Radio listeners across the Lothians and Fife have voted Dunfermline’s Jack ‘O’ Bryan’s as their Best Restaurant of the year.
Jack ‘O’ Bryan’s is run by father and son, Bryan and Jack Coghill, who both attended the Radio Forth Awards ceremony at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall to collect their award.
Listeners heaped praise on the restaurant, which specialises in Iberian cuisine and will celebrate its six-year anniversary in Dunfermline’s Chalmers Street this coming January.
It was described as a ‘warm, friendly place to dine, with exceptional staff and management’, bringing together ‘the beauty of Scotland’s natural larder with the richness of Asian and Iberian cuisine’.
Bryan has forty years’ experience as a chef, restauranteur and hotelier, having run multiple hospitality businesses in the UK, Spain and Portugal, over his long career.
Trained by his father, 25-year-old Jack has mastered the kitchen at Jack ’O’ Bryans, and is also a skilled pastry chef and chocolatier, attracting several top industry awards, including being Highly Commended in the Scottish Excellence Awards’ Young Chef of the Year category.
Jack ‘O’ Bryans also reached the final two in the prestigious Best Fine Dining Restaurant category at this year’s SLTN Awards.
Commenting on the Forth Radio win, Bryan gave credit to their ‘hard working and committed team’, which includes Bryan’s wife, and Jack’s mum Michelle, and Jack’s wife, Sarah.
“We’re absolutely delighted to win Best Restaurant in these incredible Awards which span business, the community, and the arts.
“We are thrilled with the fantastic comments made about the restaurant. We pride ourselves on out service, and on our consistency. This is what makes dining with us a rewarding experience time and time again.
“We’ve put Dunfermline on the map again!”
The Jack ‘O’ Bryans team are now working towards opening a second restaurant in early 2025, this time over the bridge in South Queensferry.
Having acquired the former Frankie & Benny’s restaurant unit beside the Dakota Hotel, Bryan and Jack plan to reinvent the space as an upmarket, Hamptons vibe, fish & chip restaurant called “The Crab & Lobster Fish Shack”, due to open its doors in March next year.
Bryan added: “We’re looking forward to a very busy festive season here at Jack ‘O’ Bryan’s, with our festive menu in full swing. Then, it’s all hands on deck, excuse the pun, to get The Crab & Lobster Fish Shack opened, along with doing what we do best at Jack ‘O’ Bryan’s, which we know our customers love.”
