Thornton Golf Club in Fife

What a glorious day we had at Thornton Golf Course, clubhouse and restaurant. The new catering team were fantastic. Home cooked food from fresh, using local suppliers. If you live in Thornton what a great asset to have on your doorstep. We will be back to play and eat as we've found a hidden gem. Thanks to Yvonne and her team for looking after us.

Last year I rated the caterers at Thornton with Five Stars. I had several great meals and a couple of home delivery carry outs up til now. Admittedly the weather worked against Carlucci and business was slowed down greatly over the winter months. It’s a fact of life that Golf courses, are a hard nut to crack for the caterer. Carlucci, however, we’re expecting a nice cash cow, but failed to keep faith with the Club and took over catering at Ladybank Golf Club. Fair enough you might say, but the standards at Thornton have dropped markedly and since April their menu has lapsed into the sort of pub grub I try to avoid. The Italian chef was moved to Ladybank, then the pizza oven took a hike there. The pizzas at Thornton were superb, my favourite. They are closing the restaurant a 16.00hrs over the summer months. So no business there then. Carlucci started off with clientel coming in to eat, with their reputation for good food. Not now and I’d be glad to see the current situation made better by letting them go. I’m sure they will bail out of Ladybank before long. There is no street advertising for dining at both clubs. Sub standard variety and quality of meals for club matches, Open Competitions and general public will be their death nell. If they have taken a five year catering contract and continue as now, I could be changing Club to play my golf elsewhere and more importantly enjoy the catering again.

We had a lovely family lunch yesterday at Carlucci. Food was delicious, good variety of choices for everyone and generous portions. Staff were friendly and attentive. Will definitely be back!

I was here the evening of 11/01/2024, I had high expectations due to the number of restaurants owned by the same business. It is difficult to be for sure when you arrive that it is in fact the Carlucci restaurant and not just the golf club due to no signage outside. The waiting staff were friendly and attentive. We ordered various items including, starters, sides, pasta and pizza. the food arrived in good time. Now I understand food needs to cool at times to be eaten.. however all dishes were tepid at best. The temperature is more for a toddler than an adult. I did not expect pizza and pasta to go cold after a first spoonful. As for the pizza it was completely burnt and tasted like burnt toast. It is a real shame as if you ignore the burnt toast flavour and coldness the taste is there. We mentioned to the staff and were good and apologised. We continued to order dessert. We order three one was the sticky toffee pudding which was great, no complaints. The profiteroles were bland and not great. Lastly the biscoff sponge cake. It was awful tasted dry… not biscoff at all. Tasted bitter. At the end of the meal the waiting staff apologised again and said we have taken off the price of the sticky toffee pudding. Now that’s good. However when my husband previously mentioned about the pizza, she advised we had this issue earlier and was hoping it was a once off! Now tell me im wrong we had two pizzas that tasted like burnt toast! Surely we should have been offered a higher discount than a dessert! Our meal including the sticky toffee pudding was over 90 pounds with only 4 beers. It’s an expensive meal during the week for this poor quality. Unfortunately had this attempted to be better rectified we could have came back and tried again. However it was more about meeting profits than the importance of customer feedback and retention. This is why it was empty when we arrived. Speaks volumes. January or not the reason is down to the poor quality control and attempt to rectify appropriately.

Carlucci the well established Italian Restaurant based in Dunfermline has taken out a lengthy franchise at Thornton Golf Club. To date they are doing well and have turned round the catering facility in this Golf Club. Access to the restaurant facilities is open to the Public, not just the membership. There is a substantial varied menu to suit all tastes. You can also order a carry out from the Carlucci at Thornton Golf Club web site, where free delivery is on offer I believe, within a Five mile distance from the club as the crow flies. The club has a lovely outlook over the course and the staff are so friendly and helpful. Need I say that the food served is excellent and guaranteed to satisfy a hungry punter. Find the restaurant at the end of Station road in Thornton drive under the rail bridge and park at the golf club. We have had a great meal before one of the quiz nights and have already had two carry out deliveries since their launch in April. By the numbers having meals at the clubhouse, Carlucci’s reputation precedes them. Looking forward to try something different at my next evening out there!

At £14 for a three course meal and the good variation on choices in the Seasonal menu is worth a punt. During these difficult times, we need to support hospitality services. Our party of four enjoyed our pre Christmas dinner. Only criticism, lay on a better wine selection for the punters ( Not just Merlot). Sorry to be picky, but income was lost here. Thornton Clubhouse is open to all members of the public ( i.e. not Club Members ) to enjoy a meal in pleasant surroundings.

Played the course today and thoroughly enjoyed the day. Warm welcome from the pro shop and helpful description of the course lay out. Tees fairways and greens all in really good condition but bunkers suffering from a heavy downpour recently. Visited the clubhouse for a drink when finished and must say the smell from the kitchen was ver appetising , toastie being served looked really good. I’ll definitely be back to play and to sample the food.