Lunchquest Edinburgh

El Cartel

Posted on May 8, 2015 by BKR

Interior

While I’ve clearly missed out on the gene for “adoration of Mexican food”, it’s hard to argue that Edinburgh is not spectacularly well-served for this type of cuisine. One of the better places we had was Tex Mex, but this sadly closed earlier in the year.

El Cartel arrived in its stead in late in 2014, to save the day, but was struck down by a serious kitchen fire after only eight weeks of trading. Along with friend and colleague Adrianos, I was lucky to be one of those who sampled its original version.

Now, I’m not a particularly superstitious person, but when this happened I was a little freaked out. I’m sure owner Stu McCluskey (who also owns the nearby Bon Vivant, amongst other places) was that and more, but my alarm was related to the words I had scheduled to post as part the my review of my first visit, the very next day following the fire.

Guacamole

I had described their hot sauces as ranging from “pleasantly tingly to “call the fire brigade””. Had my words really taken on paranormal powers and made it happen? If so, I can only apologise to all concerned.

Thankfully, the charming little place has been restored to full working order, so I gave it a visit to see what the new incarnation looked liked.

Squid tacos

Along much the same lines as before, tacos are the main courses, but the real fun lies with the starters. I was sad to see my two favourites from the previous trip swapped out, so no massive bits of pork crackling or plantain and chorizo fritters, but the excellent guacamole was still there, so I started with that. They’ve now added a daily changing special taco, which today was fried squid. It sounded good to me.

The guacamole was soon with me and was as accomplished as before. Matching the Mexican national flag, with its avocado, queso and pomegranate seeds, it was very tasty. Freshly made plantain crisps worked in lieu of a spoon just wonderfully. It was a firm thumbs up.

As with before, I wasn’t quite so taken with the tacos, but these ones did pack good initial zing and the squid was nicely cooked. I just tend to find taco shells to be quite bland, under-seasoned and flavour-sapping.

So overall, El Cartel has returned on similar fine form to its initial run. It’s a little pricey for a solo diner, but when you get a group of four or more on the case, the shared costs become much more reasonable. I’d be happy to recommend a visit and look forward to trying their tequila, next time. I sincerely wish my words have no further negative impact on this lovely little restaurant and all who sail in her (and if those words lead to the place flooding, I’m giving up and going home).

Scores
Blythe scores El Cartel
3.5/5 for food
4/5 for presentation
3.5/5 for setting
4/5 for service
giving an overall 15/20

On the original visit, questers were: Adrianos, Blythe (second visit just Blythe)

We ate: chorizo and plantain fritters, guacamole nacional, jalapeno bombers, duck tacos, ox tongue tacos (guacamole nacional and squid tacos second time)

We drank: water, lager (same)

We wore: workaday apparel (pointy shoes)

Total bill: £32.50 for two (£15.30 for one)

Posted in City Centre, Mexican | Tagged City Centre, Mexican | Leave a comment

Garden Y Cafe

Posted on May 7, 2015 by BKR

Exterior

I’d left it slightly late to start the day’s eating so was in that oddest of moods: I was actually contemplating something that might be called brunch. I popped into the Garden Y Cafe on Marchmont Road to meet this curious longing.

With a good range of all day breakfast/brunch options, I soon settled upon trying their waffles. I added maple syrup and sausages to round out the dish.

The very friendly counter woman was then about the task of preparing the items. She disappeared for rather a long time so was presumably running the whole operation solo. This was fine, but an extra pair of hands would have had service moving much more smoothly.

The place is completely charming so it was no surprise to see my dish arrive looking very smart of a fine china plate. The aroma from the sausages was deliciously herby, so I promptly tucked in.

Waffles

The waffles could have been a touch crisper on the outside for my tastes, but they were nicely light. The sausages tasted as good as they smelled and the maple syrup brought the dish together well. I was very pleased with things.

So overall, I was mightily charmed by Garden Y Cafe. Slow service aside, it’s a lovely spot for a relaxing, inexpensive and tasty bite. I’d be happy to visit again and would recommend it to you.

Interior

Scores
Blythe scores Garden Y Cafe
4/5 for food
4/5 for presentation
3/5 for service
4/5 for setting
giving an overall 15/20

I ate: waffles with maple syrup and sausage

I drank: water

I wore: purple and white shirt

Total bill: £4.50

Posted in Breakfast, Edinburgh Cafe, Marchmont | Tagged breakfast, Cafe, Marchmont | Leave a comment

Istanbul

Posted on May 6, 2015 by BKR

Menu board

One of the joys of being in a different part of town later in the evening is the opportunity to give the local late night takeout place a shot. I’m rarely in Portobello around midnight, so was pleased to cross the threshold of Istanbul, on the High Street.

I’d spent the earlier part of the evening at the opening of Marie Varley’s exhibition at the Skylark. Marie’s the gallery manager and general whizz at Hula, so I was joined in my visit by the creme de la creme of the Hulagang.

Pizza

I thought I’d give their seafood pizza a shot so ordered that. They’d run out of donner meat by this point, so the place is clearly a popular spot.

Soon enough the pizza was with me, so with farewells exchanged I toddled along the road in the gathering gloom.

The pizza was pretty routine stuff with little beyond prawns and a few flakes of fish in a creamy sauce in the way of seafood topping. It was still a solidly decent effort and did the job, but no trees were torn up nor heather incinerated.

So overall, I was glad to add Istanbul to my list of takeaways visited. It’s doing pretty fair work and looking after the nearby residents quite ably. A couple of the local chip shops looked worthy of attention, so maybe I’ll try to time my pub departure a little better next time and give one of them a try.

Scores
Blythe scores Istanbul
3/5 for food
2.5/5 for presentation
3.5/5 for service
3/5 for setting
giving an overall 12/20

I ate: seafood pizza

I wore: skinny tie

Total bill: £7.50

Posted in pizza, Portobello, Take Away | Tagged Pizza, Portobello, Takeaway | Leave a comment

Slighhouse

Posted on May 5, 2015 by BKR

Exterior

A little piece of my nostalgic heart broke with the news that Bar Kohl was closing to re-brand as the Slighhouse. I’d visited for food fairly recently and not been massively impressed, but so many nights from my exuberant youth involved a brush with this place and its dubious drinks menu. Farewell Turktini, my old friend.

Anyhoo, what has replaced it is a smart new offering, heavy on black, white and pared-back design, with cocktails again to the fore, but with the class turned up a good few notches, and an on-trend menu of grazing and sharing dishes.

Balls

I dined with Amy, the shadowy eminence grise of the Union of Genius soup empire, who had previously joined at The Real Junk Food Project.

Asparagus

Their lunch deal was described on their signage as “soup – cornbread – plate”. Being a huge fan of plate I couldn’t wait to tuck in. More helpfully, on the menu this selection is described as Hutton’s Express Lunch, which ties into the geologist who has inspired both the bar’s name and some of the design elements of the interior. It also became clearer what plate meant, as the main body of their menu is small plate dishes for sharing.

I opted for the lunch deal, which today featured celeriac and apple soup, accompanied by cornbread. For my plate I chose seasonal asparagus with a soft boiled egg and seeds. Amy added to our assembled dishes with: smoked brie, buttenut squash and peppers; beetroot, chorizo and salt cod fritters; and a bigger portion of cornbread served with bacon and lime butter.

Brie, butternut, peppers

Dishes arrived as they were ready. Everything looked very bonnie with the salt cod balls particularly eye-catching. I’m no afficionado of cornbread (I’ll need to bring MJ along to offer her expert opinion) but we were both impressed, although the limey butter wasn’t quite so successful.

Soup, cornbread

The salt cod balls were quite impressive, though if they’d been just a notch more punchy they would have rendered the presence of chorizo superfluous. The asparagus was fresh and had good crunch. The yolk of the egg could have been a little oozier, though. The soup was a solidly good version of this classic combo.

Amy had a go at one the cocktails and it was given the thumbs up, particularly when blueberries were discovered buried in its leafy depths.

Cocktail

So overall, there was a lot to like about the Slighhouse. While there were some minor quibbles with the dishes, they were still attractive combinations executed to a very good standard. I’d be happy to point you in the direction of the place and look forward to visiting again, soon.

Scores
Blythe scores the Slighhouse
4/5 for food
4/5 for presentation
3.5/5 for setting
3.5/5 for service
giving an overall 15/20

Today’s questers were: Amy, Blythe

We ate: butternut squash, pepper and smoked brie; cornbread with bacon and lime; asparagus with soft boiled egg; cornbread; celeriac and apple soup; salt cod balls with chorizo and beetroot

We drank: water, Fifteen Ways to Say Cat cocktail

We wore: flowery top, Friday suit

Total bill: £30

Posted in cocktail bar, Old Town, Sharing dishes, soup | Tagged Cocktails, Old Town, Pub, Soup | Leave a comment

Beer Team does Grubcrawl

Posted on May 4, 2015 by BKR

Starter platter

On a joyously bright evening, the Lunchquest beer team thought we’d take ourselves on a little tour of Old Town boozers to see what was new. This turned into something of a Grubcrawl Mark II.

Our beer exploring started at the Canon’s Gait where Our Beer Man and I started proceedings with some Grozet, while Our Beer Woman played with a New Zealand IPA. The place has had a smart recent refit, but it was quite quiet, as most people were outside enjoying the early evening sunshine, so we jogged on to venue number two.

Wings

Holyrood 9A is an established beer favourite and we had the usual fun and games deciding which items we’d try from their range. I was particularly pleased to get a go at Pilot’s Vanilla Shortbread, which was just lovely. I tried a cracking saison, too, and there were additional samplings of Chew Chew stout and Tempest’s Long White Cloud.

Hunger had struck by this point so we adjourned to Under the Stairs, via one of Edinburgh’s more terrifying alleyways.

Randall

This wasn’t a place I’d visited before, but Our Beer Woman knew the menu back to front. Her suggestion was to order the sharing starter platter, then see where that took us.

The Beer Man was highly distressed to be served a pint of Joker IPA in a panelled pint pot, but that was soon remedied for a straight glass. I played with the pint pot as I rather like them, but then I’m a heretic like that.

The grub proved to be pretty good. A pile of calamari and whitebait was tasty, the lentil and cashew pate was the standout item, and the tatties and lamb balls gave the platter good substance. We weren’t entirely sated, though, but thought we’d seek main course dishes elsewhere.

Secret beer face

Wings was the unaminous choice because the beer folks were fans and I’d never been. The reason I’d never been is because I’m not really a chicken wings fan, so thought it pretty unfair to review a place where it seemed unlikely I’d find much joy.

We had three different types of wings, with blue cheese sauce, BBQ and lemon dry rub. The beerers were delighted, but they didn’t convert me to the chicken wing enthusiast camp. The place is quirkily decked out and is a great option for a quick bite on the run, but neither the chicken nor the sauces registered much on my interest scale.

We had a notion of rounding things out a Civerino’s for dessert, but our timing was poor. Instead our “pudding” was taken at Brewdog on the Cowgate, where the Jackhammer was being served through a fruit filled randall. It was a suitably zesty end to proceedings.

So overall, we sampled a grand selection of beers, had cracking good evening and ate a couple of decent dishes. I wasn’t blown away by the food at Under the Stairs or Wings, but they both served our needs very admirably. Where will Grubcrawl take us next, I wonder…?

Posted in Beer, Grubcrawl, Old Town | Tagged Beer, Old Town | 2 Comments

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Beer Team does Grubcrawl

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