The Seafood Ristorante
St Andrews, Fife
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Guide readers with long memories many recall that this modernist cube-like construction of glass and steel was once home to the Seafood Restaurant – a rare sight, cantilevered over the shore and adjacent to the venerable Royal and Ancient Golf Club. Since 2017, however, it’s been in Italian hands as a 'Ristorante', although fish from the Scottish boats – cooked in a ‘plain-view’ kitchen – is still the main attraction. The dining room has been given a much-needed post-pandemic refurb, but most of the menu still salutes Il Tricolore: agnolotti of East Neuk crab with Anstruther lobster sauce and sea herbs or steamed Pittenweem day-boat halibut with a maritime jumble of sea kale, monk’s beard and mussel sauce. More generic European ideas also crop up (a bourride-style creation of brill with violet artichokes and fennel, for example) and visitors can also expect the occasional meat or game speciality too (perhaps Perthshire roe deer with duck liver, celeriac, salsify and a dark espresso syrup). Set lunches offer fair value for similar dishes, concluding with pure Italian ‘dolci’ such as vanilla panna cotta with rhubarb crémeux and rhubarb sorbet. Service receives the thumbs-up, as does the fascinating wine list, which majors in Italian regional bottles (from £28), but also picks up serious vintages from France and the rest of the oenophile world.
