Crail, Scottish Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: Part of the Balcaskie Estate – which provides much of the produce for the menu – this seventeenth-century pub is run by chef James Ferguson and front-of-house Alethea Palmer, and continues to be highly rated for its short-but-impactful menu that would look just as at home in Shoreditch as it is in the middle of Fife.

“Tucked away near the golf courses in St Andrews” (by the 18th hole of the Old course) – Dean Banks moved this ambitious venue here (to the former ‘Golf Inn’) from another location in town two years ago. Ratings slipped a tad this year as views were split on its virtues: to a majority of reporters his multi-course tasting menu provides “fantastically flavoured fish and seafood with innovative textures and at sensible price too”; and “a wonderful experience at the chef’s table”. Others, though, found it “overpriced” for food that was “just OK”, not helped by a couple of incidents of “poor” or “unwelcoming” service.

The “magnificent setting” in a glass box perched on the shore, just along from the A&R clubhouse, is the USP of this “excellent fish restaurant” with an Italian accent, run by Stefano Pieraccini of the family-owned Rocca group. “Book a window seat for the sea view” – although, in fact, the 360-degree views are pretty spectacular from every table.

2022 Review: Just shy of its centenary, and hard at work sprucing up its gardens (designed by the creator of Balmoral’s gardens no less) – an “elegant” country house hotel whose “airy restaurant” combines “super, fresh, beautifully cooked and presented food with professional and friendly service”. The kitchen garden is at the heart of the operation, and there are further dining spaces outdoors.