Always one to stay ahead of a trend and to bring us hungry foodies a new treat, Dean Banks has once again spoiled us with an exciting new experience – the seafood boil.
The dish, originally from the southern states of America, has been trending this year and Dune launched their version last weekend.
As a massive seafood fan and a newbie to the dish, I took my mum (also huge seafood fan) and daughter (toastie fan) to try it out.
The restaurant felt cosy and welcoming when we arrived in the early evening.
We were offered a table downstairs by the bar or upstairs in their main restaurant with views of St Andrews University and St Salvator’s Chapel.
We chose the views over the bar. The music was a little loud for us downstairs. Upstairs, we could have a bench-style seat for my daughter to lounge on with her toys while we ate.
Although clearly child-friendly, there wasn’t a separate menu for her. I’m keen for her to try new foods, however, and the wild mushrooms & toast sounded perfect.
Champagne is always a good start
Never ones to turn down the opportunity to drink champagne, mum and I ordered a glass each of Charles Heidsieck Brut. We asked for a pineapple juice for the wee one, as well as six oysters and a bowl of olives as starter.
Our drinks came very quickly and we delighted in the champers until our oysters arrived.
The waitress informed us they were from the West Coast of Scotland and were quite large and creamy. She advised us to chew them first if we wanted to.
And we wanted to! I like to make the most of them and taste a bit of the flavour so rarely swallow them whole.
They came wonderfully chilled on ice with fresh lemon slices, charred lemon & lime, chive emulsion, a soy dressing and a mignonette (onion vinaigrette) dressing.
Did the oysters hit the spot?
The oysters did not disappoint.
The mignonette was perfect and I was equally impressed with the wonderful gluten-free bread and tasty miso butter.
I normally don’t bother with the gluten-free bread in most restaurants. Instead, I just go without. This bread, on the other hand, was soft and light. Clearly as much effort had been put into this bread as any other.
My daughter dived into the olives – bizarrely sophisticated for a three-year-old – but was taken aback by the spicy chilli aftertaste. A slurp of pineapple juice and she was back for more though.
Her wild mushrooms & toast arrived next. Mum and I were both a little envious. Fortunately, she needed a hand to finish the dish and I had a few of the delicious mushrooms.
The thick toast was soaked with a rich, savoury flavour, the heaped wild mushrooms were soft and varied in type. We had fun looking for the “tiny, cute ones” and chopping up the bigger ones.
The dish was covered in lashings of finely grated parmesan and the plentiful gravy was flavoursome and moreish.
Is Dune’s menu really child friendly?
I honestly wasn’t sure how much the wee one would eat, so had an alternative snack in my bag, but she wolfed it down happily.
Finally, the time came for our seafood boil to arrive.
We had been a little worried that there would be too much food for us. What came out, however, appeared a suitable amount to share between two (£49). It still had the wow-factor with a decorative lobster head on top and contained within a beautiful, delicate dish.
The Scottish seafood boil contained lobster, langoustines, crab claws, mussels, potatoes, red peppers and corn on the cob all in a smoky tomato sauce.
We were armed with various cracking, scraping and picking devices to get at the shellfish, but the shells were quite soft that it didn’t take much exertion to get to the tasty bits of the shellfish.
The Verdict on seafood boil at Dune, St Andrews
The stand-out element was of course the lobster tail, we can’t see past Dean Banks’ lobster, but I also very much enjoyed the crab claws (which did take a little cracking), which were full of tender and delicious meat.
The potatoes offered a simple flavour to contrast nicely with the powerful smoky tomato sauce and the sweetcorn was a welcome addition.
Unfortunately there was only one corn on the cob between two, so rather than fight it out, I munched half and mum had the other half.
Some might not mind foregoing a corn on the cob but I love it. Ever since mum served it to me as a child with syrup on. I only realised years later that this is an odd dish when I happened to say it out loud to someone… I suggest you try it though!
We were disappointed that there weren’t more langoustines, there were only two and one contained mostly tomalley which had turned an unpleasant colour.
Although we were assured it was safe to eat, it seemed a little unappetizing for us so passed on that.
The mussels had a lovely taste, but had lost a lot of their consistency in the cooking and were extremely soft and a bit messy to get out of the shells.
I happily spread the meat on the bread, but mum was disappointed in them as she had been craving them.
It is by design and nature a very messy dish, but that’s the kind of food we love.
The finishing touches
The boil came with a bowl of warm water and lemon each to wash our fingertips in. The helpful waitress also brought us plenty of additional napkins when we asked.
We finished with chocolate ice cream for my daughter and then a pat of a lovely black lab who arrived with the table of folk next to us and we headed home pleasantly full.
It’s a real joy when you find somewhere with top-class food that is comfortable with kids and all the chaos they bring – as well as dogs!
Dune, St Andrews: Information
Address: 80 North St, St Andrews KY16 9AH
T: 07463311786
W: https://www.dune-standrews.co.uk/
Price: £138 for two glasses of champagne, one pineapple juice, six oysters, bowl of olives, wild mushrooms & toast, seafood boil for two, chocolate ice cream.
Scores:
Food: 4.5/5
Service: 5/5
Surroundings: 5/5
Conversation