:aok: Thanks, that's helpful.
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Went to The Raj at Blackhall last night, was a regular at the Leith restaurant similar menu with a few new additions food was superb and very cheap almost takeaway prices.
Wandered onto this forum for the first time in years, having worked in more than a couple of these kitchens I find this a highly interesting read. If some of you knew the things I knew behind closed doors some opinions would change for sure!
Any other .netters here chefs in the city??
If it makes you feel any better, in my experience there's more good guys than bad and it's such a transient industry the bad don't stick around in one place for too long.
Mind you that applies to a lot of the good ones too!
Miller and Carter on Frederick Street, thank me later :aok:
We had a mare at the one in Fredrick Street, forgot our order then got it wrong! Manager dealt with it well halving the bill but won't be back anytime soon.
Have been twice recently to Michael Neave Kitchen and Whisky Bar for lunch. £9.99 for 2 courses, bread coffee and brownie. Exemplary service, lovely room and excellent food. Very good quality for the price. Previously had been twice in the evening, much more expensive but very good for a special occasion
Anyone been to Kyloe restaurant recently?
Had lunch at Blonde on St Leonard's Street on Sunday , £15-90 for 3 courses or £12-90 for 2, excellent food and service. Will be back
http://blonderestaurant.co.uk/
About 20 years ago I worked in City Limits in the Gyle.
I personally witnessed one of the chef's knocking a water jug off the shelf which landed and smashed into a colander full of iceberg lettuce .
He washed it under the tap and was ready to serve it untill a couple of us noticed and stopped him.
He said it would have been fine as he'd washed it.
Also seen the very same chef step down from cleaning the wall behind the frier and stepped directly into the hot fat he had just drained from the frier.
Mental
Finally got to Wedgwood on the Cannongate, superb meal and great service.
RiveRlife on dalry road. Used my tastecard to get 2for1 and ended up enjoying scallops wrapped in prosciutto, followed by a delicious duck with dauphinoise potatoes all for £13. BYOB too.
Slightly further afield, I was in Leeds at the weekend.
We went to Crafthouse, and its sister bar Angelica in the city centre.
They both sit on the top of the Trinity Centre, which is a big shopping mall, though they have their own elevator entrance at street level.
Angelica is on what would be the 6th floor and has views all over the city rooftops, both from indoors and from a roof terrace. Leeds is very reminiscent of Glasgow, lots of interesting architecture from the time of Empire. Drinks were Edinburgh prices, the bar is cocktail-orientated, service was friendly and efficient. Would definitely return.
Crafthouse is on the floor below. We had the tasting menu with accompanying wine. It was very reasonably priced, the wines especially, given they were free-poured and generous. The wines genuinely matched the food, which isn't always the case. The courses themselves were slight - as a tasting menu is meant to be, I guess - but all very good. Normally with a tasting menu you have a couple of dishes that you think were stand-outs. I'd happily order six out of the seven as full courses, they were very impressive.
Definite return next time I'm in Leeds and would heartily recommend it. As stated, the food was good, the service was very pleasant, the ambience was great and the cost was definitely value for money.
Held a private dinner for our Silver Wedding Anniversary in La Piazza on Saturday evening. Absolutely outstanding from start to finish, 16 of us in their private dining room.
Beirut restaurant in Nicholson Street Squsre. Lebanese food and BYOB excellent!
Cannae remember if I already posted it on here, but I went to Reekies Smokehouse on Holyrood Road at the end of August.
It was excellent. I had the beef brisket, pork shoulder and ribs. With chips, pickles and BBQ beans.
http://www.reekiessmokehouse.co.uk
El Cartel on Thistle Street. Possibly the best tacos I've ever had.
Went to the Ivy in Edinburgh on Sunday and really can't fault it. I've had better food elsewhere but the overall service, ambiance and experience I'm going to find pretty hard to beat.
I'm not sure what the dinner menu is like but for a bit of brunch it's absolutely exquisite but without the extortionate prices.
2 courses for two people and a couple of drinks was just shy of £100 but could easily do it for £30 which is on par with many other places for brunch.
We were in El Cartel a couple of weeks ago and the food was fantastic - fresh, hot and not waiting forever. Makes it easier when you order just whatever dishes you want, then get more after if you're still a bit hungry.
Busy - and you can't book - but we only had a 20 minute wait which was more than enough for a quick pint across the road in Bon Vivant.
Would've only paid about £35 for the 2 of us if it was food only...but the beers and the margueritas got the better of us!!
I was back up in Inverness earlier in the week and ate out twice.
First up, was Cafe One, just by the castle, less than ten minutes walk from the city centre.
Despite being into October, the restaurant was absolutely packed. Must be around seventy covers and the tables were constantly being refreshed. Real mixture of locals and tourists.
The food was exceptional - for starters we had tempura king prawns and scallops. The scallops were cooked perfectly and came wrapped in pancetta, sitting on black pudding, potato rosti and a pea puree. It was delicious but maybe didn't need the rosti (though it was sliced exquisitely thin and was lovely)
For mains we had salmon with prawns, avocado and mango. Salmon was seared very well and a delight to eat. We also had monkfish in a tempura batter which was fresh and light. The highlight was the fries however - they were dry and crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside, just how you would want fries, but were infused with a mild curry flavour. Absolutely delicious and I couldn't figure out quite how they did it. I asked the owner but he was guarded in his reply! Silly as it sounds, they were genuinely worth going back for in their own right!
I would recommend Cafe One as a good night out and will certainly return, next time I'm in Inverness. The service was attentive and friendly, despite it being incredibly busy. It's a short walk from the centre and the prices are reasonable, certainly no more than Edinburgh and in fairness, they matched the quality of the dishes.
Second dinner was at Rocpool. As per last time, it was fully-booked so reservations would appear to be essential. Decent wine list, by the bottle and the glass. For starters we had a crab and seafood broth which was simply outstanding, and scallops again. The broth was deliciously rich and packed full of well-prepared seafood. The scallops were accompanied with mini chorizo, possibly slightly too much but tasty nonetheless!
Mains were a seafood linguine and the venison. As per the starter, the linguine was heavy with protein, lots of seafood sitting in a delicious sauce. The venison was delicately tender and absolutely delicious. It sat on a parsnip puree and a black pudding base, with roasted potatoes.
Overall, the dishes were really well-balanced, well-flavoured and expertly cooked. Absolute pleasure to eat.
As I think I posted last time I was at Rocpool, we had the cheese board. Unusually, it is entirely made up of ewes' milk cheese, although they stick to the standard hard- soft -blue formula. I love sheep milk cheese so it was great for me.
Rocpool is very central, the food is very, very good and the prices aren't anything beyond what one would pay in Edinburgh. I would recommend it without a shadow of a doubt, though pre-booking is probably critical for most months of the year.
Would agree about Rocpool was a real highlight last time I was up there.