Friday 6
July
After a
literally stunning afternoon out at Ian Hamilton Findlay's garden, Little Sparta, we came back jubilant, bone-tired, and a touch gobsmacked.
It was all we could do to stagger up Victoria Street to a restaurant we'd seen and been attracted to, Howie's.
It was all we could do to stagger up Victoria Street to a restaurant we'd seen and been attracted to, Howie's.
Of
course, on a Friday night they were booked to the gills, but the kind manager
said she saw a table where the couple looked like they would be moving on soon,
and the young barman got us some glasses of wine as we sat on a banquette
watching less hopeful diners get shooed off. We were happily seated within 20 minutes for what turned out
to be our best meal in Edinburgh.
We had
started off drinking a Trivento Tribu syrah 2011, and we then went on to an
even nicer malbec from the same vineyard.
Our
starters with one plate of game terrine (pigeon, pheasant, chicken, and smoked
bacon) with spiced orange marmalade, and another of locally hot-smoked salmon
paté rilletes with semi-pickled cucumbers and salad.
Our mains
were confit of duck leg with spicy tomato cassoulet of chickpeas, onions and
chorizo, and slices of a juicy haunch of Rutherford Estate roe deer, served
with a potato cake topped with rutabaga-like neeps, blackcurrent jus, and arugula. The latter even put the
Witchery venison in the shade. All
the flavors were strong, simple, and well combined.
On our
last night in Edinburgh, we hoped to hear some good Scottish music, so we
walked over to a local place called Sandy Bell's. There was such a crowd that you could barely hear the
musicians, and one guy even wanted to start a fight over Holt resting on
someone else's seat. But everyone
else we met (two identical twins who were not so identical; a recently-bereaved
singer and her 81-year-old pal; editor of a physiological journal at Cambridge;
and a guy with a dog who should have been "Garryowen" from Ulysses but was too good-natured) was cheery
and welcoming. We stood and were
stood to a round of creamy Dark Island ale, and had a wonderful last night in Edinburgh.
No comments:
Post a Comment