Streat Hawker

I’d been meaning to visit Streat Hawker at the Polwarth Tavern for a good long while, but I’m rarely in this part of town on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night when they trade. But after an enjoyable Jilly Cooper book group (I was, of course, wearing my ceremonial jodhpurs), I toddled along to give it a try.

Exterior

Chef Ross had been in contact and had come to visit Scran Salon a few weeks before, but my visit was entirely unannounced.

They had a new menu launching when I visited, with the Chinese chicken, mushroom and green peppercorn spring rolls one of the new dishes. The obliging folks at the bar gave it a strong recommendation and added that I should try the pulled pork and black pudding steamed bun, too. That sounded like a good approach to me.

Spring rolls

The items were promptly delivered to the table with Ross doing his own table service.

The bun brought to mind how much I’m missing Ninja Buns since they finished their run at Paradise Palms. This bun packed in a mountain of really well-judged pork, with good, but not overpowering, smoky sweetness. The nuggets of black pudding brought both good texture and further flavour bursts.

Steamed bun

The accompanying chips could have been a touch crisper, but that was a very minor quibble as they tasted great.

The spring rolls were a notch better with the lovely warmth of the green peppercorns particularly satisfying. They were crisp and flavour packed.

So overall, I was really pleased to finally visit Streat Hawker. The Polwarth Tavern is a friendly local boozer but scarcely the place you’d expect to come across such bold and punchy dishes. I was extremely impressed so will definitely be coming back to try more dishes from the menu. I’d strongly recommend you do likewise.

Address: 35 Polwarth Crescent, Fountainbridge, Edinburgh EH11 1HR