MARINO’S LA PASSIONE, KIRKCALDY

1 LOCATION

Situated on Kirkcaldy’s St Clair Street, it’s slightly out of the town centre which means parking is a breeze – park on the street or there’s a small car park opposite.

2 FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Busy! We were there on a Tuesday night, but the place was still packed and bustling. It was quite noisy, too, but it was the sound of chat and people enjoying themselves – what’s not to love?

3 SERVICE

Good. The staff are friendly and know a lot about the dishes. We had one mix-up over a drink, which was quickly sorted out.

4 MENU

There’s a pre-theatre menu – maybe that’s why it’s so busy. The menu is overwhelmingly Italian, with a couple of non-Italian dishes for fusspots! There’s also a lunchtime menu and a more extensive evening menu.

5 TASTE

Our party of nine had a variety of dishes, including good old pizza (one diner described it as the “best pizza ever”, another was less keen), lasagne and lamb chops. From the starter menu, the breaded king prawns with chilli dip and hot and spicy chicken wings were the big hits.

6 PRICE

It’s no wonder the pre-theatre menu is such a big hit – at £10.95 for three courses, it’s great value. There’s also a festive lunch menu at £12.95 for three courses and a Christmas evening menu at £23.95, again for three courses. Food is reasonably priced – but we reckoned drinks were possibly slightly dearer than average for the area, which bumped your bill up a little bit.

7 AMbIENCE

Fun, lively and with an air of something always going on – perfect for people-watching if you don’t have much to say to your companions!

8 SOMETHING SPECIAL

There were quite a few children in when we were there, including toddlers. It was nice to see them being made as welcome as adults!

9 TOILETS

Clean and warm.

10 VERdICT

Mamma mia – from decent portion sizes to a fun atmosphere, we enjoyed this. 16/20