Dining at The Seafood Ristorante, St Andrews

The Seafood Ristorante delivers again

We treated ourselves to a mini staycation in Fife, so a day out discovering St Andrews was rewarded with a visit to The Seafood Ristorante. We were blessed with blue skies, sunshine and perfect weather for a paddle in the sea alongside many other day trippers.

The Seafood Ristorante recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, and we first visited, almost five years ago between the Coronavirus lockdowns.

The striking glass building perches over the sand and is unlike any other building along the coast in the historic town.

We travelled by train and bus to get here, and despite the blue skies, it was cold outside, however, inside the welcome was warm; we were shown to our window seat with views across the coast to Carnoustie and beyond.

The sun gently settled over the Old Course Hotel and lit up the sandy beach in front of us, as we relaxed with a glass of chilled, crisp wine.

Vernaccia di San Gimignano – Abrazia Monte Oliveto (£65 per bottle)

This Italian white had a sweet, floral apple and pear aroma, and was dry with a lot of acidity. The main flavours were apple, lemon and grapefruit. Clean, refreshing, and medium bodied with a medium finish.

We started with our favourite part of any meal – bread and butter. This was a malty bread, delivered warm with a satisfying firm crust, served with soft butter from The Edinburgh Butter Company.

Hand dived Orkney scallops “White Curry”

Our first course featured two scallops in a Thai-inspired dish with layers of flavour: tarragon, kaffir lime, kohlrabi and caviar. The caramelised scallops were plump, firm and cooked to perfection.

Steamed day boat halibut – Shetland mussels, oyster fritter, young leeks, warm tartare butter sauce

Following on from the Orkney scallop starter is steamed day boat halibut. Top tip – Keep a slice of your bread to enable sufficient plate swiping so you get full ‘scarpetta’ action.

This sauce was filled with textures and flavours of mussels, capers, tarragon and butter. A delightful combination with the thick slice of halibut. Served alongside tender baby leeks and a crisp oyster fritter.

Tiramisu Espresso syrup, coffee ice cream

This is not like any Tiramisu we have ever seen, or tasted, and more of an infusion of chocolate than the usual fluffy Tiramisu.

Starting from the base with a chocolate piped plate, then mousse, ganache, cream, sauce, sponge, crisp shards of malty chocolate, and coffee ice cream combined to make this a decadent end to a luxurious meal.

Overall verdict

Our latest visit to The Seafood Ristorante was well worth the trip from Glasgow. We’ve eaten here twice now, and on each occasion the food has been sublime. Service was great, with dishes delivered promptly, and the toilets (which are downstairs) were importantly, clean and in working order. It is expensive, £80 for 3 courses, but everything is to a very high standard. It’s now our favourite restaurant in Fife so we would happily eat here again, and again, and again..!