It’s been a truly sun-kissed gem of a week. For one reason or another, I’m feeling a little weary as it draws to a close. I wasn’t firing on all cylinders when lunchtime came around, today, so was a little confused at to where I should head. MJ suggested St Mary’s Street, by I opted for the New Town, instead, alighting upon Eatons almost entirely by accident.
Soup and roll
I’d never spotted the place, previously, and even today I had to give it a long hard look before being entirely confident of venturing in. They really need to do something about the exterior. Beige may be an excellent colour for lightweight summer suits, but I’m not convinced of its merits in the context of shop fronts.
Once inside, I was quickly welcomed and served. The place seems to do a good trade in specialist burgers. The two folks behind me were ordering complicated sounding buffalo burgers, for example. Service seemed a little disjointed, and my general sense of absent-mindedness didn’t help, but we soon managed to get me furnished with the required soup and sandwich combo.
Soupy soup
They had two soup choices, from which I opted for cauliflower and stilton over ham and lentil. I chose a large bowl for 40p extra, as I was feeling a trifle hungry. A simple ham and egg salad was my roll choice. Safely negotiating the financial transaction, I was soon on my way back to the sub-optimal sun-worshipping destination that is my ivory basement office.
The soup was my first port of call, and I’m pleased to report that it was very good. I know that cauliflower isn’t everyone’s favourite, but as a soup ingredient it’s becoming a real favourite with me. The rich saltiness of the stilton worked really well with it, and with good care having been applied to produce an appealingly thick texture, I considered myself very happy with the joy it provided.
The sandwich was pretty good also. It was slightly more in the reliable bracket, but roll was fresh and the egg mayo well seasoned, so I was happy with it. It didn’t overly excite me, and I have a feeling that that’s my overall reaction to Eatons.
Roll
It definitely has good elements, but they don’t quite seem to come together into a particularly satisfying package. Somehow the whole seems lesser than the sum of its parts. I really think it’s the drab exterior that’s largely to blame. If the place looked just a little smarter, I think my overall impression of the place would be markedly improved.
Scores
Blythe scores Eatons:
4/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
2.5/5 for service
2.5/5 for setting
giving an overall 12/20
Today’s quester was: Blythe
I ate: cauliflower and stilton soup; ham, egg mayonnaise and salad roll
I drank: nothing
I wore: deep pink and blue tie by Turnbull & Asser
Total bill: £5.40
