La Barca is aiming to retain it’s title as Scotland’s favourite Mediterranean Cuisine, and Jam Jar Kitchens in Cardross is up for Scotland’s Best Newcomer.

Rosslea Hall Hotel in Rhu is in the running for both Scotland’s Best Wedding Venue and Scotland’s Most Romantic Getaway, following it’s success as a finalist for Best Wedding Venue at the Scottish Wedding Awards.

The Loch Lomond Sea Life Centre has been nominated for Scotland’s Favourite Family Day Out and Loch Lomond Shores for Scotland’s Best Marketing Team.

Cara and Milan Nikolic, La Barca owners, said they were ‘overjoyed’ to be in the final again. Cara said: “We are delighted to be able to defend our title having won Scotland’s Best Mediterranean last year. We want to say a massive thank you to all our loyal customers and supporters who voted to get us there.

“The organisers told us over 5,000 venues competed so to get to the final five in our category is a fantastic achievement in itself.” Cara said the finalists included Turkish, Greek and Spanish restaurants in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

She added: “We are up against some pretty impressive restaurants but we are in it to win it. We don’t know when the judges will walk through the door but we’re determined to show them why we deserve to win again.” Amanda Wane, Jam Jar Kitchens co-owner and manager, said they were ‘over the moon’. Amanda said: “It’s such an achievement for a wee business that only opened eight months ago. We seat just sixteen people.” Don McGregor, general manager of Rosslea Hall Hotel, told the Advertiser the award nomination was due to the hard work of all 39 staff members at the hotel.

He said: “So many people have voted for us and it’s down to the hard work of the staff at the hotel. It’s a different place than it was a few years ago and it’s taken a huge step forward in terms of quality and this is recognised with people supporting us with their vote.” Speaking about the awards categories, Don said the hotel and staff aim to be ‘very accommodating’ to wedding parties. He added: “We are the most flexible wedding venue in the country. Anything goes and we give guests 100 per cent. It’s all about the bride and groom and what they want during their special day.

“We also provide a very romantic setting with gardens and fantastic views as well at the attention to customer service from staff.” Kirsty Morrison, Loch Lomond Sea Life Centre marketing executive, expressed her delight at the news of being in the final – again. She said: “We were in the final five last year so it’s great to be back for a second year. We’re really excited and we’re hoping this will be our year.” Clare Gemmell, general manager at Loch Lomond Shores, said: “We have put tremendous efforts into learning more about our visitors over the past year and understanding the type of information, frequency of massaging and channels that suit our audiences best.

“We’ve then worked with this information to ensure that our visitors always receive the latest exciting news, special offers and new events that keep everyone coming back to Loch Lomond Shores time and time again.

“To know that it has been the public who have voted for us to reach the top five position in the whole of Scotland is even more special and shows us that we are communicating in the right way with our wonderful visitors.” An awards spokesman added: “We pride ourselves in rewarding the public’s favourites, handling control over to the most important people, the general public. On making the final five, our independent judges will visit each of the finalists and decide who is the best of the best and each category is judged on specific criteria to make sure the best really does win.” The fourth Scottish Entertainment and Hospitality Awards will be held on April 19.