Creel Restaurant

This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 – in the shops now or buy online.

Creel Restaurant enjoys a prime location just a block away from the harbour at Dunbar. The interior is sparsely decorated with low wooden ceilings, stripped floors and dark wood furniture, but there's very little need for fancy flourishes – the food's the star attraction. There's an emphasis on elegant simplicity in the daily changing menu, and owner/chef Logan Thorburn takes great pride in his large repertoire of dishes, all of which are prepared from scratch using mostly locally sourced ingredients. Starters include a rich, filling cappuccino of wild mushroom soup, lightly scented with white truffle oil. As might be expected of its location, fish and seafood are a particular strength here: it takes a bit of dexterity with the pliers to break into the steamed local langoustines, but the resulting plump meat, offset by a sharp green herb mayonnaise, is well worth the effort. Meanwhile, a main course baked fillet of Eyemouth haddock arrives firm and translucent in a creamy chowder with Ayrshire bacon and sweetcorn. Among the meat dishes, seared lamb leg steak is a particular highlight: it's pink and juicy and accompanied by a crunchy hot green bean salad, creamy crushed baby potatoes and a rich aioli dressing. Desserts such as lemon posset and dark chocolate and orange cake continue the theme of simple but tasty, comforting cooking. Well worth a trip out of town.

• High point: Finally breaking through the langoustine claws
• Low point: No harbour views