Lunch Quest: Edinburgh

Peter's Yard

Labels: Edinburgh Cafe, Meadows, Take Away

It’s almost embarrassing, the fact that it’s taken me almosta week to write up this review of Peter’s Yard. Do I have excuses? Sure, mainlythey consist of me now knowing what it was I and my guest, Edinburgh Foody,ate. I left the light and airy restaurant, happy to have met her and stuffed ongood food, and completely forgot to write down the names of the open-facedsandwiches we actually had.

Located near the University, I’ve been popping into Peter’sYard for a few years now. It’s been a bit crowded at times, but always very,very good. Friday I met Edinburgh Foody and we looked over the open-facedsandwiches on display-a variety of interesting combinations on freshly bakedbread (made on site by the young master baker). There is a rotating range of soups(beetroot and wasabi, honeyed parsnip, etc…) and pizza slices (today’s had afig on it). Along with the normal list of well-made teas and coffees.

We bought our sandwiches and found a seat at the end of thelong, communal table. I had the Herb tofu ‘cottage cheese’ with sunblush tomatopesto and crunchy green beans on olive bread (with rocket and some tinysprouts). It was delicious, so much so that I went back once more to write downthe name, and ended up eating the same sandwich and still not writing down whatI had eaten. I think subconsciously I just wanted to eat it again. It was thatgood. Salty, tomatoey pesto contrasted with the fresh crunch of the beans andthe silken textures of the tofu on the olive bread all blended perfectly.

Herby tofu 'cottage cheese' on olive bread

This is where things get sloppy. Edinburgh Foody had an openfaced sandwich with herring, potato slices, and a creamy, (yogurt based)dressing with dill. Now, I could be butchering that, but it was very good. Yousee, not only did I return Wednesday to get the names, I also went back today(Thursday) with the intention of trying something new and getting the names… Ialmost succeeded.

Herring, potato-ey thing

I hit the lunch-crowd and bypassed their main shop to go totheir to-go shop around the corner (which has a few seats outside for days liketoday). There I ordered the day’s salad range: A Chickpea, turmeric, nigella,coriander, pepper, and lemon salad; served in a neat little plastic bowl with 2slices of their homemade bread

It was just what I needed today, when I am stuck in my officeediting and formatting my PhD dissertation when the sun is out and calling meto come and play. The salad was crisp and fresh with a nice flavour from thenigella that I am not all that familiar with. And, it was a steal at £3.50.

Their to-go shop is a pared down version of the main café,with more items for sale, such asteas and crispbreads, and icecream. They divide food into ‘ranges’ whichdictate price depending on contents. To be honest, if you don’t need to sit inthe café, going here gives you more bang for your buck. The open facedsandwiches (in this case the Herb and tofu one) that is £4.95 at the main café,is a mere £3.50—with 2 slices of bread. So get it to go!

How can I forget the buns. The sweet items from Peter’s Yardare amazing. They have a range of freshly prepared cakes, breads, gooeychocolate things, Swedish specialties and the cardamom buns, which I sampled onFriday. I admit, I’m not a huge fan of cardamom, but these buns were tasty andfresh and I can see why people get addicted to them.

Cardamom Bun

And, if that wasn’t enough. You can also pick up bread booksin the café as well as fresh loaves of breads and scones (Levin, sourdoughs,baguettes, scones-sweet and savory, etc…) to take home with you.

Overall, I love this place. I’ll continue to go back, andnow that I know I can save almost £2.00 by going around the corner, I’llseriously have to try to keep myself away.

Scores on the Doors

Out of 20 MJ gives Peter’s Yard:

5/5 for food

4/5 for presentation

5/5 for service

4/5 for setting

giving an overall 18/20

Today’s Lunch Questers were: MJ (multiple times), Edinburgh Foody

We wore: Sweaters, jackets, hoodies, stripy trousers andboat

We ate: Herb tofu ‘cottage cheese’ sandwich, Chickpea salad;Herring sandwich; cardamom buns

We drank: filter coffee, apple and raspberry juice, hotchocolate

Total Bill: Trip 1: c. £17 (With all drinks)

Trip 2: £4.90

Trip 3: £ 3.50

Peter’s YardCoffee House and Bakery
Quartermile, 27 Simpson Loan
Edinburgh EH3 9GG

0131-228 5876

www.petersyard.com

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Beirut

Labels: Lebanese, Old Town

MJ’s Verdict

I love Lebanese food. Lebanon is one of the countries that I wish I could rock up in and travel through. I’d eat delicious grilled meats and fresh salads and smoke shisha and wear harem pants, all while riding a camel and listening to people break into “Prince Ai” …Ok, so my version of Lebanon may be the Disney-fied version of dreams, but the cuisine is still one of my favorites. I enjoyed it immensely in Dubai, and was over the moon when Beirut opened up in Nicolson Square as “The first Lebanese restaurant in Edinburgh”.

I should go ahead and say that I’ve been three times now: twice for lunch and once for dinner. I always get the same things. But, luckily I take different people each time and their orders almost always add variety to our table, and allow me to try things without veering from my favourites.

This time we didn’t set out to go to Beirut. I met up with a friend and we wandered around trying to think of somewhere we wanted to eat lunch. We couldn’t decide and every menu we checked out didn’t inspire. So we settled on Buffalo’s, but it being a Sunday—not in the Fringe season—it was closed till 5pm. We strolled around the corner and I suggest Beirut.

We went in and had our choice of seats. Literally, we were the only two people in the small dining area. That was to be expected though, since it was now nearing 2pm and past the lunch time rush. The white walls and ceilings make the room feel larger and airier than it is, while the windows cut out of the thick walls, along with the beans (which looks suspiciously fake, or ‘enhanced’) reminded us that we were in an old Edinburgh stone building with the wind howling outside.

The menu is large, but tailored. There is a lunch menu that allows for 1 course for £6.50 and 3 courses for £7.95. Starters come in an array of typical Lebanese/Mediterranean fare of hummus (which is homemade and delicious here), Baba Ganouj and a couple of stew-like options. And, you get free bread with any lunch-menu starter.

Mains include the usual chicken, lamb, moussaka, falafel, and stews and come served with vermicelli rice and salad.

Thing is, we were too late to order off the lunch menu, and went a la carte. I always try the tabbouleh from the cold starters menu. I simply love this salady dish. The mix of parsley, tomato, mint, onion, cracked wheat, in an intensely lemony/olive oil dressing is one of my all-time favourite foods. And, that being said, Beirut is the only place I’ve had it that comes close to replicating the dish. Today, though, my tabbouleh still had the fresh flavours I love and the lemony zing, but there was too much oil in the dish, in fact, I couldn’t eat the bottom bit of the bowl (which is a large enough portion for at least two people) due to the inch or so of oil.

Tabbouleh

K ordered a lemonade, which never materialized, and had the falafel. It came with lackluster presentation, but what can they do with four balls of falafel aside from place them symmetrically on a plate of lettuce with a bowl of tarator sauce in the middle. K, said they were delicious, though, and get extra points for the crunchy outside and still squishy interior, but the tarator was a bit too salty when combined with the falafel.

Falafel Starter

Our mains took long enough that we knew they were cooked form scratch. Not to say that it was too long at all, but having been there during a busy service, I know they turn out dishes much faster when the restaurant is full. I ordered the Shis Tawouk, which is marinated, grilled chicken with rice and salad. I asked for no rice (I find rice to often be a pointless stomach filler) and extra salad, no problem. K ordered the Moussaka.

When the mains arrived, they looked simply made from fresh ingredients. The plating wasn’t fancy, with my salad piled on and the bowl of moussaka sitting by a stack of rice and smattering of salad, but the proof is in the taste. And my chicken was really good with the flavours of the lemon coming through in the marinade and the finely charred bits that told me how close they came to the flame. Sadly, the skewered pieces were different sizes today and while the smaller ones were perfectly moist and lovely on the inside while still being charred on the outside, the larger pieces were pink in the middle…a bit too ‘raw chicken’ gummy for my liking, so we sent it back.

Shish Tawouk (take 1)

Our waitress apologized and they quickly made me another whole meal. This time, the bits of chicken were a bit more charred on the outside, but they still were juicy inside. I feel I must say that I’ve had this same meal 3 times at Beirut and this is the only time it has happened, and it was quickly rectified, and since this was the case, and cause it was so darn tasty, I’ll return and order it again.

K’s moussaka was rich and hearty. This version of the dish was more a stew than the moussaka I am used to seeing, you know the one, it looks more like lasagna than anything else. The chickpeas added a bit of bite to the dish, thought it was a bit too sweet for my palate. The side dishes were good, unremarkable, but well seasoned, if simple salads and rice.

Moussaka

Moussaka meal

Overall, I still rather like Beirut. This time there were some hiccups in the service and food, but having been before when both were impeccable, I dare say that it was our own fault for going in the middle of the afternoon when we should have been having a roast in some nondescript pub.

But then again, give me shish tawouk and tabbouleh over mince and tatties or a roast dinner any day.

It is BYOB as well and they have shisha if you sit outside.

Scores on the Doors

Out of 20 MJ gives Beirut:

3/5 for food

2/5 for presentation

3/5 for service

3/5 for setting

giving an overall 11/20

Today’s Lunch Questers were: MJ, K

We wore: Ed Uni Hoodie, Green flowey shirt

We ate: Falafel with tarator sauce, tabbouleh, shish tawouk, and moussaka

We drank: Tap water and an imaginary lemonade.

Total Bill: c.£30

Beirut

24 Nicolson Square,

Edinburgh

EH 8 9BX

Phone : 0131 667 9919

www.beirutrestaurant.co.uk

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The Honours

Labels: Bistro, French, New Town

Seated at the bottom of N Castle Street

inside is well designed and fresh

MJ’s Verdict

Today B (also known as PDB, whenever I feel the notion to call him such, and in our last review of Amarone…with that tie, I did) and I went to the Honours to sample the much lauded and long-booked lunch. When we arrived we were whisked to our table and they politely took my coat and handed us menus, which were quite large, and comprehensive. B and I perused the offerings while we contemplated the joy of the re-mix of Rebecca Black’s Friday and we both agreed that with the set lunch menu, we would have done better to have booked for a Tuesday or Wed. Something about the chicken legs and potatoes didn’t sound fantastic to us, but having seen them served to others in the restaurant, I will say that they did look tasty.

I decided on the caponata and the poached fillet of sea bream and it was no time before our lovely waitress brought out a bottle of sparkling water and soon after brought us a pen holder of pointy bread, which had exactly two slices of thin, long seeded bread and two of what looked to be sourdough; these came with a bit of butter served on a slate coaster. Though, I have to admit that once B mentioned the ostrich eggs we needed for our soldiers, I was slightly hoping that they would come with the starters.

The starters arrived in good time and my caponata of aubergine, red peppers, tomatoes, capers, pine nuts, and raisins was nice. The richness of the balsamic around the edges and the wee slices of thin-sliced toasted bread was a bit of crunch that elevated the dish. The only thing I wondered was whether a bit of citrus to cut the richness would have helped. My mouth is still debating this.

Caponata

Brown soup with a slightly less brown foam on top doesn’t do it for me, and didn’t for B either. He was not impressed; I don’t usually go for brown-coloured soups, so I blame him entirely.

Not too long after our plates were cleared away and our water refilled by our waitress, our mains arrived. My poached fillet of sea bream with peas & onion à la Française, coriander & mint mousseline was pretty. The sweetness of the peas went well with the savoury elements in the sea bream and, even though I generally do not like sauces that remind me of hollandaise type things, it was tasty, with just enough sharpness that it married well with the dish as a whole.

Poached fillet of sea bream

The espresso was, however, some of the best I've had so far on our lunchquest.

In total, I’m glad I went. The food was good and the service was impeccable, but it’s not somewhere I’ll have as my go-to restaurant for lunch.

Blythe’s Verdict
I must admit that I’ve had very little exposure to Martin Wishart’s previous work. I enjoyed a couple of dinners when he was supervising things in the final death throes of The Hallion’s restaurant. I was impressed, but as was usually the case when I was on the premises of that particular fabulous folly, I was inordinately drunk before dinner had even commenced. I’m well aware of his lofty reputation, and having read Sarah from Cake Quest’s effusive praise for this place in her guest review, last month, it seemed likely we were in for a treat.

The Honours is chic and stylish, with crisp lines and a modern aspect. The staff are similarly tailored, and there’s quite the profusion of them. They are attentive and helpful.

We were immediately shown to our table, in the main dining room. The table and mats reminded us very much of our friends’ old flat, which is a very good thing as we enjoyed many happy meals (although no Happy Meals) in that location, and you can probably trace the origins of Lunch Quest back to that place, ultimately.

The menu is large, both in terms of size and in terms of options. It was a little overwhelming, actually, and required thinking caps to be donned. I eventually settled upon the foamy wild mushroom bouillon to start, then opted for the halibut rather than the John Dory, on the recommendation of the waitress.

Very pointy bread was delivered. I secretly hoped this was the prelude to the arrival of a soft-boiled dinosaur or ostrich egg, for which the pointy bread would have made ideal soldiers, but alas it was not to be. That particular food fantasy will need to be pursued another day.

Point bread in a pen holder

I think it’s fair to say that foam tends to polarise views: some consider it pointless chefiness; some find it a delight. Having sampled many excellent foam-finished dishes (particularly the cauliflower soup with a parmesan foam) at The Bonham, I’m something of a convert. With my bouillon, the foam was definitely the star, but sadly the rest of the dish was extremely disappointing. The dish was dramatically over-seasoned, and the corn lurking in the soup’s depths did nothing improve matters.

Mushroom Soup

I love soup. I make it all the time (with sporadic success) and I eat it in cafes and restaurants all the time. This soup was not a good example of the art-form. I sought solace in the pointy bread, which was very nice.

Our main courses quickly arrived. It was now very noticeable that the restaurant was extremely busy. The staff remained well on top of service, throughout.

My halibut was a significant improvement on my starter. The halibut was served on a bed of mash, with lentils and chorizo scattered across the plate with relaxed artistry. The fish was accurately cooked, enhanced nicely by the flavour-packed chorizo morsels, and the dish came together in to satisfying mouthfuls.

Halibut

I sampled a little of MJ’s sea bream and liked how the fish combined with the freshness of the peas.

We considered desserts, but as is the norm settled upon espressos. The coffee was very good, probably the highlight for me. I’m not averse to the notion of coffee being the highlight of a lunch, but I’d rather it was the perfect cherry-on-the-top, rather than the single outstanding item.

Overall, there’s little doubt that for the next few months The Honours will be the place to take people you’re seeking to impress. People will be impressed, as there’s a lot to admire in the design and the service. However, if you’re looking for somewhere that’s going to offer you genuinely memorable dishes, I’m not sure this is the place.

Scores on the Doors

Out of 20 Miriam gives The Honours:

4/5 for food

4/5 for presentation

4/5 for service

5/5 for setting

giving an overall 17/20

Out of 20 Blythe gives The Honours:

3/5 for food

4/5 for presentation

4/5 for service

4/5 for setting

giving an overall 15/20

Today’s Lunch Questers were: Miriam, Blythe

We wore: Pony pendant, lilac shirt and tie

We ate: Wild mushroom bouillon, caponata, poached sea bream, halibut with chorizo and lentils

We drank: Sparkly water, espresso.

Total Bill: c.£60

The Honours

58a North Castle Street

Edinburgh, EH2 3LU

http://www.thehonours.co.uk/

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Amarone

Labels: City Centre, Italian, New Town

The outside.

Interior view

Blythe’s Verdict
Amarone comes from the stable of restaurants that features Café Andaluz, Di Maggio’s, as well as Amarone in Glasgow. It has recently opened in renovated premises previously occupied by wine-bar Grape, on the corner of George Street and St Andrew Square.

The distinctive wrap-around shape of the venue remains, but where the previous place was rather dark and forbidding, Amarone’s set up is all lightness and air. The open kitchen, with its chefs in starched whites adds to this feeling, and provides a good welcome as you move through to the main seating area.

MJ felt like it was a place where she might be so bold as to crack out the LBD of an evening. I didn’t feel quite like that (the LBD option doesn’t work with my eyes), but I’m rarely seen in anything other than what would generally be considered formal attire, anyway, so I don’t tend to pay close attention to these kind of things.

For lunch, you have the option of the lunch & pre-dinner, which offers 2 courses for £13.95 or 3 courses for £16.95, or the main menu. We chose from the lunch menu, with MJ selecting steamed mussels followed by pizza (presumably reeled in by the splendour of the open pizza oven, on the way in), while I’ll went for the soup of the day, a tomato-based seafood soup, followed by rigatoni con salsiccia.

The service was friendly and helpful. There seemed to be a lot of staff buzzing around and they seemed well on top of what soon became a busy lunchtime service.

Our starters quickly arrived. My soup was good. It had a good seafood flavour, chunks of prawns hidden in its depths, but could have used just a little more body and perhaps a twist more seasoning. It would have worked very well as a light soup course in a well-mannered dinner, but I would have expected something just a touch more gutsy in this situation. The accompanying bread performed its appointed task most agreeably.

Soup de jour; mmm, I'll have that.

With the soup duly dispatched, my pasta dish soon arrived. The crumbled Italian sausage, ricotta and tomato came together in a texture rather like mince, with a fragrant flavour and just a whisper of chilli heat. It was reminiscent of something I’d sampled in another George Street Italian, Centotre, and although the overall flavours worked a little better here than in that dish, I think chunkier pieces of sausage might have been a better way to go, texture-wise.

Rigatoni

The espresso was good, with a good bit of crunch provided in the form of the biscotti on the side. And with that, another very enjoyable Lunch Quest was concluded.

Overall, I think Amarone represents a good addition to the range of Italian eateries in Edinburgh’s city centre. So far, I think it lacks a Unique Selling Point, but I may discern that from further exposure to the menu. For now, I think it’s a good all-rounder that is likely to please most tastes. How it chooses to define itself to stand out from the crowd, time will tell.

MJ’s Verdict
I have three favorite things about our lunch at Amarone on the posh corner of St. Andrews Square and George Street.

1. We booked the table via Twitter. Social networking at its best, I’ll say. (except for the time I learned via twitter that I can unplug a keyboard and wash it out with water before letting it dry and using it again)

2. I learn all sorts of things about the former occupiers of the buildings that we dine in because the most esteemed PDB is a native of these fine lands and can give a foreigner like myself a quick history lesson while we peruse the menus.

3. The thought of PDB in a black dress and heels. I will now always associate Amarone with that image-and maybe his stripy tie.

On to the food. Well, first, the setting. Having never been to the former pub that occupied this location, I take PDB’s word for it that the total overhaul and refit is a plus. It feels expensive and elegant and the TALL ceilings and large windows and skylights/features make the rooms feel light and airy and absorb all the noise of other diners. Or, maybe it was the Enrique Iglesias cd they had on loop for the first hour we were there that took care of that, either way, it was nice to hear only each other and not the rest of the diners dotted around the two dining areas.

The second thing I noticed about the restaurant was the oven in the middle. I’m not sure all meals are prepared right behind here, where I guess the bar used to be, but the sight of the flames and the stone pizza oven helped me make up my mind on what I would order before I even looked at the menu. The place is huge! We were seated at the far end of the second seating area and were handed both lunch and a la carte menus. I had a quick glance over the main menu, but both of us opted for the 2 course lunch meal.

I ordered the Cozze Bianca Vapore (steaed mussels in a white wine, garlic and parsley sauce) and a pizza verdure mista (which I ordered with no cheese). I told PDB, that one of my personal criteria for authentic pizza places is one that serves marinara on the menu. I know it’s silly, but when I stayed in Italy for a summer, I think I had at least one pizza a day, everywhere from Venice to Milan to Naples and Capri and I associate that plain, basic pizza with the best and freshest ingredients that showcase the simple beauty of an Italian classic. Sorry—I got distracted.

Our starters arrived in good clip and my bowl of mussels was a good sized portion, not overwhelming, but didn’t feel stingy either. It was accompanied by a wee bowl of lemon water and a couple of rounds of bread that were not overly inspiring, but did the job to soak up a bit of the sauce from the mussels. Though, I am proud to say that my forays into bread baking has taught me to recognize how a bread has been proofed and cooked just by looking at it. The mussels were good and very fresh, the sauce was a bit salty, but since I wasn’t drinking it, it was fine to flavour the mussels.

Mussels in wine and garlic sauce

PDB seemed to be very content with his choice of seafood soup (though blended seafood soup kinda scares me-having come from a chunky-style soup background). Our mains arrived shortly after. My pizza descended like a space ship of red smeared joy onto the table in front of me; it was huge. It had some sliced cherry tomatoes, a few bits of courgette, some yellow and red peppers, and some aubergines. I don’t often go for the pizza option, but I wasn’t disappointed. The sauce was tasty, and the halved tomatoes were sweet. The aubergines were a touch bitter, but that’s something I put down to the availability of produce of that variety here in Edinburgh and not anything to do with the kitchen. The only thing that would have made it a bit better would have been a bit of greenery, some basil or visible herbs just to give it a visual contrast. Regardless, when our waitress asked me if I wanted to take it with me, I jumped at the chance to carry the second half of the pizza out with me. I felt so American.


Pizza verdure mista (sans cheese)

I added this photo just to show size scale

My nifty to go box that went with me to the post office and bank.

Overall, I want to return to Amarone and try the wines and the full dinner menu, while wearing a black dress and heels the über sleek and classy atmosphere seems to want.

Scores on the Doors

Out of 20 Blythe gives Amarone:
3/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
3/5 for service
4/5 for setting
giving an overall 13/20

Out of 20 Miriam gives Amarone:
3/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
3/5 for service
4/5 for setting
giving an overall 13/20

Today’s Lunch Questers were: Miriam, Blythe

We wore: Knee-length riding boots, striped tie brightness.

We ate: Steamed mussels, seafood soup, rigatoni con salsiccia, pizza verdure miste.

We drank: Sparkly water, espresso.

Total Bill: c.£35

Amarone Edinburgh
13 St Andrew Square
Edinburgh, EH2 2BH
www.amaronerestaurant.co.uk

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Sunday Roasts

Labels: side quest, Sunday roasts

One of my work colleagues, Daniel, asked me a perfectly straightforward question, the other day, and I was pretty much stumped for an answer. The question was: "where can I get a good Sunday roast in the east of Edinburgh?"

Now, part of the reason I didn't know the answer was that I've spent the vast majority of my life living in Haymarket, so I don't know that side of town as well as I might. Secondly, I was raised in a "mince and tatties" household where that was the Sunday treat, rather than succulent slices of roasted meat with "all the trimmings".

What I'm trying to say is that I have identified a bit of a blind-spot (not the first, and certainly not the last) in my lunch appreciation. Don't get me wrong - I love roast dinners. I just don't particularly associate them with Sunday or lunchtime.

I consulted Lunch Quest's small but growing band of Twitter followers for their advice. The best tip I received was from none other than Shirley Spear, the esteemed owner of the legendary Three Chimneys on Skye. Shirley recommended The Espy, down on Portobello Prom. On that basis, we'll be popping down there for a review, soon, and that's the first place I'll be suggesting for Daniel to try.

There must be other places to try, though, and indeed other areas of the city that Lunch Quest should be considering. We've covered Leith, the New Town, and the Old Town pretty well, so far, but we're keen to make sure we cover a breadth of venues.

So, dear readers, let's have your suggestions of places for Sunday roasts, to help out Daniel, and places off our regularly beaten Edinburgh path that we should be considering.

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Mithas

Labels: Hall of Fame, Indian, Leith


The Outside of Mithas

Our lovely table settings

MJ’s Verdict

It’s darn hard to say anything bad about Mithas, but I sure am going to try. I mean, I have to, right? It simply cannot get a perfect score, even though they seated us, took my jacket, placed a napkin in my lap and played soothing music while we perused the menu. One of the first things I noticed when entering is the sheer size of the place and the sleek and elegant interior. The place was set up so that each booth or table was not overly close to one another, every dining experience felt intimate and like we were the only people in the restaurant, and the service made us feel that way too.

They even served us Voss water (a reminder of water from posh bars in ATL). We decided to go for a variety of options. I chose the non-vegetarian lunch special for just under 12pounds. I admit, I had a bit of food envy when B and G’s food started to come out one delicate little plate at a time and M and I sat staring at the food hungrily (me more than him, admittedly, since the first dish was a pair of dainty chicken rolled in lettuce), but it wasn’t to last because they soon brought us little salads of rocket and baby beetroot leaves, dressed with a spicy but finely balanced dressing.

Simply dressed salad

Vegetarian light lunch

While more and more of B & G’s food came out bit by bit, M and my food arrived. My dish was pilaf rice, tarka daal, roast aloo, monkfish kebab, chicken kebab, a chickpea patty thingy and a creamy pomegranate raita. The whole thing was fantastic. I cannot fault it at all. I would love to come back here and try each of these dishes as whole meals.

Lunch non-veggie platter

After mains, I ordered the cheese platter and a black coffee while M went for the sticky ginger toffee cake and ice cream. The cheese platter arrived just in time for B&G to have a go after their mains of chicken curry came and quickly went. (as an aside, the naan bread was delicious. It tasted fluffy and reminded me so much of my dad’s waffle batter that I was transported to winter nights and early pre-church Sunday mornings back in AL). The cheese platter was well presented with a blue, hard (cheddar), brie and goats cheese with fruit filled parathas, grapes, and an apple chutney. Here is another time when I confess a dastardly flaw for someone who wants to review restaurants… I don’t eat cheese. I know, I know… Back off! More for my friends, I like to think.

Cheese board was well enough for 2 people

From the nice lady who brought us wee pots of plum sauce, chilli sauce, and spice mix, to the way they mixed on the plate, I was terribly impressed. If there was one flaw it was that the coffee was good, hot, standard, but it was almost 4 pounds per cup, and when compared to the price of my lunch, it felt a bit much.

Ginger sticky toffee cake

Overall, I am glad I got the platter I did. I now know I want to go back and try just about everything I ordered as a full meal, and it seems entirely possible, because Mithas is reasonably priced. The average main was between 7.95 and 12.95. Which is a steal, A STEAL! I tell you.

So my conclusion? GO, go now before they get that star and can charge much much more for what is by far and away the best Indian food I’ve ever had.

Blythe’s Verdict
Mithas aims to be the first Indian restaurant in Scotland to be awarded a coveted Michelin star. It had a visit earlier this week by celebrity chef Nick Nairn, who is apparently a big fan. Slowly but surely it’s starting to build quite a reputation, but does it live up to the hype?

The answer is a resounding ‘YES’!

Mithas has been put together with meticulous precision and close attention to detail. The space sees a combination of two previous post-work pub staples transformed into discrete and discreet booths, wider communal dining areas, along with a generous private dining room. The setting is modern and stylish, the ambience pitched at a relaxed but classic feel, with a real sense that careful thought has been applied to all aspects of the dining experience.

The service sees a dizzying array of staff, each with precisely defined aspects of the process to manage, from the woman who painstakingly explains the function and purpose of the dipping sauces, to the men who deliver each dish with a clear description of what is being served.

Sweet chili sauce, Spice mix, and Plum sauce

You have three main options for lunch: the light bite; the platter; or the tasting menu, each served as either vegetarian or omnivorous. We managed to sample from all three.

Gary and I opted for the tasting menu, which came as series of small portions, while MJ and Milo received their main dishes in one burst.

We started with chicken wrapped in lettuce, with a julienne of apple, sweet chilli dressing, and yellow coconut-infused sauce. It was an absolute delight, with the wow-factor bar set high from the outset.

Chicken wrapped in lettuce

This was followed by chicken marinated in black pepper, served with a coriander and chilli sauce. This was the most sensational piece of chicken I’ve been served in a restaurant. It was moist, succulent and completely heavenly.

Chicken kebabs

The banana and vegetable kebabs that came next offered a unique combination of flavours. These intriguing items were sampled by all and agreed to be very tasty indeed.

Banana kebab

Wild salmon followed, with each bite more satisfying than the last. Again, a top quality dish. Roast potatoes were next, which we augmented with some of Milo’s pomegranate raita. The smiles on our faces were constant and beaming.

Wild Salmon Kebabs

pomegranate raita

By this point, MJ and Milo were just about done with their portions. For us, we still had chicken curry, mushroom and chestnut, rice and naan to come!

Potatoes, chicken curry, and rice

The curry was bang on and the accompaniments were exquisite. The naan was a particular standout – served piping hot, with a real crisp lightness.

Naan

Not a morsel was left, as we fastidiously made our way through each item. It would have been utter madness to leave any item unsavoured.

MJ easily convinced me to sample the cheeseboard, to follow this. Again, it was faultlessly excellent, with four cheeses served with sweet Indian bread and apple chutney.

I’m quickly running out of adjectives to describe just how good the Mithas experience is. I can’t think of a single better meal that I’ve been served in Edinburgh.

I’m not one for blithely awarding perfect scores, but as we chatted over coffee, the discussion was “how can we possibly mark them down for anything”? The answer is, for me, we simply can’t, so it’s a 20/20 from me.

If I were you, I’d phone for a reservation, immediately.

Our bill

Scores on the Doors

Out of 20 Blythe gives Mithas:
5/5 for food
5/5 for presentation
5/5 for service
5/5 for setting
giving an overall 20/20

Out of 20 Miriam gives Mithas:
5/5 for food
5/5 for presentation
5/5 for service
5/5 for setting
giving an overall 20/20

Today’s Lunch Questers were: Miriam, Gary, Milo, Blythe

We wore: Lumberjack shirt, matching tie and tights, suede desert boots.

We ate: Vegetarian Light Bite Lunch, Lunch Platter, Lunchtime Tasting Menu

We drank: Sparkly water, coffees.

Total Bill: c.£100

Mithas
7 Dock Place
Leith
Edinburgh, EH6 6LU
http://www.mithas.co.uk

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