The Orangery - Fife

Today was meant to be a special treat for my mother's 81st birthday, with a visit to a highly regarded restaurant in Fife. However, our experience did not meet our expectations. Upon arrival, we were asked to wait before being seated at our table. Unfortunately, the table had food crumbs on the chair and the tea cup was dirty. The presentation of the food was amateur and the taste was poor and bland. When we raised our concerns with the staff, they were unwilling to acknowledge their poor performance and even applied a discretionary service charge. The duty manager seemed more interested in defending the restaurant than addressing our issues. Despite offering to pay what I thought the meal was worth, they did not have the authority to accept it. In the end, we paid £101 for a disappointing 45 minutes of subpar food and service. In my opinion, it is not worth spending your time, effort, and money at Balbirnie.

We are regulars at Balbirnie’s Bistro, but since it is now only available for private hire, we decided to try The Orangery for a family meal for five. It is now called The GRILL (all in caps) in honor of their new grill. Three of our party were slightly late, but the restaurant was not very busy. Our drink order was taken promptly, although we were not given a drink menu. I requested tap water, but the waitress insisted we have bottled water. The drinks arrived quickly and our orders were taken. Nothing in the appetizers appealed to us, so we all chose from the grill options on the menu. We were able to make small talk for the 35 minutes it took for our food to arrive. There was no explanation or interaction with the staff during our wait, and unfortunately it seemed like other tables had priority. Most of the food was warm upon arrival, except for the corn on the cob which was lukewarm and too oily to handle. The grilled dishes were good, although one steak was slightly overcooked. The fries came pre-salted, which may not be suitable for everyone. Two of us had dessert, which was average. We left after two courses and two hours feeling underwhelmed by the food, atmosphere, and service.

We ate last night from the seven course tasting menu. Food overall was very good indeed. In particular the amuse Bouche or salt cod brandade in a pie shape tremendous flavour. Pigeon lovely flavours. Tortellini was outstanding. Sorbet was very good indeed. Parfait was good but the little puff candy was hard. Blue cheese to complete was very good.. Flight of wines complemented the food. Waiting staff were outstanding. Bar service was very good too. Such a lovely building it's not surprising that the hotel constantly receives awards.

We went to the restaurant for the 7-course tasting menu. When we arrived at the hotel reception, we were warmly and professionally greeted and taken to the Orangery restaurant. We were seated and served the first of the accompanying wines. The first course arrived promptly, but the wait between each course got progressively longer. We ended up spending 2.5 hours at the table for 6 small courses. I mentioned the wait when paying and was informed that the chefs had not heard some of the waiters calling for the next course, which could be easily fixed. The food itself was delicious, with the exception of the slightly dry Fife beef. The wines in the flight were good and well paired. The service struck a good balance between friendly and professional, although at times it leaned towards being too informal. Balbirnie has done a good job with their young staff, who were chatty and welcoming. Overall, a good experience.

Went for the Seven at Balbirnie and oh wow, the food was incredible and so was the service. We came to celebrate with family for my engagement and made it a lovely memory, thank you!