Eating House @ The Meeting House

I haven’t managed to muster quite the level of enthusiasm for the Festival that I usually have, this year. One thing that did pique my interest, though, was the arrival of Eating House @ The Meeting House.

One-pot wonder

Hosted in the Quaker Meeting House on Victoria Terrace, this is a collaborative project between Ian Wilson, of Susie’s Diner fame, and Ben Reade, from the outstanding Edinburgh Food Studio. With two such striding culinary giants involved, expectations were set high.

I popped along on a very sunny Tuesday to check out how they were doing.

The idea is to offer a small and ever-changing range of delicious, nutritious dishes that are good to eat on the go, between shows.

Menu board

The centrepiece is a daily “one bowl wonder” which brings together a range of elements for a mouth-pleasing feast.

My sights were firmly set on trying today’s version of that, which brought together Greek-style butterbeans, roasted pumpkin, salsa verde, millet with herbs and an array of salads and leaves. But first I tried their lemony carrot and cauliflower soup (£3), which was thoroughly splendid.

Soup

The one-bowl (£7.50) soon followed and maintained the excellent standard. The fresh salsa verde was an aromatic delight designed to bring heightened herby interest to every forkful. It achieved that with considerable panache.

The butterbeans were fantastic and the squash simple but deeply satisfying. It was a well thought-out idea executed to an exceptionally good standard.

So overall, Eating House @ The Meeting House is an absolute must-see this Festival. Open from 12-8pm from Monday to Saturday, make sure to schedule in regular and repeated visits. It’s very handy for a good proportion of the Fringe venues, but demands attention even if you’re not partaking of the August creative fun and games.