RestaurantsEast LothianDunbarEH42

Harden's says

This old fisherman's inn on the historic harbourside has been taken over by Jack Findlay (from Logan Thorburn, who ran it for 16 years). The cooking, from a sister-and-brother kitchen team, won a rave review in The Times in May 2024.

survey result

Summary

£51
   ££
3
Good
4
Very Good
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

Mitchell Ramsay was just 21 when he took on ownership with his older sister, Alannah, of this wood-panelled harbourside fixture in April 2025; the siblings had worked in the kitchen under former owner Jack Findlay for two-and-a-half years, earning praise as “young chefs performing to a consistently high level”. Their cooking makes the most of the region’s larder and seafood in a menu of ‘modernised classics’.

Summary

£49
   ££
3
Good
4
Very Good
4
Very Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

This old fisherman‘s inn on the historic harbourside was taken over by Jack Findlay (from Logan Thorburn, who ran it for 16 years) at the end of 2022, but it remains a cosy and traditional panelled space. Feedback in our annual diners’ poll on its traditional Franco-Scottish restaurant fare is very upbeat all-round, and in her May 2024 review The Times’s Chitra Ramaswamy acclaimed “a rare and perfect combination of warmth and formality… and the food is wonderful”.

For 34 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).

Have you eaten at The Creel?

25 Lamer Street, Dunbar, EH42 1HJ

Restaurant details

No dress code

The Creel Restaurant Diner Reviews

Reviews of The Creel Restaurant in EH42, Dunbar by users of Hardens.com. Also see the editors review of The Creel restaurant.
James B
young chefs performing at a. consistently h...
Reviewed 8 months, 25 days ago

"young chefs performing at a. consistently high level. ."

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What the Newspaper Critics are saying

The Sunday Times

Chitra Ramaswamy had “a whale of a time” in an old fisherman’s inn on the
working harbour front at Dunbar, a 17th-century herring and whaling port.
Proprietor Jack Findlay provided a rare and perfect combination of warmth and formality, ably abetted by “a sister and brother team in the kitchen: head chef Miss A Ramsay, and sous chef Mr M Ramsay”. 

“It’s true that the Creel is on the pricey side for dinner but how about £23.50 for a two-course lunch? Apologies, luncheon. Plus the portions are generous, but not to the point of belly-clutching, and the food is wonderful.”

Chitra Ramaswamy - 2024-05-12

Prices

Availability 2 courses 3 courses coffee included service included
Dinner £41.50 £49.95

Traditional European menu

Starter Main Veggies Pudding
£9.00 £21.00 £0.00 £0.00
Drinks  
Wine per bottle £26.95
Filter Coffee £3.00
Extras  
Bread £0.00
Service 10.00%
25 Lamer Street, Dunbar, EH42 1HJ
Opening hours
MondayCLOSED
Tuesday12 pm‑2 pm, 5:30 pm‑9 pm
Wednesday12 pm‑2 pm, 5:30 pm‑9 pm
Thursday12 pm‑2 pm, 5:30 pm‑9 pm
Friday12 pm‑2 pm, 5:30 pm‑9 pm
Saturday12 pm‑2 pm, 5:30 pm‑9 pm
SundayCLOSED

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