The Cow outside Earthy

MJ’s Verdict
In an unfortunate and sad turn of events which saw B flying off to Istanbul without me on Monday afternoon, I was left to my own devices. Since my documents didn’t arrive for my last ditch effort to get to the sunny Bosporus, I decided to take myself off on a wee jaunt around the city before meeting up with a lovely, longstanding customer and friend of Edinburgh Books for a tour around the Edinburgh Printmakers Workshop, where she was once a lively and well-known character.

Around 1pm, I found myself in Cannonmills and felt a bit peckish; when I saw the cow (which used to live at the Newington location), I could feel Earthy Three calling to me. I popped in and had a wander around the shop, which seems a bit smaller than the one in Newington, but that might just be due to the layout.

I wandered into the restaurant area and noticed a sign about the kitchen not being fully equipped and wondered briefly what that could mean for the food. But the salad choices were fresh and looked delicious and when I saw that that chicken and pesto ciabatta was pre-made (likely due to the kitchen status; at the other café, I asked for a sandwich made without cheese and they quickly and happily obliged, which I’m certain they woud have done for me at Earthy Three too), I decided to go for the 4 salad plate.

There was a variety of choice! From roasted tomatoes, to stir fried veggies and roasted butternut squash and sweet potatoes with a red pepper yogurt, the selections looked promising. I chose stir fried veggies, roasted broccoli with sliced peanuts and sesame seeds, roasted morels, and I asked my server to choose between the roasted butternut squash and sweet potatoes or the cumin roasted sweet potatoes with a tzatziki dip. I got the latter.

Inside the dining area

£7.95 is steep for a plate of vegetables that’s served at a café, but I was willing to go for it and happily took my plate to a high bench facing a window. The restaurant area has signs saying that they are having tables made, but I thought the tables and the lights were quite in keeping with the style and ethos of Earthy. The wood and natural colours are complimented by the light from the windows, but I wonder how the space will be lit when they begin to be open in the evenings for dinner in the near future.

I think that over all, my 4 salads were good, some were less seasoned that others, and the ones I chose (mind, I didn’t choose the obviously cold-served ones like the coleslaw) might have been tastier, or at least more aromatic, if they were served warm.

Salad plate, trying to get the right light

The earthy taste of the morels was an excellent compliment to the large stems of broccoli that were nice, but under seasoned, and the sesame seeds didn’t really add anything to it. The stir fried veggies could also have used a bit more…something, but I was reminded again how much I enjoy bok choy and I made a mental note to pick some up in the near future. The star of the show, as it were, was most definitely the cumin roasted sweet potatoes. The slight after heat of the spicing balanced well with the sweet smoothness of the wedges, and the tzatziki worked well to cool the whole thing down. But again, I would have liked to have tried these straight out of the oven, still crispy on the darker ends and fragrant as a sweet potato can be.

A pile of yumminess

I left happy, but felt like lunch missed the mark slightly. I’ve eaten at Earthy quite a few times over the past years and I’ll put it down to the kitchen equipment and the growing pains of a new store. But I am excited about the prospects of an Earthy restaurant and I will definitely be back to give it a go as soon as they open for nighttime business!

Scores

MJ scores Earthy Three:
3.5/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
4/5 for service
3.5/5 for setting
giving an overall 14/20

Today’s quester was: MJ

I ate: stir-fried veggies, roasted broccoli with sesame seeds and peanuts, roasted morel mushrooms, and cumin roasted sweet potatoes with a tzatziki

We drank: water

We wore: green trousers

Total bill: c.£7.95

1-6 CANONMILLS BRIDGE
CANONMILLS
EDINBURGH
EH3 5LF