We haven’t visited The Peat in in Fife yet, but two of our friends absolutely love the restaurant and agreed to become honorary “Boys” for the night and do a guest blog about their recent visit. Here’s how they got on…..
The Peat Inn – Kathleen and Martin:
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| The Peat Inn |
We are two people who love our food and we enjoy travelling, cooking and eating out as much as we can. We have been lucky enough to eat in many fine Scottish establishments in the last wee while including two near the top of our ‘to do’ list, The Monachyle Mhor and The Three Chimneys.
We are fortunate that we live within 10 miles of the fabulous restaurant that is The Peat Inn. It is always a pleasure to go for a meal there and enjoy the superb food served in such an unstuffy manner by staff who are so well trained you barely notice they are there.
We have just had dinner, a Saturday night, where it was busy (we think). The tables are laid out in such a way that you really aren’t aware of how many other diners there are around you tucked away in the various nooks and crannies. The recent refurbishment has only added to the calm and comfortable ambiance of the place. Tasteful yet slightly understated. The lighting is excellent, something which for me can be a bit of an annoyance if it’s not right!
We were welcomed, given menus and kicked off with glass of iced water each whilst making our selections. A wee slate of warm appetisers appeared and we wasted no time sampling them – a small, but oh so tasty, puffy Cheese Gougere and a slim slice of home made Venison sausage roll (just a tiny bit gamey) with a touch of mustard mayonnaise each.
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| Delicious Appetisers |
Shown through to our table, it was nestled in between two couples who were already eating, the noise level however was quite comfortable so we didn’t feel we were having to talk in hushed tones, whew, thank goodness for that!
Our Amuse Bouche was promptly served up in a cute wee pottery dish. Marinated Mushrooms with Madeira jelly and a Mushroom Cloud. Tasty and hastily snapped up by two mushroom lovers with much oo-ing and ah-ing.
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| Marinated Mushrooms with Madeira Jelly and Mushroom Cloud |
We then started to work our way through the bread selection. This is the ONLY critical thing I will say about the place. Not really a criticism but over the years we have both had a weakness for the teeny wee hand baked rolls served up here. On our last two visits we have been presented with soda bread rolls and sour dough bread, it is perfectly acceptable but we would love to again savour the wee rolls, especially the Parmesan & Spring Onion ones!
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| Breads |
The starters arrive. The Sea bream tartare, ruby beetroot and Lemon oil tasted fresh and quite divine, however I did notice that there was something missing but, as is my norm, couldn’t remember what the menu had said! Half way through one of the waiters came over with two small dishes offering the Chef’s sincere apologies for leaving off the creamy oyster mousse! Delicious it was too, good save the Chef!
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| Sea bream |
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| Oyster Mousse |
Although we had both opted to eat the ‘Menu of the Day’ I chose to deviate from the Pork dish and have the Halibut off the A la Carte menu. This change was made without any surcharge which was very reasonable of them. My Halibut was perfectly cooked, not the largest piece of fish but it tasted as it should. The accompanying peas, fennel, samphire (my favourite with fish) and ‘blobs’ of Lobster veloute were all quickly polished off. We had opted for glasses of wine and chose from the good selection on offer. I was guided by Matthew the helpful assistant Restaurant manager to select a Pinot Noir to go with my fish whilst my Pork shank eating companion opted for a glass of Malbec.
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| Pork |
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| Halibut |
The dessert was a thing of great fruity beauty when it arrived. The menu described it as Iced honey parfait, Champagne & peach sorbet, Scottish berries and honey tuille. The parfait was so beautifully smooth, I couldn’t detect much of a honey flavour but that was not a problem. The fruit was not too sweet and the tuille was like the thinnest, most sophisticated, yummy, brandy snap. We have always found the desserts here to be of the same standard as the other courses, something we have found isn’t always the case in this standard of restaurant. The two of us never thoroughly enjoy a meal out if there isn’t a decadent, showy finish but they have gone and cracked it yet again here!
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| Parfait |
We retired to the lounge, pleasantly stuffed, where there were a few others enjoying a post dinner coffee. We had a couple of nice strong black coffees accompanied by a great ‘Petit four’ line up. If you fancy Chocolate & Peanut butter fudge, Coffee & Vanilla fudge, Apricot & herb jellies and tiny Strawberry & Lemon macarons with your coffee then this is the place for you!
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| Petit Four |
We left the warmth of The Peat Inn in torrential rain, but that wasn’t enough to dampen spirits roused by the feeling of being treated to something a wee bit special in this small corner of rural Fife. Go, you won’t be disappointed.
Geoffrey Smeddle has created here a little foodie oasis just begging to please!
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| and some more …Petit Four! |
Must just add that they also do an incredibly well priced set lunch at £19.00 per person for 3 courses. For a restaurant that has a Michelin star it offers an amazing experience at a very reasonable cost. Shhh, don’t tell everyone or we will never get a table again!
Kathleen is an excellent artist and runs Tartan Teuchters – check out her brilliant cards on her Facebook page here.