Craig Millar @ 16 West End

The 2012 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).

This review is taken from the current (2012) edition.

The 2011 decoupling of the Seafood Restaurants in St Andrews and St Monans saw the latter undergo an extensive refurbishment and reopen as Craig Millar @ 16 West End. The eponymous chef, a high profile figure in these parts, has retained the restaurant’s popular pre-dinner drinks lounge, which has a pub-like feel, while opening up a new reception area and modifying the overall layout. Well-lit yet intimate, the restaurant has extensive windows giving it a conservatory-type atmosphere and views overlooking St Monans Harbour and the Firth of Forth. It offers a fine dining experience where presentation, quality ingredients and first rate service go hand in hand. With stalwart Seafood Restaurant front of house manager Nora Cerracher still at the helm,  Millar not only specialises in seafood, but in the likes of guinea fowl and duck, which he teams with a variety of exciting ingredients and delicacies, such as pea jus and cauliflower and truffle puree. One of Millar’s more unusual dishes is his own take on gravadlax – made with pickled beetroot, quail’s eggs and radish. 

• High point: Beautifully presented, innovative dishes made with fresh produce
• Low point: Some of the food combinations might not be to everyone's taste

Listed in The Larder – in the shops now or buy online.

The pub atmosphere of the pre-dinner drinks area doesn’t prepare you for the delight of the light-filled contemporary restaurant beyond, with its Forth-filled views. The menu is mainly fish (sustainability and provenance noted), but there are other options, such as the firm-textured ham hock terrine accompanied by a bright piccalilli. Grey mullet from the English channel is fresh as can be, simply grilled with a well balanced lentil salsa, while elsewhere an equally simple chunk of perfectly cooked cod tops a creamy risotto. A foil to its younger sister restaurant in St Andrews, but no less appealing.