on offer that numbers well over one hundred, and at what I thought were generally quite reasonable prices. Excellent for the cheese course, those.

     Anyone who has travelled Scotland beyond her urban cores will know that cows and sheep ramble the countryside almost everywhere, and should also recognize that the country is both surrounded by water and dotted with lakes. It should come as no surprise, then, to find that the Scottish kitchen is replete with excellent lamb and beef, not to mention wonderful seafood and a flavourful, if somewhat limited, larder of vegetables and fruits.

     In short, so much more than haggis with neeps (boiled turnips) and tatties (boiled potatoes) - not that there's anything wrong with that!

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