La Cerise

From the growing list of places I need to visit in Leith (the Shore Deli, the Vintage, and the Shore Bar, to name but three), I was able to tick-off La Cerise, finally, as it was to there that I headed for lunch, today. I was joined by Danielle from Edinburgh Foody.

La Cerise has been plying its trade, most notably its artisan ice-cream, for a good few years, and the place has a settled and homely feel to it. It’s really very charming, and it came as no surprise to find the ground floor seats fully occupied. There’s a nice little cavern downstairs, though, so we headed there once we’d placed our order.

Their counter is split into savoury and sweet treats, with their famous ice-cream given a counter of its own. It’s hard not to be influenced in your savoury choices by the marvellous array of eye-catching cakes, but as you may know, I’m really not a sweet-tooth, so while they looked spectacular, I was happy to stick with the savoury options.

I chose carrot and sweet potato soup, followed by a piece of chorizo and spinach lasagne. Danielle opted for a piece of broccoli and feta flan, but eschewed the proffered side-salad, as dessert was very much on her agenda.

My soup arrived first. It was simply presented with a nice multi-seed roll accompaniment. It proved to be delightfully fresh and flavour-packed, with a beautifully hearty texture, which suited very nicely, on this cold and rainy day.

Our mains arrived very promptly. Both were substantial tranches of savoury goodness. They were heated to perfection, which is something you get surprisingly infrequently with these types of thing, so that was very much to their credit.

Danielle popped upstairs to order her dessert of choice, which was a deliciously stylish raspberry mousse, and ordered us good coffees, which were brought down by our friendly and attentive waitress, who’d done a sterling job, throughout.

So overall, La Cerise was a very impressive wee place. Even for someone not lured in by their expert ice-cream and patisserie charms, there was plenty for me to enjoy, as their savoury selection was extremely good. I’d be happy to visit again, and would strongly urge you to do so, too.

Scores

Blythe scores La Cerise
4/5 for food
4/5 for presentation
4/5 for service
4/5 for setting
giving an overall 16/20

Today’s questers were: Danielle, Blythe

We ate: carrot and sweet potato soup; spinach and chorizo lasagne; broccoli and feta flan; raspberry mousse

We drank: Fentiman’s, water, espresso, flat white

We wore: stylish work garb

Total bill: £18.40