A whirlwind tour is in the works, and we need to eat!
We’ll be in or around the following cities:
Glasgow
Edinburgh
St. Andrews
Aberdeen
Inverness
Along the north coast
Ft. William
Portree/Isle of Skye
Stirling
So, gastropubs, restaurants, pubs with good food and good drink.
For Aberdeen, you must visit Moonfish. The head chef won Masterchef a year or two ago. Pre-booking is required well in advance.
Sounds good. We love seafood.
If your budget will stretch, you should definitely go to the Scotch Whisky Association’s Dining Room in Edinburgh. The tasting menu is £75/head so it is a bit of an indulgence, but you get five courses of fine food each with a paired whisky or wine. It’s really, really good.
http://www.thediningroomedinburgh.co.uk/menus
That food sounds great, but I’m not sure we’re big enough whiskey fans to do it justice (and justify the expense).
We do plan on going to Cadenhead’s Whiskey Shop in Edinburgh and the Glen Moray distillery in Elgin. I think that’ll be the extent of our whiskey adventures.
ETA: Also, it doesn’t look like they’re open on the days we’ll be in Edinburgh. 
It’s been a couple of years since I was in Edinburgh, but these are my recommendations:
The Beehive - pub on Grassmarket. Pints + a really good Scotch egg. If it’s warm enough, sit outside. If it’s not warm enough, have a couple of pints inside and then move outside!
Oink - For lunch. They have a couple locations and they have a stall at at least one market.
Howie’s on Victoria St (they have 3 locations, not sure if it qualifies as a chain) We had a really tasty dinner here with venison & salmon & a haggis starter.
My mom and I had lunch at Deacon Brodie’sin Edinburgh a couple of years ago and we both really enjoyed it. Plus we got a table next to the window looking down on the street, which was a nice bonus, since there were just a couple of window tables.
Mmmm… pints.
Skye has a Michelin starred restaurant- Kinloch Lodge. The second, The Three Chimneys, has since changed chef. But was very good at last family report.
Also, if you go to Stonehaven, near Aberdeen, get the Cullen skink at the Ship Inn.
Skink scares me since it sounds like a lizard, but on the menu I see it’s a soup. Sounds yummy. We should be in Stonehaven at least for a little bit. I want to pick up some rocks. 
And we’re on Skye for 3 days, so that might be a great place to hit.
Yes. Cullen Skink is delicious.
My favourite restaurant was the Trading Post, in Glasgow, but it no longer exists.
Bummer. Any other spots you like?
Cafe Cossachok was good, if you like Russian food. Live music, too. The Willow tea rooms if you want to do something touristy with a vague connection to Rennie Mackintosh.
I’m afraid we usually slink into Wagamamas when in Glasgow.
Now French restaurants in Perth, that I know a lot about!
We liked the Chaophraya Thai restaurant on Nelson Mandela Place in Glasgow recently… I forget what we had, but it was very good!
If there’s not too many young children running about, Joseph Pearce’s bar on Elm Row in Edinburgh does nice food.
We’re mainly just flying in and out of Glasgow; I don’t think we’ll spend much time there, but I’m sure we’ll be hungry when we get off the plane. And we do love us some Thai food.
Hit me! I’m sure we’ll at least pass through Perth at some point.
Okay!
There’s:
Cafe Tabou - general French. Not quite as good as they used to be, but still better than most.
Brezh- as the name might suggest, they do Breton-ish food. Of particular note are their buckwheat flour crêpes, which are plate-sized, their wood-fired pizzas and their Breton cider.
Sante- French/Portuguese tapas style restaurant. Three small plates, bread and olives makes for a tasty, not too expensive meal.
Pighalle- lots of pork! Was slightly more expensive, has come down a bit.
Duo- cafe and deli, sandwiches and wood-fired pizzas.
Of these, Sante and Brezh are our most frequent haunts.
All of these were actually started by the same couple, though some have changed hands.
Of other note is the cafe in the homewares section of McEwans for a big slice of cake, and The Mexican, but you probably aren’t going to Scotland for Mexican food!
Also in Stonehaven is the Marine Hotel which has outstanding food- I had a blue cheese risotto with balsamic reduction and fresh, fresh mussels that were outstanding. Stonehaven is a gem of a town and Dunnottar Castle is a must-see.
In Edinburgh, an unlikely candidate is the White Horse pub at the bottom of the Royal Mile. Very simple food- I had two lunches there. They say they have the best meat pie and they are not lying. I also had a green curry dish there that was lovely.
I also had my first Cullen Skink at Hootananny’s in Inverness and it was amazing.
I’m a photographer and love castles, and Donnattar is definitely on my list. I have a map set up at ZeeMaps that has about 90 pins on it of castles, points of interest, etc.
Thanks everyone for the replies so far. Keep 'em coming!