The Unicorn Inn

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.

A 17th century coaching house which was also the birthplace of Kincardine’s most famous son, the chemist and physicist James Dewar (inventor of the Dewar – later Thermos – flask), the Unicorn Inn has seen a substantial upgrade since them. Now a smart, friendly family-run restaurant, it serves substantial lunch and dinner menus to locals, tourists and visiting bigwigs from the nearby Longannet power station, and the food is definitively Fife: rich, flavoursome and with a heavy emphasis on meat and fish choices. A starter of haggis and tattie scone assembled into a cylindrical tower and eye-catchingly drizzled with a half-moon of sticky Drambuie sauce actually succeeds in gentrifying these most earthy of foods, while a main of meaty venison sausages with a mustard mash and onion gravy is similarly attractive to those who favour either heartiness or delicacy. A range of breakfasts, high teas, dining deals and local delivery of cake and scone baskets help cover most bases.

• High point: The food reflects local tastes with a sense of invention.
• Low point: Dining area doesn’t get much natural light.

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

Kincardine is one of those places that’s more waypoint than destination, but tucked a couple of blocks back from the main drag is this dignified and hospitable 17th-century coaching inn serving assured brasserie food such as Shetland salmon with chorizo and three-bean cassoulet or confit duck leg with pickled walnuts and orange salad. In both the lounge bar and 30-seat restaurant there’s a pleasant blend of tasteful contemporary comfort in the historic setting.