Mark Greenaway

Grazing by Mark Greenaway – Market Menu

03/08/24

Princes Street, Edinburgh

Ten years ago, we were living in Manchester. We came up to Edinburgh that August for two reasons: to visit the Fringe and to get married. We celebrated our ultra low-key wedding (registry office, no guests, strangers as witnesses) with a delicious meal at Mark Greenaway’s Bistro in Stockbridge. 

Although that particular venue hasn’t lasted as long as the marriage, Greenaway is still a big part of Edinburgh’s culinary scene, and Grazing – located on the ground floor of the Caledonian hotel on Princes Street – is a firm favourite of ours. 

So it makes sense to celebrate our tin wedding anniversary here. There’s a new five-course ‘market menu’ that we’re keen to try – and it doesn’t disappoint. 

We start with three ‘snacks’: a little cracker with burrata and caramelised mustard seeds, some beef tartare and the cutest mini baked potato, with tuna tartare and lime mayo. These are an absolute pleasure to eat, the potato in particular bringing smiles to our faces. 

Next up, it’s rabbit paté en croute, a pastry frame containing layers of black pudding and spiced apple chutney as well as the meat. I’m not sure I’m going to like this; I haven’t eaten rabbit very often and I remember it as very strong and gamey. But this incarnation is delicate and light, and the gooseberry chutney on the side is a joy.

The main course is roast Perthshire duck breast, served with a morell mushroom tart and asparagus. Again, this is a revelation: I’m not usually keen on duck, but this is delicious – and that mushroom tart is bursting with flavour.

A pre-dessert of lemon curd cream proves a hit: there’s ice cream and chantilly, both bold with lemon – and the basil meringue complements it well. 

The only disappointment of the evening is the strawberry parfait, which is nice enough but too similar in concept to the pre-dessert (cold creamy stuff, room-temperature creamy stuff and some fruit) and not quite as tasty. 

But it doesn’t matter, because we’ve already taken the obvious decision to order an extra sweet to share. Not because we need it, but because Greenaway’s sticky toffee pudding soufflé is a thing of legend, an easy winner for our hypothetical Off Menu dream dessert. And it’s every bit as good as always: date-y and intense, rich but not heavy, quite the nicest thing you’ll ever eat. 

A couple of ‘Happy Anniversary’ petit fours round off the evening nicely, and we happily clink our glasses of Appletise in celebration of a decade well spent.

4.6 stars

Susan Singfield

Grazing by Mark Greenaway

11/05/19

The Caledonian, Rutland Street, Edinburgh

We were excited to learn that Mark Greenaway was taking over the space vacated by the Galvin brothers in the Waldorf-Astoria hotel. Greenaway’s food holds a special place in our hearts: we ate at his short-lived Stockbridge Bistro on our (very low key) wedding day, and rather marvellous it was too. We also enjoyed his flagship restaurant on North Castle Street, and – when that closed – kept an eye on the local press to see what he’d do next.

And Grazing is it. This new project is a more casual affair, with a hearty-sounding menu and a breezy, friendly atmosphere. It’s Saturday night, and we’ve been busy all day. We’re hungry and looking forward to an enjoyable evening.

Things get off to a promising start with the arrival of some stout and treacle bread and duck skin butter. The lightness of the bread belies the density of the flavour, and we’re both mightily impressed. We eat it far too quickly, and the waiter brings us more. We endeavour to approach the second portion with more circumspection; we don’t want to fill up before we’ve sampled the menu.

We both go for the same starter, because it sounds so enticing. Who could resist a crumpet with smoked trout and a poached egg? Not us! And it is absolutely fabulous: packing a real punch, yet somehow delicate. This is the kind of dish that gets people talking. (But only once they’ve cleared their plates.)

For the main, we decide to try one of the ‘grazing for two’ sharing dishes, the fish pie. This comes with two sides. The ugly potatoes sound delicious, but – we reason – there will be mash on our pie, and we don’t want double-spud. So we opt instead for Kentucky fried cauliflower and green beans with hazelnuts and goat’s cheese. The green beans are delicious, complemented well by the crunch of the nuts and the creamy, salty cheese. I’m less keen on the cauliflower, but then I rarely enjoy breaded/battered/deep-fried things, so it’s probably more me than it. Philip likes it well enough, and polishes it off.

Our reaction to the fish pie is a bit mixed. There’s no mash topping; it’s a naked pie. We should have ordered those potatoes after all; it might have been nice to be warned. The chunks of fish are large and perfectly cooked; there’s egg in there, and the white sauce is rich and piquant. But it doesn’t feel very indulgent; it’s not that we need a bigger portion, exactly; we just need to feel like we’re being spoiled. And this is somehow meagre, a little mean. A shame.

For dessert, Philip has the sticky toffee pudding soufflé, which is the standout dish of the evening. I wish I’d chosen it too. It looks magnificent, and has the substance to back up its style. It’s a light take on a stodgy dish, all the datey, caramelly, sticky joyousness without the heavy carbs. It comes with a hot caramel sauce and honeycomb ice cream, and is a knockout.

I’ve ordered the brown sugar cheesecake, mainly because it comes with tomato, and I’m fascinated to see how this works. In reality, it’s a little disappointing: there’s nothing wrong with it per se, but I can’t really taste tomato (presumably it’s in the syrupy sauce drizzled on my plate); the cheesecake is pleasant, but not memorable.

There’s a decent wine list, from which we select the a French Touraine sauvignon blanc. It’s fresh and clean tasting, exactly what we want.

All in all, our experience of Grazing is a bit hit and miss. I’m sure it’s possible to have a 5 star meal here, if you chance upon the right dishes. We’ve had a lovely evening, and I’m sure that we’ll come back. But we’ll know what not to order, too.

4.1 stars

Susan Singfield