Eve’s Court: This East Lothian Restaurant Is Worth Travelling For

Golf is a wonderful game, with elaborate etiquette, a lauded history and its own mythology – but it is usually incompatible with fine dining. Large groups of middle-aged gentlemen reciting the intricacies of their last round, each outdoing the other with their stories of derring-do, tend to result in restaurants where the food plays second fiddle to the requirement for sustenance. The chatter and laughter ring out to the accompaniment of more drinks.

On Scotland’s Golf Coast, along the southern shore of the Firth of Forth from Musselburgh to North Berwick, while there are one or two restaurants that try and focus on the food rather than the clientele, most provide tasty, filling, competent but unremarkable cuisine. What a surprise, then, to find a new restaurant that is ambitious and breaking the mould.

This is Eve’s Court, located at Papple Steading in East Lothian. This gothic-style farm steading was commissioned in 1860 and completed in 1871 by A J Balfour who became British Prime Minister in 1902. In addition to the restaurant, there is an art gallery, accommodation and event space, all set in glorious countryside. The buildings have been artfully restored and the restaurant, or more fittingly, the café and wine bar, is unpretentious, bright and welcoming with modern wooden Scandinavian-style furniture and good lighting. The place is named after Lady Eve Balfour who was a determined organic farming innovator and founded the Soil Association.

Restaurant Review: Eve’s Court, East Lothian

Scott Smith, formerly Chef Patron of Fhior, heads up the kitchen alongside Head Chef Chris O’Connor, formerly at Pompadour in Edinburgh. The menu is a celebration of seasonal ingredients and local produce and there is clearly a strong attention to detail and a touch of brilliance with the flavours that are extracted. 

The Food

I took the mistress for a celebratory lunch and we started with a plate of steamed mussels with confit leeks, almonds and a delicious roasted mussel butter sauce; poached langoustines with pickled kohlrabi, fermented chilli and roasted kohlrabi puree with mint; and a BBQ Hen of the Woods mushrooms, braised Scottish grains, crispy kale and a mushroom froth. 

In each case the sauces were perfect expressions of umami and absolutely delicious. This necessitated ordering some bread to mop them up. The freshly baked bread roll was accompanied by a yeasted butter with yeast flakes and a taste resembling a very gentle marmite. A great match for the sauces.

To complete our main course, we ordered the spring greens in an anchovy and lemon sauce. Again, the dish worked perfectly with the crisp cabbage and lemon flavour complimented by the richness of the anchovy. We were unable to make space for one of their signature dishes – the beef tartare with mushroom ponzu, pear, charcoal tallow & rye furikake – but this, by itself, is a good reason to return.

For dessert we went for the set rhubarb cream with poached rhubarb, blood orange and marjoram and couldn’t resist the choux bun and a chocolate orange and hazelnut friand – the only slight disappointment in the meal as it was a little dry. It wasn’t meant to be served as a dessert so perhaps earlier in the day it had been better.

The Drinks

While the food was delightful, the wine list was a revelation. With a concentration in the £40-50 per bottle range it is not cheap but you know that each choice has been carefully curated. By the glass you can enjoy 2023 white and red Meursault from Nicolas Gauffroy, a fantastic 2021 Zsirai from Tokaji, Hungary and an excellent 2024 Primitivo Collantes from Cadiz, Spain. Even better, you can then purchase any of the bottles from their wine list from their cellar at one end of the restaurant. This is a brilliant innovation that I’d like to see more restaurants offer. Taste the wine and then buy the bottle (or two).

The service was attentive and helpful without being intrusive and for a room with very hard services, the noise level (and there was a large table of ladies enjoying their lunch having a great time) was not intrusive. This was probably helped by the avoidance of mood music in the room. By three o’clock people were still coming in for lunch and walk-ins were being turned away, so be sure to book before you go. 

The good news is that now Eve’s Court is open for dinner on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and dogs and children (there is a very good children’s menu which is refreshing) are welcome. I would be careful driving there at night as it is relatively remote, the lanes are narrow, and the Scottish police often lack a sense of humour but the place is such a gem I’d go for coffee and pastries, take a walk in the wildflower meadow, return for lunch and stock up on their delicious wines which you can then enjoy back at home. My only request is that you don’t tell anyone else, otherwise it is going to get too busy.

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