Edinburgh Eating, pt 1

To celebrate my brother's 21st birthday, we went on a little trip to Edinburgh. We were only there for 2 nights, so I took it upon myself to map out the entire food itinerary for the trip - no easy task given the number of cool restaurants there.


The Witchery by the Castle

For my brother's birthday dinner I wanted to find somewhere quirky that would be really memorable. I spent a bit of time looking at reviews and recommendations online, and decided to book a table at The Witchery by the Castle.

This is situated at the top of the Royal Mile, just at the foot of the castle. There are two parts to this restaurant: The Witchery and The Secret Garden. I had booked The Secret Garden as it seemed to be most highly recommended. You enter the restaurant and walk down some atmospheric stairs to a completely enchanting room. Lit only by candle light (I have vowed to return one Valentine's Day!), it really was an idyllic setting, with wooden panels lining the walls, and beautifully laid tables with candelabras and crisp table cloths.

To start, three of us chose the Roast Arran Beets with toasted hazelnuts and cauliflower puree. This really was delicious. It celebrated really good ingredients rather than any particularly complicated cooking techniques, but that's fine by me when a dish tastes as good as this did.

My brother had Steak Tartare with remoulade and raw quails egg, which he said was the best steak tartare he'd tasted - and believe me, he's tasted a few.

For the main course, my dad and brother shared the Lamb Wellington for 2. They said it made a nice change from beef, and it was beautifully presented. They also enjoyed the aubergine puree, spring greens and basil mash that came with it.

My mum and I had the tomato tart. This was the only vegetarian dish on the main menu, although I notice they have since added to this. It was perfectly pleasant, but definitely not as impressive as the other food we had.

For dessert, we had the dark Belgian chocolate tart, which came with orange marmalade ice cream. I must admit that I was sceptical of the ice cream when I read about it on the menu, but it really worked well with the tart - like a chocolate orange, but sophisticated. Delicious.

Overall, I cannot recommend The Witchery enough: the atmosphere is quirky and unique, and the food is delicious. The service let the place down slightly, but I will certainly be returning on my next visit to Edinburgh. A real gem of a restaurant.

Rating: 9/10

The Witchery, Castlehill, The Royal Mile, Edinburgh, EH1 2NF
www.thewitchery.com
01312 255613


Afternoon Tea at The Balmoral 

Anyone that has been to Edinburgh will know of this iconic luxury hotel. Well, we couldn't justify staying here, but we did allow ourselves a little visit for afternoon tea, an occasion that I think was absolutely made for me.

We sat down in the very pretty little Palm Court, chose our tea, and out came this mouth-watering tray of sandwiches. Each of them was perfectly formed, but it was the cheese straws that won the day for me: soft but crunchy, warm, with a melt-in-the-mouth texture. The best cheese straw I've ever had.

Next came this assortment of pastries and sweet goodies. The scones were my dad's favourite, but I really enjoyed the mini passion fruit meringues and the white chocolate milkshake.

Then came these cute little strawberry sorbet cones to cleanse the pallet.

And then it was time for another round of cake! I told you afternoon tea was made for me... Both were perfectly moist, but even I was getting full at this point!

After a final coffee (because, well, why not?!) we were so full we couldn't move. So we sat and enjoyed the harpist and the calming ambience for a while, before continuing our wander around Edinburgh...

Overall: 9/10

The Balmoral, 1 Princes Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2EQ
www.roccofortehotels.com
01315 562414