Given than I’d visited the three other Korean places in Edinburgh (Kim’s, Ong Gie, and Shilla) and am starting to close in on a full set of Japanese places, Café Andamiro, recently opened on Buccleuch Street, was a must-visit.

I was joined today by Cressi, who has recently taken over as the Yelp community manager in Edinburgh.

The place was really busy when I arrived, today, which was good to see. They’ve clearly already established an audience for their reasonably priced blend of Japanese and Korean classics.

They didn’t have sushi available, this lunchtime, which scuppered Cressi’s initial plan, but she was pleased to switch to a delicious looking glass noodle dish called japchae. I went for the classic Korean hot stone bowl dish, bibimbap, opting for the meat variety. We shared a portion of gyoza to start.

The dumplings were nicely prepared, with one side nicely crisped. They were a bit light on flavour, but tasted pleasant enough.

Bibimbap is a dish of great ceremony, and this version was no exception. The hot stone brings considerable sizzle, and it’s always great fun mixing the elements together just enough to both cook the raw egg and allow the rice to gently toast. Again, it was more in the territory of pleasant rather than overwhelmingly compelling, but it was an enjoyable eat.

The main meals came with accompanying miso soup and taster plates of kimchi, potato pancakes and other little bites, which were all good.

Service was attentive throughout and the experience was full of nice presentational elements, such as the beautiful tea set for our accompanying green tea.

So overall, I enjoyed our visit to Café Andamiro, but the food didn’t quite win me over. The place is charming, though, so is worth investigating. I hope to come back and try their sushi later in the year.

Scores
Blythe scores Café Andamiro
3/5 for food
4/5 for presentation
3.5/5 for service
3/5 for setting
giving an overall 13.5/20

Today’s questers were: Cressi, Blythe

We ate: dumplings, japchae, bibimbap, miso soup and kimchi accompaniments

We drank: green tea

We wore: red, blue

Total bill: £21.17