As we take our seats I muse on the sagacity of General Ulysses S. Grant who, when visiting the bridge, then the longest in the world, observed that it was “a mighty big bridge for a mighty small town”. Two years after his visit, the bridge fell down in a storm – and was promptly rebuilt largely thanks to the efforts of local lawyer Thomas Thornton, whose eponymous firm continues in Dundee to this day. The piers of the old bridge still protrude from the silvery Tay an ominous reminder of humanity’s frailty in the face of nature.

We’re en famille today and joined by the son-in-law’s friend, Mike, an accountant from darkest Aberdeenshire – who said that accountants were boring? Mike, once a chunky lounge lizard, is half the man he was – a lithe gym bunny – whose commitment to good health borders on the obsessive.

He constantly checks his blood sugar monitor and gives us a witty running commentary. To the list of topics to be avoided at the table – politics, money and religion – can we now add glucose?

Throwing caution to the wind, he opts for a ‘spring roll’ of melting brie and Parma ham in a crunchy filo pastry. It’s a novel take on a Chinese favourite served on a bed of salad and works very well – substantial and tasty, perhaps a little heavy for a starter but it gets a big thumbs up from our guest fresh from working out.

My haggis fritters are plentiful and moist with a crisp breaded shell and served with a delicate dressing of honey, redcurrant and thyme. The mild sweetness of the dressing is just enough to cut through the slight greasiness of the haggis. These are seriously good, far superior to the overcooked musket balls that I’ve experienced when served up as haggis bon-bons elsewhere.

We have chosen an interesting wine, an Austrian red of the unusual St Laurent grape variety. It is a relative of Pinot Noir but is much heavier than expected, full of fruit, complex and long on the finish – it’s worth the £45 price tag.

Incidentally, this restaurant offers the widest selection of gluten-free choices on any menu that I have ever seen.

With a nod to his home territory, Mike opts for the Peterhead Plaice with twice cooked chips and pea purée. Fish and chips – you can take the boy out the Broch but you can’t take the Broch out of the boy. He tucks in to three breaded triangles of plaice piled on to a tower of chips and declares the fish to be “affa fine”.

I’m a little suspicious of my choice of main – “strips of Angus beef fillet with red onion and mushroom and peppercorn sauce” priced at £27.50 – sounds good but at that price, this could be a skimpy dish. But it promises to go well with the Austrian wine. My fears are allayed when a healthy portion of fillet medallions is served. The beef is excellent and perfectly cooked, rare as requested. The chefs at The View know what they are doing. The dish pairs well with the wine but a traditional Diane sauce might have been better.
Desserts are ordered in the interests of journalistic endeavour, the sacrifices we make know no bounds.

My strawberry pavlova with vanilla cream and raspberries pays tribute to the expertise of local soft fruit growers and is delightful. The meringue is crisp, non-cloying, melt-in-your-mouth and bedecked with delicious fruit, crumbling into the vanilla cream.

Our guest belts up at last about his blood sugar monitor – it has been displaced by a seductive slab of Belgian white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake which is declared to be “pretty guid like”.

Across the river we look to Dundee, a culinary desert with some decent Turkish, Indian and Chinese restaurants but nothing to offer in the way of good European or modern British cooking – unless the bean pie and onion bridie now qualify as haute cuisine.

I note that the post code for The View in the Fife village of Wormit is a Dundee one – strengthening my conviction that Dundee’s best restaurant is in Fife.

Verdict 8/10
www.view-restaurant.co.uk