No 1 Sushi Bar

Tollcross is an odd place (I'm allowed to say that as I stayed there for 5 years).  An eclectic mix of shops, restaurants and businesses, the area has never really achieved the transformative gentrification predicted for it a few years back. 

There's a lot going on however, and in particular the Cameo Cinema and the Kings Theatre still very much generate a significant amount of footfall for restaurants in the area.  And it was the Cameo, and the fantastic Sound It Out, that meant we found ourselves heading across the road to No.1 Sushi Bar - the HUGE shiny lettering like a beacon through the absurdly windy Thursday night. 

Sushi bars are popping up all over the place in Edinburgh, but a few have been long standing features, including No. 1.  The interior is basic, but I always find this reassuring, rather than off-putting, when you’re just after some quick tasty and good value food, as we were.  

We were in a bit of a rush to get back to the Cameo so unfortunately didn’t get to try any starters, which meant I could merely look longingly at the pot-sticker style Japanese dumplings.  We couldn’t however pass up the opportunity for some edamame.  God, how I LOVE these little pods of soyabean goodness; I could eat about a million of them so just as well we were brought an enormous steaming bowl-full.

Tasty bowls of miso continued the soya theme, and then came our main courses.  Given the weather, I just couldn’t see past something hot and noodle-based.  I’m also still pining for another Friday Brunch at Nobu in Dubai and have been a bit sniffy about Japanese food in this country ever since.  I’m pleased to say I am now over this irrational aversion, as I ended up wishing I had plumped for something more similar to my fellow diners’ options (though repeat trips to Nobu still very welcome).  

The deep fried chicken yakiudon were good, but you can’t really go wrong with thick gratifying udon, and crisp, succulent deep fried chicken is truly of the comfort food gods.

Deep-fried chicken breast yakiudon

More adventurous was the Japanese bbq eel with unagi sauce.  This was a taste sensation!  Snow white sushi rice the perfect vehicle for the intense little pieces of eel, basted in unagi sauce then barbequed and served with more of the eel broth, soy sauce, rice wine and sugar reduction.  Only downside was the surprisingly fishy after-burps (too much information?).

Bbq eel with unagi sauce

Fresh tuna on rice was served ‘scattered sushi’ style.  More of the steaming sushi rice, this time vinegared, was topped with spankingly fresh tuna, pickled radish, crab eggs and sesame.

Fresh tuna on rice

Given the number and quality of other sushi places now dotted around Edinburgh maybe it’s not worth a special trip, but No. 1 Sushi Bar is definitely somewhere you should consider popping in to if you’re in the area.  By the way, a good choice of Japanese beers, and nice service too.

21212

I'm going to be upfront about this.  I didn't want to go to 21212.  My first choice was the recently Michelin starred Castle Terrace, but our usual last minute (well, a couple of weeks in advance) approach to booking meant we couldn't get in.

It might be the garish retro signage or the wordy menu which has always put me off, yet here we were pitching up to the entrance of 21212, the aforementioned signage sticking out like a sore thumb on Edinburgh's majestic Royal Terrace.

The building that houses the restaurant and its 4 bedrooms is just gorgeous.  The sort of Georgian townhouse I would absolutely kill to own.  The decor is all about the tasteful muted tones, but with opulent if a bit overstuffed materials and furnishings. 
 

With our £13.50 glass of Henriot Brut Champagne came some decidedly average nibbles.  Fantastic goddess olives (but I eat these at home with a beer in hand), some crisps, and crunchy things that reminded me of snacks you buy in tubs at the supermarket around Christmas time.  Bread was just awful.  Only one choice, which was white and pappy textured.  Not a fantastic start.

On choosing from the menu, it was easy to try everything given there were two of us and the concept is a choice or 2 starters, mains and puds, interspersed by a soup and cheese course.  The captions beside the pictures below are exactly as written on the menu.

Despite its disconcerting Indian restaurant tandoori colour, 'Spicy Pisces' was delicious, the star being a large plump scallop acting as the bedrock for the plethora of other ingredients.  And here too was our first introduction to what would become the menu equivalent to the unwelcome friend that always turns up at the pub; foam.  Kinda pretty, kinda pointless.

Duck was a bit disappointing.  Cooked sous vide (you'll see a theme developing here) it was evenly pink throughout but still slightly tough and displaying none of the advertised caramelisation or crispiness.  There was no real hint of 'spicy' in the rice either but the omelette element was a creamy triumph.  More foam again, but aside from a cappuccino frother, another piece of kit the kitchen had clearly invested in was a food dehydrator.  This produced more interesting results - the basil leaf adorning the dish having an intensified mentholly flavour.

"Spicy Pisces" 4x Fishes, 4x Mushrooms, Crumpets - Hot & Spicy Jumbo Scallops, Giant Prawns, Barley, White Crabmeat Flakes & Smokes Salmon, Morels, Shitakes, Girolles & Shimeji Mushrooms, Best Truffle Oil, Chilli & Onions, Brown Crab, Ginger & Watercress Sauce, Marie Rose, Buttered Grilled Crumpets.

Crispy Cumbrian Duck Breast, Egg Fu Yung, Spicy Rice - Caramelised Breast of Cumbrian Duck, Baked Omelette, Red Onion Egg Fried Rice, Mange Tout & "Purple Sprouting", Breakfast Radish, Lightly Smoked Soy Sauce Mayonnaise, Wasabi (Oriental Horseradish), Broccoli & Basil Puree.

Soup was layers of veg puree, carrot, asparagus, topped with, you guessed it, a pumpkin foam.  Aside from the as ever pointless topping this was a real taste sensation, with amazing depth of flavour in the veg puree layer lurking underneath.

Soup

We had been advised that there was a third option for the main course, as the pork could be substituted for beef.  This was where we really started to have doubts about whether there was any intention for the dish to marry, or if the point was for each of the individual ingredients forever to be doomed to remain single forever.  Surely they wouldn't just be serving beef alonside all of the accompanying ingredients that you would think had been so carefully selected for the pork?? - Certainly as far as we could reasonably tell - apparently so.

Not only rather unattractively smothered in the orangey sauce, the other half complained that the presentation of the beef dish - piling each ingredient on top of the other - made it difficult to see what he was eating.  He was also by now rather sick of eating out of a bowl.  His beef though was delicious.  The meat this time beautifully cooked sous vide, flavourful and tender.  Lovely veg, but the toulose sausage (originally intended for the pork dish) didn't sit well.  The other half also found the wide two pronged fork provided rather difficult to eat with.  The waiter pointed out that's why they also provide a spoon.  What's wrong with just having a decent fork!!?

(This is the menu for the pork dish, which we chose to have with the beef option) Classical Pork Supper, Old Spot, Tomato & Sage Sauce - Slow Cooked Tender Fillet of "Old Spot" Pork, Sage & Onion, Apple 123, Smoked Bacon, Toulouse Sausage, Lentils & Hazelnuts, Scottish Grown Vegetables, Oatmeal & Black Peppercorns, Potato & Artichoke Puree.

Trout was nice.  That's just about all I can say about it.  I personally don't think cooking it sous vide improves the flavour and texture more than a skillful bit of pan frying.  Macaroni - why?  The accompanying caviar 'pour over' was wasted in my opinion.  The ozone-ness (and supposed smoke) of the caviar lost in the confusion of other textures and flavours.  I should have eaten it separately.

Pink Trout "Macaroni" Rosemary & Chickpea Puree - Slow Cooked Fillet of Young Pink Trout, Saffron Macaroni, Sweet Potato & Chickpea Puree, Duo of Asparagus White & Green, Dijon Mustard Mayonnaise, Crosnes, Fresh Sweetcorn, Pumpkin Seeds, Feta Cheese Cube.

Asparagus, Spinach & Chervil Sauce, Smoked Caviar.

Cheese next - lots of it.  So much so I wondered if the poor waiter who had to tell us what each one was would remember them all.  It was good, but the accompanying biscuits and the pitiful pieces of dried pear, were bad.

Next the bubbling undercurrent of kitch-ness came bursting to the surface when the cow teapot arrived (yes I did just say that).  The milky almondy drink served was very much like the mexican drink horchata.  They drink it as it's a good accompaniment to spicy food.  I've no idea what its purpose was in this context.

We were getting a bit bored by now, and pudding didn't much raise our interest.  If anything the hideous swan/duck dish the 'P's & C's' dish was served in was positively off-putting.

Extra Winter Layers - Winter Layers of Dates & Apricots, White Chocolate & Vanilla, Pecan Nuts, Oatmeal, Icky Sticky Sponge, Saffron, Turkish Delights, Early Grey Anglaise, Crispy Biscuits (A True Turkish Delight)

P, P, P, P, P, P, C, C, C - Glazed Lemon Bake With A Fruit Compote Of Dried Cherries, Golden Pears, Salted Peanuts, Pink Peppercorns, Marmalade & Saffron Poached Fresh Pineapple, Peanut Butter & Vanilla Egg Anglaise, Dried Fruit Crisp.

Finally coffee and some good but surprisingly unadventurous truffles and fudge.  I'm sure everyone mentions it, but the coffee served in paper cups is very good (though nothing to do with the paper cups, which simply keep the coffee hotter for longer).
 

The service is impeccable.  Professional and friendly.  Just a shame that a number of the waiting staff are made to wear what quite frankly can only be described as umpa lumpa overalls, which must be, well, embarrassing.

I do get it.  It's different (for Edinburgh).  It's adventurous.  It's quirky.  But quite frankly I'm not in to different for difference sake.  The ingredients have to work together and while the skill of the chef comes through in the cooking of the individual components, it's lacking in being able to present a coherent plate of food.  There are a number of Michelin starred (and other) restaurants in Edinburgh that I'm just dying to pay a return visit to, but 21212 isn't one of them.

9 Cellars

I was really quite excited about visiting 9 Cellars.  Not only because it's been a while since I've had a good curry, but also because the menu presents choices quite refreshingly different to the majority of other Indian restaurants in Edinburgh.

Let's get distracting first impressions out of the way - the underground entrance is not particularly inviting, but then that's not wholly unusual in Edinburgh.  Interior is... basic...and very orange, but I've eaten in worse.  We were seated at the front of the restaurant so didn't get a feel for the rabbit warren of cellars that, almost unbelievably, can seat around 100.  But with only a couple of other tables occupied on a Thursday night, lack of atmosphere was an issue; thankfully some music was put on at some point, helping to lift the mood from dreary to bearable.  We did have a bit of a gripe about the tiny tables for two.  Call me a glutton, but I prefer not to have to worry about whether all the food ordered can be squeezed on to the space, and we gave the interesting selection of sides a miss for just that reason.

With few 'classic' British curry dishes on the menu, we were delighted to have difficulty choosing from a diverse selection of authentic regional dishes.  Chicken Ka Chilla and Ajwani Jinga got us off to a blinding start.  The Ka Chilla was oustanding - a thin and tasty pancake (made from, I think, gram flour flavoured with chilli and cumin) enveloping succulent tikka'd chicken in a well spiced thick sauce.  The Jinga were good sized firm and meaty prawns in an anjwain flavoured batter - clearly skillfully deep fried to a light and crisy finish.

Chicken Ka Chilla

Ajwani Jinga

The sarters though raised expectations which sadly weren't lived up to by the mains.  To be fair, I went against my instinct to continue on the pancake theme with a Dosa, opting instead for the Lal Mass.  The other half, on his usual quest for a decent chilli hit, went for North Indian Garlic Chilli Chicken.

Lal Mass

North Indian Chilli Garlic Chicken

Both dishes suffered from the standard curry base treatment; looking and tasting almost identical with only minor tweaks in spicing.  I've nothing against a good curry base, but it needs more attention than this to turn it in to a special dish.  These, while completely edible, were no more than chunks of (admittedly good) lamb and chicken in a thick, slightly gloopy, sauce.  The Lal Mass in particular, which I had been really looking forward to, conveyed little of the intense dried chilli colour and flavour that typifies this traditional Rajasthani dish.

Rice, chapati, spinach & garlic parantha

Rice and chapati were average, but the spinach & garlic stuffed parantha was really rather good.  Pints of Cobra are good value at £3.30 in relation to city centre prices.

Overall we'll probably give 9 Cellars another go, mainly as the starters showed so much promise. Big disappointment this time that our choice of mains let the overall meal down.

The Kitchin

Leftovers for dinner, so a good chance to post about lunch at The Kitchin a couple of weeks back.

Everybody and their auntie have been to, or want to go to, The Kitchin (the staff were taking a booking for March 2012 when we were there); its popularity and reputation are pretty much beyond question. 

Practically straight off a plane from Mexico, Tom Kitchin's "passion of the season" philosophy brought us straight back down to autumnal Scotland on a plate with a distinct, if delicious, bump.

Call me cynical, but as soon as a chef gains 'celebrity' status (my benchmark for celebrity being Saturday Kitchen!), I do wonder about the time they spend 'at the pass'.  While I would not doubt the competence and quality of his team, it is reassuring that Tom Kitchin's luscious locks could be spotted through the kitchen viewing window both times I've visited.  A member of staff also said I could pop in pretty much any morning if I wanted to get a book signed (the groupie that I am!), which annoyingly I've still not managed to get round to.

Apologies in advance if some of the detail below is sketchy - I forgot to ask for a menu and my memory isn't great at the best of times - I'm blaming the jetlag not ofcourse the rather scrummily dry but flavourful Pol Roger Brut Réserve, or the crisp and fruity Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc we drank. 

Aaaannyhoo, aside from a couple of minor niggles, I was reminded of a further fleeting reflection by a colleague today, who described the service as trying too hard and not 'fun'.  Personally I think this is a bit harsh, and I wouldn't go so far as to say the service in a restaurant should be 'fun' ('though maybe depends on your definition and the restaurant!) but agree there could be some more scope here for 'relating' to the individual customer.  I've experienced this done equally really very well and really very badly in restaurants (including others with Michelin stars), but acknowledge it's tricky and ultimately comes down to personal preference.

So overall, a tiny criticism that should not outweigh the exceptionally high standards of food and attentive, professional service that The Kitchin delivers.  I know I'd certainly be back again in a flash.

 Achingly clear and flavourful consommé, with a perfect nugget of succulent chicken sunk at the bottom.

Gorgeously refined game terrine.  The delicate and meticulously prepared accompanying autumnal fruits and vegetables each retainined their individual characteristics, and complemented the terrine beautifully.  Found the accompanying fried bread (with reduction/gravy?) greasy, and a heavy unnecessary layer on top of the already rich terrine.

Ox tongue, pumpkin risotto, hens egg, toasted pumpkin seeds and (iberico?) ham.  Loved it - a dish sooo all about the textures, which I'm totally in-to.  Although having said that the ham was a bit too crisp in my opinion, detracting from its flavour and scattering excessively spiky shards throughout the dish.

Gingerbread souffle with stem ginger ice cream.  I don't think I'll ever get over my awe of seeing perfect souffle's such as this come out of restaurant kitchens.  Perfectly reminiscent of gingerbread spice, with deliciously complementary - albeit very fast melting (I can sympathise) - stem ginger ice-cream.

And finally to cheese.  I'd be lying if I said I could remember all we tried, but I was relieved (if not unsurprised) that the board did include a fine selection of Scottish cheeses - not just "French and English" (clearly just a slip-up instead of "British") as first advised.