7 Best Restaurants in Fife and Angus, Scotland

Set in the Rusacks Hotel's sophisticated yet relaxed brasserie-style rooftop venue, 18 delivers an exquisite dining experience along with attentive service and a quality Scottish produce-heavy seasonal menu by top chef Derek Johnstone. The freshest seafood, including Orkney scallops and halibut, are accompanied by zesty but not overpowering flavors and tasty al dente vegetable sides, while the impressive selection of dry-aged Aberdeen Angus cuts on display as you enter are expertly cut, flame-licked, and seared to perfection.

Fife foodies flock to this beautifully converted 17th-century farmhouse surrounded by verdant fields just 10 minutes outside town. The prix-fixe menus offer exquisitely crafted dishes using the best seasonal Scots produce such as beef, pork, mackerel, and wild sea trout. The atmospheric, dark-beamed, stone-walled interior has the warmth of an open fire and stunning views over the green landscape and St. Andrews. There's an attractive garden out front: the perfect spot for taking dessert and a drink or two while watching the bird life and resident rabbits.

This eatery overlooking the harbor run by Dundonian chef Craig Millar put St. Monans on Scotland's culinary map. The fixed-price menu has vegetarian and meat options, but with salty fruits of the North Sea on the Fife quayside—such as crab, cod, hake, and mackerel—it's all about Craig's expertise with seafood.

Tucked away in an alley off the main street, this cottage-style restaurant has earned a well-deserved reputation for top-quality cuisine that is imaginative without trying to be showy. Elegantly presented in the warm-hued, smart dining room, dishes show off the locally sourced meat and fish, as well as homegrown and foraged produce to best advantage. It's an intimate and popular place, so it's a good idea to reserve ahead.

Entered through a cobbled courtyard, this unpretentious, atmospheric restaurant is run by talented head chef Billy Boyter and family. The prix-fixe meals (including the six-course lunch menu for £75 and the eight-course dinner menu for £120 per person) feature locally sourced seafood and meat such as crab, hake, mussels, beef, lamb, and quail. Plates are elegant, understated, and inventive, very much in the style of the new breed of Scottish chefs. For a true gourmand splurge ask to pair your tasting menu with some wonderful wines.

The striking glass-walled venue perched above the West Sands consistently delivers the freshest and most refined seafood dishes in St. Andrews. Scottish-Italian owner Stefano keeps the emphasis on prime Scots seafood while adding il bel paese flourishes and menu staples like risotto, agnolotti (stuffed pasta pockets), and cicchetti (Venetian-style tapas). The open-plan layout and kitchen make for a buzzy atmosphere, but insist on a sea-view table for serene views. It's a fine place for a blowout meal but best be selective if on a budget: the prime location, top-quality produce and service come at a pretty penny.