ROOM WITH A VIEW, Forth View Hotel, Hawkcraig Point, Aberdour, Fife, 01383 860402 Although Fife is blessed with two or three excellent seafood restaurants, these are mostly located in the East Neuk. However, there is one a little further up the Forth
in the village of Aberdour which I would like to recommend. The aptly-named Room with a View is the dining-room of the Forth View Hotel and a recent visit for lunch confirmed the favourable reports I have received from other impressed diners. As an example, my wife enjoyed a starter of scallops in champagne butter, while I was delighted with a superb lobster bisque. For a main course, she chose sea bass on a bed of leek and red pepper risotto while I tucked into a generous pan-fried halibut steak on a haggis hash brown smothered in a whisky sauce. Neither of us could manage a dessert, but the selection offered looked equally attractive. Service was excellent from restaurant manager Hannah Gordon, while chef Ian Robson fully deserved our congratulations.
The restaurant is reached via Hawkcraig Road at a turning near the east end of the village. It can also be reached on foot via the footpath called Ladies Walk, which starts at Aberdour Harbour. One cautionary note for those choosing the motoring route. The last few hundred yards down to the hotel are via a narrow, twisting single-lane track which may prove daunting to timid motorists like myself but the hotel recognises this and will happily provide transport on being telephoned. Easy parking is available before the descent to the hotel.
The restaurant is open Wednesday-Sunday for lunch and Wednesday-Saturday from 6pm for dinner.
SAFFRON, 78 Hospital Hill, Dunfermline, 01383 840400 Reading a less than complimentary review in The Scotsman magazine of the service experienced at a popular Indian restaurant in Edinburgh made me realise how lucky we are to have in Dunfermline, an unpretentious little restaurant possessing the very qualities lacking "over the water". Saffron, though small and relatively "undiscovered", had – during our last three visits – the benefit of a charming, educated and experienced young waiter. Nazim guided us through a surprisingly wide and varied menu, and we particularly appreciated the many attractive side dishes and rice dishes available to match the many main courses. All that we have tried so far reveals evidence of a quality chef able to present consistent, freshly-prepared attractive dishes, encouraging us to return and experience yet more combinations.
Prices are reasonable and parking is available at the rear of the restaurant. Try it out – you won't be disappointed.
The full article contains 444 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
