22/10/26

George Street, Edinburgh

We mainly know Yotam Ottolenghi from his Guardian food columns, where he publishes the kind of recipes we drool over, despite knowing we’re never going to attempt to cook them (the ingredients lists are long and intimidating; the processes time-consuming and complex). We’re not expecting to actually taste his food – he has restaurants in Geneva, Amsterdam and London, but none elsewhere in the UK. So when we hear he’s venturing north of the border and opening a new place in Edinburgh, we know it won’t be long before we try it out.

It’s a perfect Autumn day: the sky clear and blue, the air cold and crisp. We’re booked in for a late lunch, so we take our time walking from our Old Town tenement to the New Town, where Ottolenghi sits between two clothing shops, its windows vibrant and enticing. The interior is light and bright with splashes of red and yellow, a long central bar dominating the space. The ceiling is double height, with a mezzanine over the back third. It’s not exactly a calm environment but neither is it overwhelming. There’s just the right amount of buzz.

We’re quickly seated and given our menus, as well as an allergy guide (because I can’t have gluten). I’m pleased to see that there are lots of dishes I can eat. While we consider our options, we order drinks: an alcohol-free cherry Americano for me and a 0% Cold Town lager for Philip. They both slip down very nicely.

We opt to share a single portion of the starter selection, which comprises six little dishes: roasted peperonata; miso butter bean mash with kalamata olive preserve; Fasolakia beans with feta cream; cucumber achar; burnt aubergine; and beetroot with cherry and sour cream. Neither of us likes the burnt aubergine, but the rest of it is delicious, especially the beetroot and Fasolakia. There’s a nice mix of the creamy and the acidic but, while Philip is able to slather the various dips onto a delightful flatbread, there’s no gluten-free equivalent available for me, which diminishes the experience somewhat.

For our main, we have one of the menu’s ‘claypot sharers’ – a lamb and aubergine rice pie, served with chopped dill pickle. This is an absolute triumph. Essentially a pimped-up shepherd’s pie, it consists of a richly flavoured lamb, lentil and aubergine filling, topped with rice, pecorino cheese and sour cream. It’s comfort food dialled up to eleven.

The pudding menu looks appealing but only two of them are available to me. No matter: I’m sold on the idea of the miso clotted cream fudge, and as happy as Larry (whoever he is) nibbling on the five pieces of sweet, salty goodness that come my way. Philip selects a kumquat marmalade steamed pudding, served with a delectably light sabayon. He declares it the star of the show and eats it slowly, savouring every mouthful, not wanting the pleasure to end.

Executive chef Neil John Campbell can be proud of what he’s achieved here, and so can the front of house staff, who are all friendly and attentive in a relaxed, authentic way. When we enthuse about our main course, we’re informed that the recipe is in Ottolenghi’s latest cookbook, Simple Too – and that all the dishes in this book are, as the title suggests, relatively easy to make. We waste no time in buying a copy.

And then we leave, replete and satisfied, back out into our beloved city. I can’t think of a better way we could have spent this afternoon.

4.6 stars

Susan Singfield