Craig Millar @ 16 West End

With Fife emerging as something of a culinary hotspot it made perfect timing for award winning Dundee-born chef Craig Millar to go it alone at the former Seafood Restaurant in the picturesque waterfront fishing village of St Monans and put his own name above the door in summer 2011. The good news is that he has kept up the emphasis on fish, seafood and local produce, as well as displaying an impressive level of culinary creation.

Sweeping Views

The sweeping wraparound windows and location, tucked just across from the village’s harbour looking out over the Firth of Forth islands, make it a hard place to not instantly like. This feeling is reinforced, by bright, friendly, but not at all stuffy service. Open for lunch and dinner you could say the menus are limited, but we found that we were still struggling to choose between the trio of excellent options for all three courses. Thai mussel broth made an ideal culinary marriage with lemongrass and coconut milk bringing out the best in the Scottish West Coast mussels.

Raising the Bar

The main course took things up a level with a chunky fillet of perfectly cooked halibut that stood up well to rich and salty pancetta, crisp asparagus, a delicate pea cream and a surprising ‘spring onion bon bon’, which looked like a Scotch egg, but mercifully tasted far better. Other main options included stone bass daringly paired with chorizo and a safer pork fillet with mashed potatoes, spring cabbage and sage jus.

Delicious Desserts

Desserts were worthy of the name rather than just being puddings. The delicately flavoured vanilla panna-cotta was well matched with a pink champagne sorbet, while the chocolate delice provided an intense and rich chocolate hit without being sickly, with its tart cherry ice cream helping take the edge of the deliciously dark chocolate.

Good Value

The choice of house wines available by the glass was again limited (two rose, four white and three red), but they were well chosen, with the Francesca Bay Sauvignon Blanc from that current darling of the wine world, Marlborough in New Zealand, a zesty palate filling gem with a lingering mineral aftertaste that was the ideal foil for the seafood. Prices are reasonable for food of this quality with a two course lunch £22 (£26 for 3 courses) and a two course dinner £35 (three courses £40 and four £45). The three course set lunch menu is a steal at £18.

These rates are especially good when you consider that you are being cooked for by a former Seafood Chef of the Year in as charming a maritime setting as you could wish with tate picture postcard East Neuk coastline to explore afterwards.

Craig Millar @ 16 West End, 16 West End, St Monans, Fife, KY10 2BX. Tel. +44(0)133 730327. www.16westend.com

InsiderScotland Rating [effortless-gm address=”16 West End, St Monans, Fife, KY10 2BX”]

For a Romantic Meal 8/10

For a Business Meal 7/10

For Families 6/10

For Real Gastronomes 7/10

InsiderScotland Rating 7/10