Scotland has a wealth of top-notch restaurants and it’s encouraging to see more and more appearing in The Good Food Guide – not just high-ranking venues but simple, good-value places too. Fife’s Kinneuchar Inn is a classic example of the very best small, local enterprise. We are in complete agreement with the pub’s vocal fan base, who are totally smitten by the generous cooking of fresh, seasonal ingredients; in fact, it makes a particularly impressive regional winner. Where to eat elsewhere? Strong competition comes from the wonderful Palmerston in Edinburgh, and the effortlessly stylish Gloriosa in Glasgow, both epitomising the rattle and hum you expect from a big-city venue. Inspectors were also won over by the lovely, relaxed vibes in more hard-to-reach places – especially The Bothy in Burghead. With its blackboard by the door highlighting local producers, it sums up everything you would expect to find in a Scottish coastal restaurant.
Best Local Restaurant: Scotland
The Kinneuchar Inn
Kilconquhar, Fife
One of a surprisingly small number of true dining pubs in Scotland, the Kinneuchar Inn scores with James Ferguson’s ‘brilliant food’, which draws on the full range of the East Neuk’s formidable natural larder, creating hearty, locally sourced dishes reflecting his own Greek/Italian backstory. The highly seasonal menu changes each day, and it delivered ‘my meal of the year’ for one inspector. Coupled with a ‘warm welcome’ from Alethea Palmer, the inn ‘feels connected to and part of the local scene – whether for a quick pie and a pint or a celebratory blowout’.
A Good Food Guide Reader said:
"Incredible seasonal food which is locally sourced (often from the immediate surroundings), fantastic friendly service, and a beautifully presented space. The menu is always exciting and every time feels like a treat."
Owners Alethea Palmer & James Ferguson said of the award:
The Good Food Guide’s Best Local Restaurants in Scotland 2023
Congratulations to all the restaurants in Scotland that have made it onto our list of Britain's 100 Best Local Restaurants 2023. Explore the tiles below to discover who made the list and to read their full reviews in The Good Food Guide.
