Although it is impossible to say for certain, an oft-repeated estimate is that there are well over 30,000 restaurants operating in the UK at any given time.
Whittling this number down to a top 100 is a task of gargantuan proportions. One the National Restaurant Awards manages to complete annually.
This year’s awards took place on Monday June 9, and two Courier Country restaurants made the cut.
For the first time in the restaurant’s history, The Kinneuchar Inn was one of them.
An accolade that’s long overdue
I spoke to James Ferguson – who runs the Kilconquhar restaurant alongside Alethea Palmer – back in May, a few days after he’d found out they’d made the shortlist.
“We’re really happy,” he told me. “We’ve got a good following in the industry and good friends in the industry.”
The fact The Kinneuchar Inn ended up being named the 66th best restaurant in the UK at these awards is a testament to its popularity.
The National Restaurant Awards ranking is dictated by votes taken from the industry’s leading chefs, restaurateurs and writers.
That said, the honour still seems well overdue. The Kinneuchar Inn has long held a reputation as a restaurateur’s restaurant thanks to its nose-to-tail ethos and the generous, seasonal dishes the team serve.
On a given night, customers can expect everything from Pittenweem surf clams with leeks, cider and dulse to pig’s head croquettes.
To make matters even better, several of the restaurant’s main courses are priced under £25.
Other restaurants that offer this style of honest, well-executed and affordable food – such as The Palmerston in Edinburgh – have been named in the National Restaurant Awards’ top 100 several years in a row.
Naturally, this has added to many people’s convictions that it was only a matter of time until The Kinneuchar Inn made the list.
Still, James and the team were delighted when the news finally came through.
“We’ve had a lot of support from other restaurants in Scotland. Loads of them got in touch when it was announced we’d made the shortlist,” he told me with a smile.
Fine dining dominates the National Restaurant Awards
The vast majority of restaurants named in the top 100 specialise in fine dining. It seems many in the industry still think expensive tasting menus are the ultimate expression of gastronomy.
An example of such a menu comes from Crieff’s The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant, which was named the 41st best restaurant in the UK at this year’s National Restaurant Awards.
The restaurant – which boasts two Michelin stars – is known for producing an extensive tasting menu that costs £220 per person.
When eating at Glenturret, diners can expect to enjoy excellent dishes that pay homage to Scottish produce. These include the likes of juniper-smoked roe deer and barbecued Orkney scallops.
The same can be said of this year’s highest rated Scottish restaurant, Lyla. Here, a 10-course tasting menu focuses on sustainable Scottish seafood. It costs £165 per head.
And yet, I still find myself drawn towards The Kinneuchar Inn.
Maybe I just like an underdog, but there is something infinitely refreshing about seeing a relaxed, rural and affordable restaurant breaking into the UK’s most prestigious restaurant list.
Conversation