With no particular lunch location in mind, today, I set sail towards Stockbridge, hoping to be waylaid by somewhere tempting, long before I got that far. As it turned out, it was Appetite Direct, towards the foot of Howe Street, that finally arrested my progress.
Exterior
A neat little deli, with some bench seating outside that would suit very nicely if the weather were ever to be warm enough, Appetite Direct offers a good blend of lunchtime staples and regularly changing daily specials.
I was looking to keep things simple, today, so following some helpful advice from the counter woman, I opted for their soup and sandwich deal. The soup was carrot and parsnip, and I chose a chorizo, hot habanero salsa, and cheddar focaccia.
Soup
With the princely sum of £4.50 exchanged, I was soon on my way up the hill, back towards my place of business.
With the soup verified as retaining plenty of warmth, I attacked the roll. Unfortunately, the ratio of bread to filling wasn’t right, with bread dominating almost entirely. There was only a hint of meat and whisper of heat from the filling, so this didn’t make for happy eating.
Sandwich
The soup was better. It had a nice, smooth texture packing in a good amount of sweetly savoury flavour. I was pleased with it.
So Appetite Direct did the job of addressing lunchtime hunger, and while their soup was pretty good, their sandwich was a little disappointing. As such, I’m not sure it impressed me enough to have me running back there, any time soon.
Update
As per Nigel’s suggestion, in the comments below, I did pop back to try one of their hot daily specials, today (16/07/13). I had a lovely gnocchi puttanesca, served with fresh salad leaves. It was very tasty indeed, so I’d recommend that you go with the offerings on their specials board, when you visit.
Scores
Blythe scores Appetite Direct
3.5/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
3/5 for setting
3.5/5 for service
giving an overall 13/20
Today’s quester was: Blythe
I ate: chorizo, habanero salsa and cheddar roll; carrot and parsnip soup
I drank: nowt
I wore: white shirt
Total bill: £4.50
4 Comments
Hi Blyth,
Thanks for your review. I’m sorry you were disappointed with your sandwich and I agree with you that the bread to filling ratio wasn’t right. we are undergoing a big overhaul and renovation of the shop having just moved our outside catering operation to new premises in Granton. one of the things we’ll be doing is a new sandwich menu. I would also recommend trying our hot dishes and salads as they are super fresh and tasty and made with local and seasonal ingredients.
cheers
Nigel
Thanks, Nigel – will pop back and try one of the hot dishes, soon. Appreciate the response 🙂 BKR