Round One, Part One... The best restaurant in St Andrews 2025
Here we go with the first 16 matches!
There are 32 fixtures in round one but lets start with the first 16 matches, read on to find out who has made it through.
Pizza Express v Zizzi
Thai Pop Up v Le Rendez-Vous
18 v Salt & Pine
Oriental House v Gorgeous
Champions Grill v Eden Clubhouse
Neighbours Café v Mummy & Co.
Swilcan Loft v The Physician
Mozza v Café in the Park
Dino’s v Rocca Deli
Harbour Burgers Kingsbarns v Morrisons
Tanon Thai v Whey Pat
The Rule v Number Forty
The Vic v The Claret Jug Restaurant
La Cucina v The Bridges
The Bridge v Jarvies
Roll in One v Molly Malones
So there are the fixtures, and already I’m going to change the rules. There are a couple of duplicates in round one (this is because they are ether on trip advisor twice with different spellings or because I’m just an idiot and added them twice!).
So where there is a duplicate I will need to factor this in to the result, my game, my rules!
Also there may be a tie where both are actually shut or both are not even in St Andrews, meaning the nobody would go into round two, and so I am putting all losers into a wildcard pot, where a lucky loser can be put into a gap, but let’s see what happens!
So on to the competition, and the first eight matches.
Match 1: Pizza Express v Zizzi
First up is a battle of the big national franchises, Pizza Express v Zizzi. Most Brits will know who these two are, both kinda Mediterranean / Italian, one focusing on pizza one more so on pasta, both good value and what you get is what you see. But there has to be a winner, and the winner for me is Zizzi, for no other reason than it’s near the Criterion pub and having had a recent upgrade it has some golf themed décor and the most fabulous tree inside that has everyone saying “is that real or not?” (It’s not real!). Sorry Pizza Express, I do like your doughballs, and the location is good, so I feel they need to go into the lucky loser pot.
Match 2: Thai Pop Up v Le Rendez-Vous
Le Rendez-Vous is a small café on Market Street, and not somewhere I’ve been in often, just grabbing a panini, and it is currently closed. Thai Pop Up (58 to Trip Advisor) is a strange one, on Tripadvisor it says its on St Mary’s Place, and my assumption is that this was Tanon Thai before they moved into their current location. I’m going to give the tie to Le Rendez Vous as they could just be shut for January, and don’t think the pop is around now.
Match 3: 18 v Salt & Pine
On to 18 v Salt & Pine (99). Here was have a first duplicate, as 18 (ranked 33) and Eighteen (ranked 72) both appear on tripadvisor, but are the same restaurant on the rooftop of the Rusacks hotel. I don’t know how Tripadvisor check reviews but I’m taking 18 as the correct one as that is how the Rusacks say it on their website (though on occasion they do also use “eighteen”).
So they are up against Salt & Pine, ranked at 99 of the best restaurants in St Andrews, but the first thing to say is that it’s not actually in St Andrews, it’s actually in Tentsmuir, which is one of the most wonderful places to go for a walk.
I’m going to have to award the tie to 18 here just for that reason, however I cannot recommend enough a walk in Tenstmuir, there is a wonderful forest and the most dramatic of beaches (yes more dramatic than west sands!) and it’s usually quite quiet, just remember to take £2 in cash to pay for parking. Salt & Pine is essentially a shipping container based at the car park and serves great coffee, crepes, cakes, and sandwiches adding to a great trip. It really is well worth visiting, it’s just not in St Andrews, probably 20 minutes away, and you will need a car (or bike) to get there. One other note is that I believe they are shut now from early January until April, so take a flask. Great place to go!
Most people visiting St Andrews will be familiar with the Rusacks hotel, it’s pretty iconic and I’ll talk more about 18 in the next round.
Match 4: Oriental House v Gorgeous.
Oriental House is a on Market Street, food is good though, not a bad choice if you want a Chinese after a pint at the Keys Bar (which is a great pub but not featuring in this as no food offering), you can sit in and eat, but essentially a takeaway, and whilst I like a Chinese, can’t say I’d go out of my way to.
Gorgeous is a small café on Bell Street that serves good cakes and paninis. I’m giving them the win by default here as the vibe is really nice inside and its a cute place, serving really good food, but let’s find out more in round two.
Match 5: Champions Grill v Eden Clubhouse
Next up is the first venue within the umbrella of the St Andrews Links Trust, with the Eden clubhouse taking on Champions Grill. This is a walk over for the Eden clubhouse which has recently had an upgrade, and is actually called Cafe Spike, setting up a mouth watering round two tie against its big brother the Tom Morris Bar & Grill.
The reason for the walkover is the fact that the Champions Grill no longer exists, sitting within the old Scores hotel. The good news though is that this hotel is currently having a multimillion pound upgrade and will be called Seaton House opening in March this year I believe. Lots of fancy looking pics and promo going on at the moment, and probably sitting alongside the other up market hotels in the town, but I look forward to taking a look around. The view across west sands will be stunning.
Match 6: Neighbors Café v Mummy & Co.
Easy win for Neighbors, if for no other reason that Mummy & Co is not in town, and is based on a caravan park out of town. I can’t comment on the venue itself but giving the win to Neighbors as it is in town on South Street, more on the place itself in the next round.
Neighbors is currently closed for January, and I’m not a fan of the the spelling, but hey ho, good luck in the next round!
Match 7: Swilcan Loft v The Physician
The next match is the Swilcan Loft v The Physician which might be the first controversial match in the tournament. Quite simply I’m giving the win to the Swilcan Loft. Now I know The Physician is actually a really popular venue, however a couple of things for me.
Firstly, it’s a cocktail bar really not a restaurant, I’m not sure if you can actually eat in there. Secondly, I’ve never particularly enjoyed myself in there either, but appreciate I’m not a cocktail person or maybe their ideal customer. If you like expensive cocktails or want to post pictures on Instagram it might be the venue for you. I’m going to check if you can eat in the Physician and if so it can go into the wild card spots, but if the answer is go into the Adamson for food (which is next door and essentially the same venue) then they are out. I think this is fair as if this was about bars, then the cross keys would be in the tournament and they are not.
NOTE: You can get food in the Physician, but I am sticking with the winner, as this is about where would I go to eat and out of the two, I’d pick the Swilcan Loft.
Swilcan Loft is within the Old Course hotel and of course therefore has amazing views from the high floors of the hotel looking over the Old course, west sands an the town. It is a restaurant, and serves decent high quality hotel food. Is it my immediate favourite, probably not, but worth it for the views, during the day and a summers evening alone.
We will address the awful font used on the side of the hotel though!
Match 8: Mozza v Café in the Park
Next up is Mozza, which was for some time right up there as one of my favourite restaurants but being honest I’ve had a few poor experiences recently. Mozza is up against the Café in the Park, which I believe is no more. This is within the St Andrews museum which is in Kinburn Park (kinda behind the bus station), and I understand that “Sweetpea at the Museum” has taken over and looks good. The museum is not open every day especially in the winter, but well worth a visit, and whilst I can’t actually say anything about Sweetpea at the moment, I’m going to give it the win as in all honesty I can’t at the moment recommend Mozza to anyone (though I really hope that changes and they get back to making great pizzas). I’m committing to taking a trip to Sweetpea before the second round.
Match 9: Dino’s v Rocca Deli
Rocca Deli is a deli, funny that! It’s on Bell Street and is really nice. Dino’s is a takeaway serving the usual takeaway fair. An easy win for Rocca who will have tougher matches ahead!
Match 10: Harbour Burger Kingsbarns v Morrisons
I have to be consistent here and point out that Kingsbarns is not in St Andrews. Equally I’m not 100% sure if the place is open at the moment, will check and update, but Kingsbarns beach is glorious and allows you to get a good glimpse of the golf course by literally going through the middle of it (as you go through the village heading away from St Andrews turn left into Back Stile before the golf course entrance). By default then Morrisons café gets the win, to be fair good prices and a decent breakfast venue, plus kids eat free!
Match 11: Tanon Thai v Whey Pat
Wow, this is an eye catching match up. The Whey Pat is an institution of a pub, but honestly I can’t say its known for its food. Conversely Tanon does glorious Thai food.
Tanon is tiny and you can’t book, but if full grab a takeaway. I have to award it the win, the food is TOO good, but I feel bad for the Whey Pat which is a good pub with a good atmosphere.
Match 12: The Rule v Number Forty
Honestly, would I ever chose to go to the Rule for food? No. Would I go for drinks and then maybe have food, yes. It’s a vibrant place, more suited to students and those who want a night out than me, but as a student or in my twenties I’d have probably gone there quite a lot, in fact it reminds me of a bar I used to work at as a student. All that said, it’s an easy win for the Rule as Number Forty no longer exists (come on Tripadvisor, surely time to update this?) being part of the old Scores hotel, which reopens soon (see match 5).
UPDATE: The Rule is currently closed for an update, reopening at the end of January 2025.
Match 13: The Vic v The Claret Jug Restaurant
The Vic is a really cool venue, again aimed probably at a younger crowd, open late, good music and so on, but the couple of times I’ve eaten there the food has been good. One of my friends got lucky in there one night, so I quite like the place for that reason (am I allowed to say that these days? Who knows).
The Claret jug restaurant (87) appears to be part of the Dunvegan, however I think they call their restaurant, the golfers lounge or bar and it is at 41 so will get its chance, so I’m saying this is a name change, and so giving the win to the Vic… did I say a friend pulled in there one night?
Match 14: La Cucina v The Bridges
The Bridges (95) I think is a duplicate of The Bridge (45) on tripadvisor within the Rusacks hotel, however La Cucina (43) is based at the Fairmont hotel. Technically this is outside of St Andrews, but will give them a walkover win
Match 15: The Bridge v Jarvies
As pointed out in in match 14, the Bridge is the Mediterranean restaurant in the Ruscaks. Jarvies is on South Street, I haven’t been and it’s currently shut, so the win goes to the Bridge. Tougher matches await the Bridge, but it’s two from two for the Rusacks.
Match 16: Roll in One v Molly Malones
Roll in One is a sandwich shop on the road to Guardbridge, and serves cracking stuff, however it’s out of town and is now called Fast’n Fresh. If you lived there, you wouldn’t get a links ticket! Stop in though if you are heading to Dundee, well there or Dan’s Goods in Guardbridge for a morning roll.
I genuinely feel a little bit sick though to award the match by default to Molly Malones. There is very little expect for maybe the price of booze that attracts me to Molly’s. I’ve had a mild panic attack in there, I’ve been nearly beaten up in there, and I’ve got one of the most memorable bar bills I’ve ever had in there, I can say no more.
This concludes the first half of the first round, 16 more macthes to go!
These first 16 matches create the following second round matches. Some big names entering the fray now, and some cracking matches to look forward to!
Rogue v Zizzi
Haar v either Thai Pop Up or Le Rendez Vous
Balgove Larder v 18
Lupo’s v Gorgeous
Tom Morris Bar & Grill v Eden Clubhouse
Bistro Du Vin v Neighbors Café
Mitchells v Swilcan Loft
The Saint v Sweetpea
The Grange Inn v Rocca Deli
The Criterion v Morrisons
Tulsi Indian v Tanon Thai
Hams Hame v The Rule
Road Hole Restaurant v The Vic
The Niblick v La Cucina
Dune v The Bridge
Little Italy v Molly Malones