Lunch Quest: Edinburgh

Vittoria is part of a family of restaurants, owned by the Crolla family, that covers the two branches of Vittoria, Taste of Italy, Divino Enoteca, and La Favorita. Although, I’m yet to sample Taste of Italy, despite its relative proximity to my office, I’m extremely familiar with the others. Many happy trips have been made to the Vittorias; La Favorita remains, to my mind, the best pizza place in the city; and we reviewed the super-stylish Divino, a couple of months ago, and found that the stylish surroundings and exceptional wine rather overshadowed the food.‬

‪This evening marked the start of festive dining for me. Not only did I sample the Gregg’s “Festive Oval” for lunch (essentially a chicken club with cranberry – tasty, but not saturated in festiveness), it was with considerable festive spirit that I approached Vittoria’s doors.
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Drinks orders were swiftly taken, and we settled our choices fairly quickly. This particular annual night out focuses on the ritual of the Xmas Pizza, so it was to that section that our full attention was focussed.

‪I did opt to sample their soup of the day, to start, of course.‬


Carrot and onion gave me slight expectations of a very sweet concoction, but it was very well judged. It was a hearty broth, and richly savoury. I enjoyed it very much.


The pizza I had to follow was as good as ever. It was topped with a nice array of seafood, including mussels in the shell.

Overall, I enjoyed Vittoria. It served us good dishes, in a lively environment, to a good standard. The staff are clearly adept at dealing with the odd mishap, as they ably demonstated when smoothly handling a little spillage that took place, near our table. Next time you feel the need for Italian in a medium sized group, head to Vittoria. They will serve your needs, very nicely.

‪Scores

Blythe scores Vittoria:‬
‪4/5 for food
‪3/5 for presentation
‪4/5 for service
‪3/5 for setting
‪giving an overall 14/20

‪Today’s early Xmas late lunch questers were: Mel, Aileen, Pammy, Milo, Iain, Blythe

We ate: soup, calamari, pizza‬

‪We drank: draught lager, red wine, water

I wore: a much under-utilised YSL tie

‪Total bill:  c.£100 (6 diners)

            

I was pressed for time, the other day, so had to opt for the takeaway option from Hula. As you will have read, I had a jolly time to myself.

An opportunity arose to pay a visit, before my trip to Hongfu, yesterday, so I seized it.

Given that it was Hallowe'en weekend, I wasn't surprised to see a queue snaking it's way from the costume shop, next door, past Hula's sunny entrance way. I timed it to miss the lunchtime rush, but found the place still nicely busy, as it was throughout my stay.

Guess what I ate? It was of the pea and ham variety. Rather spectacularly, it came with a rustic slice of cheese on toast.


This style of pea and ham, made from green split peas, is one that I have a habit of mangling quite badly, ending up with a soup that whilst flavoursome is way too gritty. No such mistakes were made here, with a beautifully rustic bowl of soupy goodness, with complex texture and hearty flavour.

Susan then popped over with a lovely little sample of one of their trademark smoothies. Slowly but surely, she's starting to convince me of their merit. I don't think it's ever going to get to the stage where I'll be creating a smoothie league table, but it's good to learn to appreciate new things.


I topped things off with an excellent Artisan Roast espresso. It was head and shoulders above any coffee I've sampled so far on our quests, so it was worth the trip for that alone.


Overall, Hula expertly reinforced the initial perception from my takeaway visit. Pay it a visit, soon, because I have a feeling you'll warm to it as much as I have.

I ate: pea & ham soup, cheese on toast

I drank: water, sample of whirling dervish smoothie, espresso

I wore: whirling dervish coloured suit

Total bill: c.£7

I have something of a shameful admission to make. Susan from the Hula Juice Bar dropped me a tweet to come and visit them when we first started out on our merry questing ways, just a few short months ago. For one reason or another, it just didn’t quite happen. When she dropped me another tweet, yesterday, to say that today’s soup would be haggis, neep, and tattie, she had me firmly signed up to the project.

As I left my office, which is around a 15 minute walk from Hula’s Victoria Street residence, the rain had just begun to tinkle down, gently. I was clad in my overcoat (which was keeping me way too warm, on this uncharacteristically mild day), but had neglected further rain , such as a bonnet or brolly. I had visions of turning up at Hula, soaked to the skin, to find out they’d run out of soup. In Angus’s terms, I was wearing a metaphorical black hat, but metaphorical hat’s do not keep the rain off, sadly.

As I promenaded up the Bridges, a wonderful thing happened: it stopped raining. The sun didn’t come out, nor did I burst in to song, but it was still a joyous moment.


I was soon at the Hula’s welcoming door. I walked in and made my introductions. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tarry for a sit-down lunch, today, so took Susan’s recommendation, opting for their takeaway meal deal. This meant I could sample the much vaunted soup, along with a Cajun chicken wrap (again on Susan’s recommendation), for the princely sum of £4.


As I waited for my wrap to be toasted, in the sunny surroundings of their compact little café, Susan offered me a little sample of their famous “juice”. Now, I’m not a fan of these things, but the banana and mango lassi was very nice. Maybe if I thought of it as chilled fruit soup it would make more sense to me.

My victuals were packed up for me in compostable containers and bags, much like yesterday, and with friendly farewells ringing on my ears, I toddled off back to the office.


When I got there, I tucked in to the soup. It was very good, with an excellent full flavour from the haggis, and pleasingly light creaminess from the potatoes. The wrap was similarly excellent, with the spicing offering a welcoming cuddly warmth rather than a brutal slap of one-dimensional heat. It was balanced, filling, and enjoyable.


Overall, I have to say that I’m very sorry for not popping along to the Hula Juice Bar before now. It truly is a little ray of sunshine, twinkling at the corner of the Grassmarket (my mixed metaphors show no signs of improvement, I think you’ll agree). It’s always such a delight to see people enjoying what they’re doing at the same time as producing things to a high quality. I’ll be back to try more soups and wraps from their range, soon.

Scores
Blythe scores Hula Juice Bar
4/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
4/5 for service
4/5 for setting
giving an overall score of 15/20

Today’s Lunch Quester was: Blythe

I wore: That lemony yellow and blue tie that I used to wear all the time

I ate: Haggis, neep, and tattie soup, toasted Cajun chicken wrap

I drank: A wee sample of banana and mango lassi

Total Bill: £4 (daily takeaway meal deal)

Giovanni’s is essentially the staff canteen at the Lister/Pfizer Institute in Hill Square. IT’s quite unlike any staff canteen I’ve been in previously, though.

The setting is fairly basic: long tables set out for a communal feel; basic paper table cloths. But take a look out of the window and your have an amazing view across Arthur’s Seat and along the coast. On a brighter day, I bet it’s spectacular.

We were given four choices: pasta with chicken, roast pork, brushetta with salami and aubergine, or a stuffed pepper. I opted for the pasta. What swiftly arrived was some fusilli in a rich and creamy mushroom-laced sauce, with good chunks of tender chicken.


It was a lovely dish, way better than the pasta I’d been served at Cucina, earlier in the week.


The pork also looked very good, and the bruschetta made me highly envious.


Now, I don’t really do dessert, but it seemed churlish to turn down a slice of chocolate and strawberry gateau. I was damn pleased I put my reservations aside and partook, because it was incredibly good.


Giovanni’s was a complete revelation to me. I thought this kind of quality in an in-house catering place was a relic of a bygone era. It’s lovely to think that you can still partake of this quality of fare in this day and age.

If you’re lucky enough to find yourself in this building, at some stage, prepare for a rare treat.

Scores

Blythe scores Giovanni’s at The Lister
4/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
4/5 for setting
3/5 for service
giving an overall score of 14/20

Today’s Lunch Quester was: Blythe

I ate: creamy chicken pasta, chocolate and strawberry gateau

I drank: orange juice, water, coffee

I wore: the first overcoat of the winter

Cucina is super-stylish, as you would expect from the restaurant at Missoni’s palace of uber-chic on George Iv Bridge. I was warmly greeted upon making my way upstairs to the restaurant, and I was swiftly shown to our table.


I had arrived with MJ-style promptness, given I was on photo duty, and was surprised to find the place largely empty. I'm not sure Monday lunchtime is the most popular time for lunching, although with so many of the upper-scale places closed on a Monday, I thought a few more punters might have been lured in to join us, today.


LQ: Istanbul bureau chiefs Mina and Patrick were due to arrive with guest of honour Trish, who was visiting from Inverness. In the meantime, I had some options to consider: the extensive a la carte menu offered a wide range of choices; but the smaller lunch menu offered five choices each for starter and main, and looked good value.

The Mina's general reluctance to adhere even the most basic rules of timekeeping meant that I was sitting waiting for quite a while, but when they finally pitched up, thirty minutes late (shocking!), there was much hilarity in the air. Patrick looked in bad shape after last night's trip to Sygn, but Mina and Trish looked the picture of health, and gently radiated warmth and wellbeing.


And so to business! A lovely bread basket arrived in what appeared to be Mussolini's hat (it had been offered while I waited) and our thoughts quickly crystallised around a suite of dishes. I opted for the Caserecci alla tre cipolle (homemade twist pasta in three onion sauce), followed by the riso. My fellow diners opted for brown shrimp salad followed by coley (Mina), the chicken (Trish), and mussels followed by the chicken (Patrick).


The dishes quickly arrived, and after pausing for photos, and for the waiter to give us a very detailed description of what we were about to eat, we tucked in. Patrick seemed pretty pleased with his mussels, and Mina was complimentary about the salad, although perhaps less a fan of the brown shrimps than the salad leaves. My dish eluded me, I must admit. The pasta was good although not outstanding, and the three onion (red onion, leek, and chive) sauce, combined with a few slices of fresh tomato didn’t really do anything for me. The fresh parmesan, grated on top by our waiter, was outstanding, but when a little cheese topping is the most memorable thing about a dish, there must be something not quite right.


The main courses arrived. This time, our loquacious waiter from the starters was otherwise occupied, so we were allowed to proceed without a full description of our dishes. I was pretty pleased with how my choice compared to the others on offer. It looked neat and tidy, and the rice cakes looked appetizing, once I removed the greenery on top of them. But looks can be deceiving. The dish was like a depth charge; quite the heaviest thing I’ve had to contend with for a good while. It was incredibly greasy, as well. The cubes of seasonal celeriac had good flavour, but ranged from rock hard to squishy soft. The mushrooms were probably the highlight, but they too suffered from being a little too greasy. It wasn’t a case of the dish having been over-dressed with olive oil; simply that too much of what the rice cakes had been fried in made its way on to the plate. Basically, it was a massively disappointing dish.




In terms of service, the three waiting staff, whilst all very good, approached their tasks in very different ways. This lent to my nagging feeling that this place was freshly opened and lacking a coherent approach to dealing with their customers, which is just weird given has been open for a good while, now. They’re aiming for high-end service, but can’t hope to achieve that without everyone pulling in the same direction.


We rounded things out with teas and coffees, and some apricot jelly petit fours that were crammed with sweet flavour, quite over-powering to end a meal, but at least a reasonable high-note on which to end.

Overall, Cucina at Missoni delivers stylish dishes, but not the quality to match the elegance. The menu has some good ideas and some dishes that sound enticing, but suffers in terms of execution. There are many better Italian restaurants in Edinburgh, so I won’t be rushing back there, any time soon.

Scores

Out of 20, Blythe scores Cucina at Missoni:
2/5 for food
4/5 for presentation
4/5 for setting
3/5 for service
giving an overall 13/20

Today’s Lunch Questers were: Trish, Mina, Patrick, Blythe

We ate: pasta in three onion sauce, fried risotto cakes, chicken, coley, mussels, brown shrimp salad.

We drank: sparkly water, still water, coffees, tea.

We wore: a tie that really didn't match the suit, diamond earrings, top with very elegant cuffs, look of general dishevelment.

Total bill: £80