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The Gordon Arms in the Yarrow Valley, a long whitewashed coaching inn with dormer windows and tall chimneys under a blue summer sky, green hills rising behind.
Scottish Borders

The Gordon Arms

A family-run restaurant with rooms in an old coaching inn in the Yarrow Valley, with seasonal Borders cooking and just seven tables.

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Welcome

Out in the quiet of the Yarrow Valley, an old coaching inn has become one of the best places to eat in the Borders.

The Gordon Arms is a restaurant with rooms run by Bryn and Oxana Jones: Bryn cooks on his own in the kitchen, while Oxana looks after the dining room and bakes some of the desserts, and there are only seven tables. The cooking is seasonal and unfussy, built on Borders produce, from Yarrow Valley venison to beef and lamb from nearby farms and vegetables from the inn's own kitchen garden. Look out for the five-course tasting menu, which changes every month, and the Sunday roast of 35-day aged Borders beef. The Good Food Guide has named it one of Britain's 100 best local restaurants three years running. Lunch and dinner are served from Thursday to Saturday, with lunch on Sunday, so book ahead, and there are five bedrooms upstairs if you'd like to stay the night.

Not farCocoa BlackA chocolatier, patisserie and chocolate school in a listed building by Cuddy Bridge in Peebles, open every day for hot chocolate and cakes.10 milesSee itCocoa Black in Peebles, a stone building with its name across the gable and dark shopfront windows, on the corner by Cuddy Bridge, with a church steeple behind.
Before you go

Book a table through its own site; the tasting menu needs booking at least 24 hours ahead.

Where
Yarrow Valley, near St Mary's Loch, Selkirk, TD7 5LE.
Open
Thursday to Saturday, lunch 12pm to 3pm and dinner 5pm to 10pm; Sunday lunch 12pm to 3pm. Closed Monday to Wednesday.
Food orders
Lunch from 12pm to 1.15pm (1.30pm on Sunday), dinner from 5.30pm to 8pm.
Menus
A seasonal menu Thursday to Saturday, a monthly five-course tasting menu, and Sunday lunch.
Dogs
Welcome.
Access
A ramp at the entrance, level access to the restaurant and bar, and two accessible toilets on the ground floor.
Phone
01750 82261

Opening hours

Their website
Monday
Closed
Tuesday
Closed
Wednesday
Closed
Thursday
noon–3pm, 5pm–10pm
Friday
noon–3pm, 5pm–10pm
Saturday
noon–3pm, 5pm–10pm
Sunday
noon–3pm

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Where it is

In the Yarrow Valley in the Scottish Borders, near St Mary's Loch, TD7 5LE.

Close byThe Yarrow Valley and the Tweed.
  1. White harled tower house with turrets overlooking a lawn and flowerbedTraquair HouseScotland's oldest inhabited house, near Innerleithen, home of the Stuarts since 1491, visited by 27 monarchs, with its own brewery and maze.7 miles as the crow flies
  2. Kailzie GardensKailzie GardensGardens near Peebles, with a walled garden, restored glasshouses, woodland walks by the Kailzie Burn and a laburnum arch.9 miles as the crow flies
  3. Loch cradled between steep, grassy hills under a heavy grey skyLoch SkeenThe highest loch in the Southern Uplands, holding Britain's rarest fish.10 miles as the crow flies
  4. Lochcarron of ScotlandLochcarron of ScotlandA working tartan mill at Selkirk, weaving over 700 tartans on site, with a visitor centre and shop and guided tours of the mill.10 miles as the crow flies
  5. Dawyck Botanic Garden, Scottish BordersDawyck Botanic GardenOne of the world's great arboretums, near Stobo in the Tweed valley, part of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, with rare trees from around the world.11 miles as the crow flies
  6. Grey Mare's TailGrey Mare's TailSixty metres of water off a hanging valley, on the road from Moffat to Selkirk.11 miles as the crow flies
Directions
A grey stone farmhouse with several chimneys stands against rolling hills, a wildflower meadow in the foreground.YarrowThe ScullerySleeps 2 · 2.6 miles

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Stay nearby

Places to stay near the Gordon Arms, and when each is next free.

A grey stone farmhouse with several chimneys stands against rolling hills, a wildflower meadow in the foreground.The Scullery
  • Sleeps 2
  • In Yarrow
  • 3 miles from the Gordon Arms
Free 13–15 NovPlaces to stayEvery stay in the Scottish BordersAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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