Our punter says...

On a dark, drizzly night in the East Neuk of Fife we received a warm welcome from the Kinneuchar Inn waiter. The décor is mellow and warm, as is the background jazz playing. The inn features a very lovely pub across a shared hallway, a small snug with open fire, and a private dining room, too.

The staff are vibrant, knowledgeable and most helpful. Our waitress for the evening took time to explain the day’s specials.

The menu isn’t huge – it changes every day, dependent on what’s locally available. For starters, I had the skate knobs (the cheeks – as explained by our waitress): moist meaty fish with the lightest, crunchiest batter and a smooth tartare sauce with small chunks of capers. My husband had smoked sea trout with shavings of tender, fermented beetroot and horseradish – the earthy beetroot and horseradish complemented the smokiness of the trout nicely.

For mains we shared a Texel lamb and potato pie, officially for two but which looked enough for four. I was worried the suet pastry might be a bit heavy but it was light and crisp, and a perfect covering for the soft root vegetables and melt-in-themouth chunks of lamb beneath, along with the buttery greens and creamy, cheesy dauphinoise potato on the side. The pie was a wee bit light on the lamb but the veg packed it out.

When it came to puds, marmalade in the treacle tart brought down the sweetness a touch, with a dollop of crème fraîche adding a cooling note; while chocolate and caramel ice cream was rich and dark with little crunchy biscuit nuggets dotted throughout.