Friday 20 May 2011

East is East - Glutton in Edinburgh part 1

Castle Terrace – Castle Terrace, Edinburgh

A recent jaunt to Edinburgh was a fabulous opportunity to sample some of the capital’s brilliant cuisine.   An overnight stay in the beautiful Scotsman Hotel gave us a prime location from which to start our glutton’s tour!

My husband treated us to lunch at Castle Terrace restaurant down near the castle (funnily enough) and what a way to kick off a great weekend.  The restaurant is the epitome of modern elegance, all dark wood and glamorous wallpaper with smart, efficient staff.  We were greeted and seated near the back of the restaurant in a nice little alcove area slightly removed from the hustle of the busy main room. 

The waiter provided the wine list, lunch menu, tasting menu and a la carte menu giving us maximum choice, however we opted for the lunch menu, which at £20 for three courses is great value in these credit crunching times.   Although not a big selection on the lunch menu we had the choice of three dishes for each course all of which were focused around seasonality.

With a bottle of Prosecco poured and food ordered the waiter arrived with a selection of savouries on a board.  Thin breadsticks, little scones and crunchy bits of spinach and squid ink pasta were interesting and a bit hit and miss.  The breadsticks and pasta were tasty but the anchovy and tomato scones were reminiscent of the taste of my old home economics efforts, a wee bit floury and bland.  On the contrary, next to arrive was an amouse bouche of salmon mouse with cucumber cappuccino, a delicious little cup with layers of cucumber and chive jelly, smoked salmon mousse, tiny fried croutons all topped with a light, creamy cucumber foam.  It was outstanding and I could have eaten about ten of them!

Taste buds a tingling the first course arrived, for me a subtle, seasonal dish of asparagus with a raw spring vegetable salad accompanied by a black olive tapenade.   The asparagus had been trimmed and lightly cooked and the salad was made up of broad beans, peas, mushrooms, carrots and radish all prepared and dressed with the lightest of touch.  The tapenade was good although I did feel it slightly overpowered the other delicate flavours on the plate but I loved the simplicity and style of the dish.  My husband started with the pea soup, served with gnocchi, poached egg and tiny bacon bits and it was stunning.  Every texture and flavour from the smooth soup, runny egg yolk, crispy bacon and light dumplings made the dish sing.  If we go back and it’s still on the menu it is a must order starter.

Unusually, both of us ordered the same main course of braised pig cheeks with seasonal vegetables.   An incredibly tender braised pig cheek was garnished with tiny vegetables, a crispy fried bonbon of more cheek, rich jus and a blanquette sauce.  Again every morsel on the plate had been beautifully executed by the chefs.  I probably would have enjoyed the dish with the jus only but that is more a personal taste and I think it could have made the dish too wintery for the time of year.

A short break was requested before the desserts were ordered, a classic crème brulee was marred by being over done with the blow torch and unfortunately had started to slightly curdle.  The other dessert was a stunning apple en croute, strudel like and served with cinnamon ice cream and crisped apple slice it ended the meal on a high.

Although not perfect I have been highly critical of this restaurant as it is fine dining and the recipient of a “Rising Star” from Michelin.  The service was impeccable and the food was prepared with such care and attention that I really think it is worth a visit, especially with such a great value lunch menu on offer.  I can’t wait for another excuse to go back!



Footnote.....

Following on from our glutton’s tour of Edinburgh I am wisely omitting our evening activities from this blog, let’s just say that after such a wonderful meal in Castle Terrace several more drinks were consumed throughout the day and we ended up with a not exactly gastronomic dinner of nachos, buffalo wings and fajitas in the Filling Station – yummy and drunken!

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