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THE NIBLICK RESTAURANT & BAR
You don’t have to be a golf fan to appreciate the sublime setting and dining at The Niblick on St Andrews’ Old Course
OVERLOOKING the first fairway of the Old Course in St Andrews, The Niblick is teeing up for a successful summer season. The elegant first floor restaurant opened in 2022 above the R&A World Golf Museum.
This year the 65-seat restaurant space has been refreshed, with a brand new bar installed and is about to launch a dinner service for the first time. It’s also had a rebrand, from The Niblick Brasserie to The Niblick Restaurant & Bar by R&A.
Executive Head Chef Craig Sneddon is a member of the Master Chefs of Great Britain. He joined The Niblick 18 months ago and has enjoyed over two decades cooking for The R&A so far.
He says: “We’re constantly trying to improve. It’s very exciting. The team are all geared up and ready to go.”
The elevated vantage point of The Niblick is really special. Sneddon explains: “It has beautiful views of St Andrews Bay and the North Sea, The Royal and Ancient Clubhouse and down the first fairway of the Old Course.”
The Niblick Restaurant and Bar is popular with golfers and museum visitors but you’ll need no golfing expertise to enjoy these views and the delicious food and drink on offer. A niblick was an early style of golf club, used for playing out of the rough and tight lies, equivalent to a 9-iron today, which you’ll no doubt learn if you tour the museum first.
“My whole ethos behind the design and the development of the menus is to use as much local produce as I can,” says Sneddon. “We cook the food people want to eat. We’re using beautiful smoked trout from down the road in St Monans, beef from Forfar in Angus, and we also buy excellent meat from Balgove Larder just outside St Andrews and Scott Brothers Butchers in Dundee.”
During the day The Niblick offers porridge, pancakes and full Scottish breakfasts, popular with golfers before or after a round. At lunchtime a broad mixture of daytrippers, Museum visitors and locals enjoy Cullen Skink, fishcakes, burgers and salads.
On a Sunday our traditional Sunday Roast is hugely popular, come for Angus beef with garlic and herb beef dripping potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, and all the trimmings.
The Niblick’s new dinner service starts on Fridays and Saturdays from late April and then expands to Wednesday to Saturday from May 1. Sneddon says: “We’re changing tack slightly. We feel there’s a market out there. This is a prime location, it’s such a beautiful setting in the evenings with the sunsets, and the views across the water and down the coast.” There will be a relaxed, unhurried feel to the evenings.
“People can come in, have a drink, maybe have a cocktail then enjoy a nice dinner. The new bar has been purpose built for the space, ”says Sneddon.
“It allows the front of house team to really express themselves and it’s really improved their workspace. They are making beautiful cocktails. There’s a really nice whisky and wine selection and a cocktail of the week.”
On the evening menus local seasonal produce is centre stage. “We’re introducing some nice 30-day dry aged fillet steaks and some beautiful fish dishes,” says Sneddon.
“There are some dishes we also have during the day but overall it’s a bit more elaborate. We’ve mixed it up a wee bit but we still want to cover all bases, so there really is something for everybody.”
Alongside the fillet steaks, highlights of the new dinner menu include mussels with pickled cucumber, curry sauce and almonds; beef carpaccio with horseradish and beetroot pesto; tandoori chicken, and a beetroot, red onion and vegan feta ravioli with candied walnuts and salsa verde.
“You have to diversify and appeal to a wider audience.” says Sneddon. “We’ll cater for all dietaries. We want to give all the guests who come in the best possible experience.”
The menus will change seasonally with the availability of local produce, giving Sneddon’s kitchen brigade the opportunity to keep learning, as well as keeping the offering fresh and interesting for regular local visitors.
“We’ve some really good chefs in the kitchen, we’ve built up a great team. It’s a chance for them to really express themselves with the best quality Scottish produce. Scotland has a fabulous natural larder. The produce that we’re getting is unbelievable.”
Watching the sun set over West Sands, cocktail in hand with dinner on the way, The Niblick really is the place to be in St Andrews this summer.
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