An excellent evening ensued with traditional Scottish music, local ale and a chance to meet the owner, well-known musician Dougie MacLean, who has earned the reputation as "Niel Gow's apprentice". I waxed lyrical about the colours, trees and the walks with a local worthy, who counselled me "not to go telling the world". Well, I'm afraid the secret is out with the Autumn Gold initiative, and at least it might tempt travellers who might otherwise be put off by the weather.. Time Out, £9 Time Out, £9 Of the 30-odd guides for London restaurants Time Out is the big one, now in its 18th year. With 1,300 places to choose from (from pie and mash to posh nosh) it outguns the readable, reliable Good Food Guide (in its 49th year) whose London section is a quarter of the size.

Hugely comprehensive (perhaps too inclusive) it has full, confident and assured reviews. It lacks an effective grading system, though red stars pick out exceptional eateries. The guide recognises London's ethnic diversity and sets out entries by country Design is a strong point, and the maps are a dream. Large format makes it easy to handle but the minuscule typesize makes it a pain to read for more than a few moments.Zagat, £7.99Some 3,000 people participated in Nina and Tim Zagat's survey, conceived in New York where it is well suited to the Big Apple's fast-changing restaurant scene. The entries are abrupt six-liners seldom running to whole sentences. You get a sense of being in a crazy club with 3,000 members who all eat at the same places, yelling these messages at each other.

Not for the literate, but the numerate will appreciate the rating system Zagat is hot on lists. For instance, the Most Popular Restaurants are in this order: The Ivy, Nobu, Zafferano, Gordon Ramsey, River Café, Le Caprice, Blue Elephant, Mirabelle, Le Gavroche and, wait for it, Pizza Express. Use it as a phone book.Lonely Planet, £7.99A chummy, friendly, approachable guide to 350 places to eat. It does rather read like a guide for young people, lacking the ring of authority which the Rough Guide exudes.

The "co-ordinating author", we are told, "honed his culinary experience in the USA, Russia, Germany and Canada" That's okay, then. Great emphasis on categories: wheelchair access, where children are welcome, no smoking, etc. In fact, a quarter of the book is white space to fit in even more symbols, for example expense account eating (man in glasses), vegetarian food (a carrot), lovers (two hearts) and noise level (volume control knob). Nice try, but overdesigned and underwhelming.Harden's, £7.95About 1,000 restaurants. Edited by Richard and Peter Harden and similar to Zagat, with short zippy entries. There is no sense of place and the same lift-door closing syndrome; if you had time to shout a few words to sum up the restaurant what would they be? "A bit ditzy." "Buzzy." As restaurant criticism it has zilch value But people who like lists will love it. The places most cited by Harden's contributors were in this order: The Ivy, Oxo Tower, Mirabelle, Nobu, Bluebird, Le Caprice, Blue Elephant, Le Pont de la Tour, The Square, The River Café.