Forget game's tough, rank image. Nowadays it has all the right attributes: local, seasonal, lean, free-ranging, never insipid, yet capable of producing subtle and delicate dishes. Makes you brainy, too. Most decent restaurants will have game on the menu at the moment, but some chefs make a feature of it, obviously relishing an opportunity for seasonal inventiveness.
Prices are for an average three-course dinner, wine excluded.
London
Rules: London's oldest restaurant dates back to 1798, though its ambience is more Victorian: stained glass skylights; walls almost completely covered in pictures and gilt mirrors. Game comes from the family estate in the Pennines and could include black grouse, pochard (a kind of duck) or ptarmigan. The menu offers up to 10 game dishes, changing according to season. Classic game cooking is Rules's hallmark: roast grouse with game chips, bread sauce and Madeira jus; fillet of venison with plums, pear and braised chicory; or pheasant curry.
35 Maiden Lane, London WC2 (020-7836 5314, rules.co.uk), £48. Hazlitt's (020-7434 1771, hazlittshotel.com) has doubles from £159 + VAT.
Loco: Less formal, contemporary atmosphere. Nick Melmoth-Coombs cooks a mixture of classical and modern Italian. His Renaissance-style spezzatino of wild boar is spicy with candied citrus, raisins and a hint of bitter chocolate. Other game dishes depend on what owner Tony Allan sends in from his estate, and could include pheasant devilled with mustard on curly kale with pancetta; roast wild duck with pomegranate sauce and roast celeriac; or pappardelle with rabbit, olives, sage and rosemary.
1 Lawn Terrace, London SE3 (020-8852 0700, locorestaurants.com), £26. Number Nine Guesthouse, Charlton (020-8858 4175) has doubles from £85.
Scotland
Ostlers Close: Tucked discreetly down an alley in Cupar is a small and intimate restaurant decorated in warm terracotta tones. Local and wild food is Jimmy Graham's speciality - he gathers fungi and grows vegetables himself. His menu changes daily and will include at least three game dishes, which change with the season, though venison is a regular. December heralds the return of his most popular game dish, the Gamekeeper's Bag - a selection of four different game meats that could include grouse, partridge, pheasant, pigeon or mallard. Breast meat is lightly cooked, while legs are braised. A garnish might consist of wild mushrooms, game liver or kidney, and a demi-glace made from the stock.
25 Bonnygate, Cupar, Fife (01334 655574, ostlersclose.co.uk), £35-£40. The Peat Inn (01334 840206, thepeatinn.co.uk) in Cupar has doubles from £165.
Norfolk
The Walpole Arms: An 18th-century oak-beamed former farmhouse with inglenook fireplaces - typical of Norfolk's many gastropubs. The menu features three or four game dishes, the choice depending on what local hunters and wildfowlers have brought in. Nearby Gunton Park supplies the venison, which chef Andy Parle serves as either roast loin, or a rich daube, or perhaps venison faggots - a favourite with regulars. Partridge breasts are quickly roasted and served on a sweet potato purée, accompanied by savoy cabbage stuffed with chestnuts and a confit made from the legs, all wrapped in caul fat and braised. Parle also makes a pheasant, pork and apple Norfolk pasty as a popular bar snack.
The Common, Itteringham (01263 587258, thewalpolearms.co.uk), under £25. From Monday to Thursday, those taking dinner at The Walpole can stay at Itteringham Mill (01263 587688) for £49.50 per room.
Yorkshire
The Clocktower: Part of Rudding Park hotel, very much the grand country house, in grounds that were originally landscaped by Humphry Repton. The Clocktower is a modern extension with a French chef and supervisor. The game dishes are popular; Stefan Le Corre encourages newcomers to try game and enthusiastically explains how each dish will be served. Venison comes with tartiflette potatoes, roasted root vegetables and rosemary jus. The game bird of the week is sourced from the surrounding moors. Partridge and pheasant are served traditionally with bread sauce, game chips, watercress and redcurrant jelly; pigeon breasts are pan-fried and served on a punchy wholegrain mustard mash.
Rudding Park, Folifoot, Harrogate (01423 871350, ruddingpark.com), £30-£35. Doubles in Rudding Park from £170.
Devon
Gidleigh Park: This is where you go for an idyllic retreat and fabulously good food. The mock-Tudor mansion house was built by an Australian shipping magnate in 1928; the river Teign rushes past the end of the grounds, and it overlooks Dartmoor. Michael Caines's cooking earned two Michelin stars for Gidleigh in 1999 and he has held on to them with his consistently innovative style. "The seasonality of game makes the menu a journey through the seasons," said Caines, who usually has three game dishes on his menu. Thinly sliced roasted wild duck breast might be served as a starter with autumn salad leaves, roasted root vegetables, glazed button mushrooms and a hollandaise enriched with concentrated duck stock. Roast partridge is served with a gewürztraminer sauce, caramelised pears, roast garlic, savoy cabbage and Puy lentils. Venison might be served with a fig galette and chestnut purée. His latest dish is venison with a redcurrant tea sauce and celeriac purée. Not cheap, but worth it.
Chagford, Devon (01647 432367, gidleigh.com), £75. Doubles in the hotel from £440.
· Nichola Fletcher is the author of Charlemagne's Tablecloth: A Piquant History Of Feasting. Phoenix, £8.99.
