Food

The Pompadour by Galvin

Princes Street, Edinburgh

29/01/17

Situated in Edinburgh’s famous Caledonian hotel, the Galvin brothers’ Pompadour restaurant is a real delight. We’re here because… well,  because, why not? We have family visiting, and we want to give them a treat. And a jolly lovely treat it turns out to be.

We’re eating from the seasonal menu, which is £45 for three courses – and well worth every penny. To start, I opt for the salad of poached winter fruits, speck and toasted macadamia nuts. It’s a triumph: sweet and salty and bursting with flavour. Philip has the lasagne of North Berwick crab with beurre nantaise, which is the chef’s signature dish. It’s wonderfully aromatic and so light it virtually melts in the mouth.

Next up, the main courses. I have the corn fed chicken breast, with pommes mouuseline, roast chervil root and purple sprouting broccoli. This is quite simply the best chicken dish I’ve ever tasted; it’s almost ridiculously delicious. I didn’t know chicken could be quite so… chickeny. And the accompaniments are perfect too. Philip has the haunch and faggot of venison, with wild mushrooms, pommes Anna, red cabbage and charred onion, which, served pink, is as rich and tender as can be. He’s a very happy man. One of our guests samples the roast fillet of Peterhead sea bream, with pearl barley kedgeree and a confit egg yolk; she pronounces it ‘delicious’ too.

Thankfully, this isn’t one of those restaurants where they try to get us through quickly, so that they can offer our table to the next set of  diners in the queue. We’re allowed to progress slowly, which means that we can take a breather before pudding, and enjoy the rather pleasant New Zealand sauvignon blanc we’ve chosen to accompany our meal. And I’m glad of this, because the puddings are lovely. I have the salted Valrhona dulce chocolate crémeaux, with almonds, prunes and rum ice cream, and it’s gorgeously reminiscent of my starter, with its salty-sweet flavours and lightness of touch. Philip goes for the classic apple tarte tatin with vanilla ice cream, which is perfectly executed too.

Would we come back again? Of course we would. The food is faultless, and the service impeccable.

5 stars

Susan Singfield

Hilton Edinburgh Grosvenor

31/12/16

Grosvenor Street, Edinburgh

It’s New Year’s Eve, and it’s grey and drizzly here in Edinburgh, so we decide to take our guests to the Hilton to sample their afternoon tea. It seems a civilised way to spend our time, talking and eating being two of our favourite pastimes.

There’s a range of sandwiches (smoked salmon, cheese and chutney, and a rather decent egg mayonnaise), and a selection cakes, of which the lemon drizzle and the carrot are definitely the best. There are scones too (fruit scones, which necessitate two of our party picking out sultanas with a grim determination), and these are warm and fresh and really very good. We polish it all off with ease, and wash it down with coffee and tea. The service is friendly and attentive, and we all enjoy ourselves.

So yeah, it’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with any of it, but it’s slightly disappointing anyway. Maybe it’s the fact that we’re sitting in what feels a bit like a corridor, and there’s barely anyone around. Maybe it’s the huge thick Costa mugs, and the full sized cutlery. It just doesn’t feel very luxurious; it lacks the refinement I expect from an afternoon tea. A decent nosh, then, just not much of a treat.

3.1 stars

Susan Singfield

HOME
Home 1 SA : The opening of Home restaurant, Edinburgh. Josh Littlejohn with Dean Gassabi of Maison Bleue at the opening of Home7-8 Queensferry St Lane, Edinburgh. Picture by Stewart Attwood All images © Stewart Attwood Photography 2016. All other rights are reserved. Use in any other context is expressly prohibited without prior permission.

30/12/16

Queensferry Street, Edinburgh

Maison Bleue at Home is a restaurant with a mission: to provide for the homeless. On Monday afternoons, it opens its doors to those of no fixed abode, and training and employment opportunities are also available for some of Edinburgh’s most disadvantaged people. A quarter of the staff working here have been homeless at some point in their lives, and all profits go to Social Bite’s parent charity. In short, it’s a business with a heart.

It’s also a very good restaurant. It’s Philip’s birthday, so there are four of us out celebrating, and we are off to a good start with a complimentary glass of fizz in honour of the day. It’s a special occasion, so we’re planning on indulging ourselves by going à la carte, but it turns out we all want things from the keenly priced set menu (£29.90 for three courses), so that works out well. We have olives and bread and wine while we’re waiting. We’re happy.

I start with a shellfish bisque, which has such depth of flavour that I feel like I could dive right into it. It’s delicious. Philip opts for the Saigon beef, redolent with the flavours of soy and sesame, and he clearly enjoys every mouthful. His daughter and her boyfriend both have the fondue de Camembert; they allow us to sample a mouthful and we’re glad we do. It’s a creamy, indulgent delight.

For his main, Philip has the North African lamb tagine. The lamb is mouthwateringly succulent and tender, and the dish is robustly spiced. The rest of us all go for the Châteaubriand filet steak (which carries a £5 supplement). I like mine rare, and this is perfectly judged, very pink indeed but nicely warm and soft enough to cut without a special knife. It’s served with fondant potatoes and a ratatouille, both of which are bursting with flavour. The pepper sauce is a bit too peppery (I like a punch, but this is a more like a kick in the teeth) but it’s our only criticism, so that’s okay.

For pudding, two of us take the sticky toffee option, and it’s everything you’d hope for it to be. The other two sample the Xmas pudding brûlée, which is a festive delight, with Christmas spices adding an interesting twist to an old favourite.

The service is excellent: warm, friendly and relaxed. And of course we take up the offer to pay it forward, adding twenty pounds to our bill to pay for two homeless people’s Monday meals. It’d be wrong not to, wouldn’t it?

This is a lovely place to be. Try it. If it’s good enough for Leonardo di Caprio, then surely it’s worth a visit?

4.6 stars

Susan Singfield

Tamatanga

26/12/16

Trinity Square, Nottingham

It’s Boxing Day and we’re both suffering from the after-effects of eating way too much in too short a time – a wonderful problem to have in such harsh times, but not one that is conducive to going out for dinner. But going out we are for a big family nosh-up and, happily, the chosen venue is Tamatanga, an upmarket curry joint in Nottingham city centre. After a glass or two of Cobra, I can detect a small part of my insides that isn’t totally stuffed – but still it seems wise to share a thali rather than having one each, which, I have to say, is probably a first for us.

A word or two about the venue. It’s a lively, vibrant dining place, pretty much open plan with an upstairs section to handle any overspill, and the staff are very attentive. A lot of restaurants go to pieces when the demand is high, but this place seems to be run with absolute precision, so we don’t have to wait very long for the thali, which arrives looking absolutely splendid (see picture). I love this kind of dining when you get lots of different flavours to try. The Tamatanga Thali comes with a choice of two curries – we choose Butter Chicken (rich, creamy and succulent) and, perhaps the star of the show, a Balchao Prawn Curry, fragrant with fresh coriander in a coconut finished sauce. There are also generously sized portions of Bombay Potatoes, Bhindi Do Piaza (okra with caramelised onions), daal, chutney, a delightfully fluffy naan bread and several poppadums. Our flagging appetites are revived enough to prompt us to order another naan to mop up the last of these mouth-watering juices, and we resolve that we will come again, when we have eaten less beforehand.

Around the table we see plenty of other colourful options – fabulous birianis, spicy salad bowls, and there’s a wide range available for the vegetarians in our group.  Would we recommend Tamatanga? Yes, for sure. This is classy Asian food, superbly cooked and beautifully presented.

5 stars

Philip Caveney

 

 

Ong Gie

17/12/16

Brougham Place, Edinburgh

I’m almost ashamed to admit that, in all my years on this planet, I have never eaten Korean food before – and we pass by this neat, pristine little restaurant on Brougham Place nearly every day of our lives on our way to the Quartermile – so, we tell ourselves, why not give it a whirl? I’m very glad we do.

There’s a scrupulously clean interior and a decidedly friendly atmosphere at the Ong Gie. A gentleman called Wan strolls over to the table and introduces himself. This is his place, he tells us and, if we need recommendations or advice, he’s happy to oblige. Wan, it has to be said, is a bit of a charmer and in moments we’re chatting happily away as if we’ve known each other for years. I can’t help feeling that every restaurant should have somebody like Wan front of house.

For starters, we choose two dishes – Jumbo Chicken Wings and Seafood Pancakes with spring onion and courgettes. The former are just what we expect – four generously sized pieces of chicken with a crispy coating and a deliciously sticky sweet chilli sauce. The other starter, however, is a real surprise – four chunky potato pancakes, generously stuffed with prawns and satisfyingly glutinous. These have a soy dipping sauce. Both starters are spot on and we look forward to the main courses. (I should perhaps point out that the service here is excellent, Wan clearly running the place with precision.)

For mains we order Crispy Rice with Seafood Stew –  the rice makes a deliciously crunchy base onto which is poured an aromatic casserole featuring king prawns, mussels and squid. There’s a lovely touch of theatre when the stew is poured onto the rice at the table making a delightful hissing sound. Talking of theatre, we also opt for the Yang Gogi Jumool Luk, which is a lamb barbecue. It hasn’t escaped our notice that set into each table is a rectangular grill. The spicy marinated lamb is brought to the table in a bowl and we are invited to cook it ourselves, bit-by-bit or all at once. It certainly makes for an appetising experience as the meat hisses and sizzles in front of our very eyes. Once it’s done to our satisfaction, we pop it into a lettuce leaf, add some sauces to taste and away we go. With the main courses we share a bowl of Udon noodles, served cold and simply perfect to cut through the exotic flavours of the marinaded meat.

As if all this isn’t exciting enough, I feel I have to say something about the price. This place is extraordinary value for money. Our meal for two, including a bottle of prosecco and a Tsingtao beer, comes to around sixty pounds. Have we enjoyed our first meal of Korean food? Oh yes we have. Would we recommend it to others? In a heartbeat. And will we be coming back again. Try and stop us.

5 stars

Philip Caveney

The Cottage Kitchen

25/11/16

Logies Lane, St Andrews

We’re in Dundee for an event which finishes around midday, so we decide to call in at St Andrews on the way back to Edinburgh. It’s a crisp, bright afternoon and we arrive feeling hungry, so we decide we’ll eat first and explore later. There are plenty of ‘chain’ restaurants and cafes around, but we soon spot the Cottage Kitchen, tucked away on Logies Lane. It’s busy but we notice a small unoccupied table and make a beeline for it.

The interior is intimate, rustic and there’s a friendly atmosphere. There’s a basic menu on the table and a selection of specials on a chalkboard above the counter. We don’t want to spend ages perusing the menu, so we choose quickly, deciding that we will share the two meals between us.

These comprise a homemade Puddledub pork sausage roll and a marinated bavette steak sandwich. The former is definitely the star of the show, a generous hunk of nicely seasoned meat wrapped in flaky pastry. The steak bavette is decent too, a chunk of medium rare meat, ladled with a horseradish sauce and served on crumbly focaccia. It comes with a choice of a side salad (there are four to choose from) and we opt for the roasted chorizo and mixed pepper which is delicious going down, but is clearly destined to repeat itself later on. As it’s a chilly day, we also order an accompanying mug of tomato and lentil soup apiece, which is hearty and warming,  but a lot bigger than we bargained for. It may seem surly to complain that there is a bit too too much of everything, but we’re left far too full to investigate the selection of delicious-looking cakes and pastries (all made on the premises, I’m told), so we decide we’ll investigate them another time.

All in all, a decent lunch venue, offering something a little bit different.

4 stars

Philip Caveney

Indigo Yard

06/11/16

Charlotte Street, Edinburgh

Indigo Yard is a a lovely pub/restaurant, owned by the Montpelier group, and just as delightful as the rest of their venues. Tucked away in a little lane at the end of Princes Street, it’s all wooden panels and candlelight. On this particular Sunday afternoon, it’s relatively quiet, but there are still enough punters to generate a buzz.

We’re here for a pre-theatre dinner, so we don’t experience the evening vibe. I imagine this place has a very different rhythm as the night draws in, and we’ll certainly be back some time soon to check this out.

Make no mistake: this is a long way from fine dining. This is ‘gromphy’ comfort food, and it’s very keenly priced. As well as the à la carte, there’s a set menu, where two courses cost just £10, and we decide to sample this.

To start, Philip opts for the smoked haddock fishcakes with hollandaise sauce, which are tasty and satisfying and nicely cooked. I go for the grilled halloumi and roasted red pepper salad with basil oil, which arrives on a bed of rocket with a sticky balsamic dressing. Yum! It’s simple, but it works, and the roasted peppers are deliciously sweet.

For the main, I choose an Indigo Orkney steak burger with fries. It’s not exciting – it’s a burger – but it’s exactly what I fancy and a decent plate of food. The burger is sturdy and well-flavoured, and the tomato relish adds a welcome piquancy; the fries are frozen, but they’re serviceable. There are sides of Mac N Cheese  on the menu, and the bacon with smoked Applewood cheddar version sounds so good, we decide to share a portion, just because we can. And we’re glad we do, because it’s pretty damned amazing. A bowl of this alone would constitute a perfect lunch, especially for diners nursing last night’s hangovers.

Philip’s main is more interesting than mine: it’s chicken and noodles with ginger and cashew nuts, and it’s lovely – all warmth and crunch and succulence.

We’re feeling greedy so, although we’re full, we decide to have dessert. We share a trio of sweet treats, which comprises small portions of banoffee pie, salted caramel & dark chocolate cheesecake and a lemon tart. The standout is the lemon tart, which is sharp and sweet as anything.

Even with a pint of beer and a bottle of Chilean sauvignon blanc, the bill comes in at just £63 – which is quite impressive for what we’ve had. Even more impressive is the fact that Indigo Yard is working with Scottish homeless charity, Social Bite, so we’re offered the chance to ‘pay it forward’ and buy a Christmas dinner for a homeless person. Who could refuse? £5 is a small addition to our bill, but it’s one that makes a difference.

All in all, our experience at Indigo Yard was an extremely positive one – and we’re happy to recommend it to anyone who wants to eat and enjoy themselves in Edinburgh.

4.2 stars

Susan Singfield

David Bann – Vegetarian Restaurant

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St Mary’s Street, Edinburgh

23/10/16

David Bann’s reputation for vegetarian fine dining is well known around Edinburgh, offering something more refined than the usual salad and quiche cafe experience. The deceptively spacious interior is clean and contemporary and there’s a relaxed atmosphere – yet there’s something decidedly old-school about the place. There’s no wi-fi on the premises and a quick internet search reveals that it doesn’t seem to have a Twitter handle, which – in this day and age – seems almost perverse.

The staff are friendly and accommodating however, and we’re soon enjoying some decent quality wine.  For my starter, I opt for a ravioli parcel with walnut on basil tomato soup. This is nicely cooked and presented,  the pasta parcel satisfyingly al dente, packed with a delicious walnut and spinach filling and floating serenely in a bowl of smooth herb-accented soup. Susan had the salad of fennel, beetroot, raspberry and poached egg. And again, this was handsomely presented, and deliciously fresh, the sharp tang of the raspberry adding a welcome zing – although the poached egg was disappointingly firm. In this kind of dish, you really want to see the yolk spilling over the salad. A minor niggle, perhaps, but an important one.

For my main course, I chose a bowl of stir fried vegetables with udon noodles and smoked tofu. Indeed, this was a popular choice with our party (four out of six of us chose it). It was nicely spiced with ginger and soy, while the smoked tofu was particularly tasty. It’s hard to get tofu just right and this was one of the best attempts I’ve tried. Susan’s baked crepe with spinach, mushroom and smoked cheese was very satisfying too, as well as being the most hearty of all the dishes we ordered, arriving, as it did, with a substantial portion of Mediterranean roasted vegetables.

We were pretty full at this point, so Susan declined a pudding, but I felt I had to sample the ginger and lime ice cream with orange cake –  mostly because it sounded really tempting – and I have to say it was every bit as delicious as it sounded, the orange cake succulently moist, the subtly flavoured ice cream good enough to die for, and packed into a dark chocolate nest. In many ways this was the most assured element of the meal. Across the table, I could see a hot peach and raspberry tart (freshly cooked to order in fifteen minutes), which also looked very appetising but was devoured by my dinner guest before I could steal a spoonful from his plate.

David Bann’s deserves its much-trumpeted reputation. For vegetarian diners who long for something special, this is clearly Edinburgh’s go-to venue. They really should sort out that wi-fi, though – and I’d be tweeting this review to others, if I only could…

4.6 stars
Philip Caveney

Grassmarket Paella Stall

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Grassmarket, Edinburgh

01/10/16

Question: Where can you eat delicious food in Edinburgh city centre for less than a fiver?

Answer: The Grassmarket, every Saturday lunchtime.

To be fair, there’s more than just paella on offer here – there are stalls serving South East Asian cuisine, burgers, pakoras, pizzas, you name it – but paella is what we’re in the mood for this sunny October lunchtime and I’ve been promising myself for ages that we are going to check out this stall, which doesn’t even appear to have a name. A simple sign announces ‘Lovely paella.’ When we arrive, there are two gigantic round pans of the stuff on the go, bubbling invitingly and giving off an aroma that sets my stomach a gurgling, but we’ve mistimed our visit. The chef tells us that the current pan still needs another ten or fifteen minutes before it’s perfect and he isn’t going to serve it until its just right.

Luckily, we have vegetable shopping to do, so we troop off to another stall and sort that out, before heading back, our appetites that bit keener. An eager queue is already forming but the chef remembers us, and waves us to the front. He duly heaps out two piping hot portions into foil trays. This isn’t exactly fancy dining, mind you. We get a plastic fork and a paper serviette apiece and that’s our lot – but it’s a lovely day, so we take a seat on the nearby gibbet (seriously) and dig in.

This is a very decent paella, the rice perfectly judged so it still has a tiny amount of ‘bite’ left in it. There are chunks of succulent chicken, flageolet beans, red peppers, green beans and that delicious combination of spices and chopped garlic that makes every mouthful a thing of wonder. One generously heaped portion of paella costs four pounds, fifty, which is excellent value for money. Transfer this to a china bowl, throw in some cutlery, three flunkies and a wine list and you’d be more than happy to pay £15 for something like this, any day of the week.

When we wander back in that direction, fifteen minutes later, I can’t help but notice that the first big pan has been consumed and people are already looking hopefully at its successor. If you’re in Edinburgh city on a Saturday lunchtime and you fancy a bit of Spanish, you could do a lot worse than this.

4 stars

Philip Caveney

Cameo Cinema Beer & Food Event

Stitched Panorama

25/09/16

We’ve all heard of food and wine tastings, of course, but the good people at the Cameo Cinema clearly feel that beer really should be afforded the same privilege as its close cousin  – and why not? Like many nations around the world, here in the UK, we consume a lot more amber than we do red or white. Beer often gets bad press, but did you know that it is fat free and has considerably fewer calories than wine? And that it has a lot less sugar than you might think? Hence this intimate meeting for forty lucky members of the Cameo Cinema in their delightful cafe bar (already our favourite drinking place in Edinburgh), where four vegetarian food courses are served, each matched with an appropriate beer.

First up, we’re offered a taste of San Miguel, matched with a tasty slice of Spanakopita (spinach pie), a filo pastry parcel filled with feta cheese, spinach and chopped onions. The twosome make a perfect match, the crisp, zesty lager cutting through the tangy taste of the filling. San Miguel is, of course, always perceived as the ultimate Spanish product – so it might surprise you to discover that it was first brewed (to a Spanish recipe) in the Philippines. These days, of course, it’s brewed in an even more exotic location: Northampton.

Next up we are served with a shot of London Pale Ale (I fondly remember this stuff being my dad’s drink of choice before lager was popularised in the 1960s). This is accompanied by a delightfully flaky vegan samosa filled with sweet and spicy mediterranean vegetables. Once again, the two items are an inspired match, the yeasty ale contrasting nicely with the samosa. Pale ale is also, we are told, an excellent partner for burgers and for Mexican food. You’ll hear no argument from me on that score.

The third nibble is a bowl of vegetable chilli, which has a rich, smoky flavour and a powerful kick to boot. This is paired with a wheat beer called Blue Moon, a malted America beer brewed Belgian-style. Here, the strong flavour of the cloudy beer is exactly what’s needed to cut through the strength of those chipotle chillies. Our hosts ask us if we think it’s a good combination and we answer in the affirmative.

I have a small twinge of anxiety as the fourth and final course is served. Out comes a glass of Black Ball stout, a Williams’ Brothers beer (a popular draught option at the Cameo), and this has been paired with a chocolate brownie. Now, I would never drink a stout on its own; I always find the flavour of roasted malt a bit too much, but I have to admit that, when taken in conjunction with a gooey sticky chunk of brownie, something rather magical happens – the two elements combine to provide a mouthful of what can only be described as sheer heaven. This turns out, against all the odds, to be my favourite pairing of the session.

Clearly the Cameo staff know what they’re doing – this event has been expertly put together. Those who would like to explore the subject a bit more should get themselves down to the Cameo bar with all speed – those who would prefer to learn more at a distance may care to investigate beerforthat.com – where all things beer and food-related are examined in more detail.

4 stars

Philip Caveney