Hamilton Grand, once home to generations of students and now luxury apartments, occupies one of the finest locations on the planet across the road from the 18th green of the Old Course at St Andrews.
On the lower ground level is Hams Hame, a high-end pub and grill under the Kohler umbrella which includes the world famous Old Course Hotel.
We booked for peak time on a Saturday night but there were plenty of available tables, and it appeared that reservations were not necessary. On arrival we were not quite sure whether to wait to be seated or just plonk ourselves down.
We weren’t the only customers to be found loitering around near the door waiting in vain to be greeted and seated.
When after a few minutes none of the staff came near us, we chose a cosy side cubicle.
The place is fitted out and decorated in the style of what overseas visitors might consider to be a traditional British pub low ceilings, beams and wooden floors. The atmosphere is warm and busy with music and television screens everywhere; ideal, one suspects, for those wanting to take in the golf tournament of the moment.
An immaculately turned-out waiter greeted us, drinks were ordered and menus arrived.
To start I had dressed crab with Melba toast and mayonnaise (£8.50) which was beautifully presented as a patty with the white meat on top of the dark meat. It was moist, full of flavour and had a clean fresh taste.
My partner ordered the pea and ham soup with a ham bon bon (£5.50) pieces of ham in a crunchy crumb coating. She pronounced it “delicious”.
For a main course I had slow-cooked pig cheek with roast garlic mash (£12.95). The meat was soft and fell apart and with the mashed potato and a rich gravy made a hearty plate of food.
My partner went for a Black Isle rib eye steak with mushroom, tomato and French fries (£19.95). The steak was cooked perfectly and had that wonderful, chargrilled taste.
A special mention for the fries which, we agreed, were the best we had ever tasted. They appeared home-made and were a cut above the run-of-the-mill fries so often dished up.
Portions at Hams Hame are very generous, but we made room for a very decent treacle tart and clotted cream ice cream (£5.95) and a helping of warm plum and almond tart with clotted cream ice cream (£5.95).
The food at Hams Hame is very good and well presented. Unfortunately, the experience is somewhat let down by some rather bizarre service.
The staff were smartly turned out and very polite, but were lacking in some of the basics.
For example, my partner asked if she could have a pepper sauce with the steak. The waiter didn’t know but said he would go and find out, but didn’t return. The steak arrived with a sauce which was not pepper.
Our drinks arrived, the waiter poured the tonic and left the empty bottle on the table.
Having taken our order, our waiter took my partner’s menu and left me with mine.
The place was not busy. At one point there were six occupied tables and at least four waiting staff plus a supervisor, yet we waited 20 minutes after our main course before we were asked if we wanted dessert.
And no one asked us if we were enjoying our meal although one smiling waiter did pass and give me a thumbs up! A first for me.
We weren’t in a great hurry and in many ways the table service was almost comical. But a table of four near us left, clearly disgusted at the standard of service.
Rating: 32/50
Price: Starters £5.95-£11.95; mains £9.50-£19.95; desserts £5.95
Info: www.oldcoursehotel.co.uk / 01334 466741