Iain Mellis Cheesemonger

Today I stopped in once more to Iain Mellis on Victoria Street in Edinburgh.
I bought:
Bruckley - a Ewe's cheese which has a lovely crumbly texture, and isn't overly 'goaty' just very mild and gorgeous with fig jam.
Goat Gouda - a cheese I am obsessed with. Fabulously creamy yet very very firm, nice sweet citrus note on the aftertaste, but nothing overcomplicated or fussy. Just very very good cheese indeed.
I also got one of the little goats cheeses, but haven't opened the parcel yet. I'm a little excited though. It's good to see that Mellis is still good so many years on. Granted, I've only lived in the city for 3 years, but everyone seems to agree that the standard has been maintained for a long time now, and the staff are always so knowledgable, friendly and very willing to help. Especially when it comes to helping you pick out exactly what you're looking for.

In other news, I have just ordered a new Cookery Book. It's been recommended by various fun websites (read, boring dietry blogs) and should be good in teaching me how to make proper wheaty-type things in order to fill in the gaps.



A full review of it will be posted when it's arrived and I've had time to play with some of the recipes, but in the meantime you can order it from here.

Old Raj Gin

A recent discovery:


Cadenhead's Old Raj Gin (the 55%) is the superb gin martini gin. Fact. And we test a lot of gin. It contains a small amount of saffron giving it a very distinct, yet subtle spice and turning it a slightly off-white colour (which shoudln't therefore put you off it.) Those of you who don't live in Edinburgh and therefore cannot go to the wonderous shop that is Cadenheads (bottom of the Royal Mile) can purchase it here (if you live in Edinburgh, you MUST go to Cadenheads, mainly because it is a fantastic whisky shop.

Rhubarb Edinburgh, Restaurant Review

Rhubarb restaurant @ Prestonfield
Prestonfield House
Priestfield Road
Edinburgh

225 1333



I was wary about Rhubarb, various reports had claimed it was all flashy decor and no real substance, one review from the Daily Telegraph really worried me - but I'd enjoyed my prior visits to James Thompsons other institutions and made a booking anyway.

As the taxi swept us up the dramatically lit drive towards the house I knew that we were in for a visual feast if nothing else. Menus and wine lists arrived and we ordered our aperitifs, I had a champagne cocktail and my grandmother had a martini. My cocktail was well made, with good quality spirit and Pol Roger champagne as opposed to bog standard cava. We ordered and were taken to our table post aperitif.

The amuse bouche arrived, it was a frothy white mushroom soup. I alerted the waiter to my allergies and he immediately headed to the kitchen. He came back, whisked away the amuse bouche and told me that the chef was going to make me something else. I found this impressive, as often dietry requirements in places such as Rhubarb are seen as peculiar or catered for with no real thought or dedication. My new amuse bouche came - an oxtail consomme - and I have to say I wasn't overly impressed. It was over salted and uninteresting - it almost made me wish he hadn't bothered as an amuse bouche should be a chance for the chef to show off his skill - and this didn't impress.
My starter, on the other hand, pigeon salad with muscat and raisin dressing, was stunning. Pigeon maybe a relatively simple meat to cook but the tender breast married wonderfuly with the surprisingly delicate sauce. I hadn't expected the nectaine, orangey flavours of muscat to marry with the raisins but it worked well. My grandmother's soup was fine - but uninspired - so uninspired we couldn't recall what the soup was the next day!

I ordered a half bottle of Ridge Geyserville 2003 as Ridge are one of my favourite wineries. I have to note that the wine list at Rhubarb is exceptional and it is not extortionate. All regions of the world are well represented with some interested lines from the New World that you may not expect somewhere like Rhubarb to stock. The other interesting thing about the list is their stocking of a good range of half bottles and magnums - allowing for greater choice and more flexibility. The wine was great - full credit to Ridge for always making lovely wines.

My main course was Veal with a date and plum sauce and potato latticed pancakes. I adore veal, and it was perfect though the sauce was once again a surprising one but it worked well - especially considering the wine we had ordered. There was a little too much of the sauce, and it did tend to overdominate the meat slightly but this is a very very minor complaint. My grandmother's Guineau Fowl was delicious too, with a surprisingly delicate sauce considering it was another odd fruit sauce.

I didn't have a pudding, but I did have an espresso and an Armagnac, the coffee was decent and the Armagnac good.

The atmosphere of the place and the decor is the real draw of Rhubarb, but the food does not disappoint. It's not aiming for stars or anything, but this is almost a themed restaurant - the theme being victorian morgue meets Tim Burton. The bill at the end of the night was steep, but this is somewhere for a special occasion or to impress someone, its not somewhere you go for exceptional food.

Monteiths, Edinburgh - Restaurant Review

Monteiths,
61 High Street.

Lunchtime on the mile. What on earth was I thinking? Touristy cafes, tartan tat and a complete dearth of value in terms of culinary experiences is what I expected. However, I had heard about a new place called Monteiths which, set up by the people responsible for the diva-tastic over styled Sygn bar in the west end, was supposed to be half decent and nicely tucked away.

They weren't kidding. On a dark dark royal mile, down a dark dark alley, beneath the dark dark 21st century kilts, down some dark dark stairs, some yuppies had set up home. I did wonder on my way down to the bar if I was lost, and about to walk into something I shoudln't. Indeed, on entering the bar the guy I assume was the manager looked thrilled to see us and the barman just looked stunned. We took a table towards the back of the bar and were handed menus.

The interior is small and awkwardly shaped and they have done well to fit in the tables in the way they have. It's done out in a very trendy, very 'now' way that a lot of bars in London and Manchester have been done up like recently. Think Sygn meets Oddfellows annoying graffitic style art meets the GRV paintjob and you're somewhere there. Mismatched furniture and a carboard mooses head nod to the fact we are, indeed in case you had forgottern, in Scotland.

We ordered. I ordered a glass of Viura (I screwed up at a blind tasting and wanted something really typical. This wasn't and was disappointing) and a glass of red for my companion which was much better. They managed to accomodate my eating difficulties, but gave me a choice of risotto or risotto. Sigh. She ordered a lamb burger. And then the wait began. There was only one other couple in there when we sat down, and they got their drinks about 10 minutes after we ordered our drinks. Our drinks arrived 10 minutes after that. Still, no harm done, the atmosphere is nice. I got chatting to the manager about wines and had a look at their boutique wine list. Unfortunately for him, we were kept waiting for an extra 30 minutes for our food which meant that I realised that whoever put that 'boutique' wine list together has absolutely no clue. I'd give examples, but I think I'd bore you, or get lambasted for being snotty. (hey, it's my job) BUT YES, anway, 40 minutes wait with one table in front of you seems a little odd, especially when they only got their food 10 minutes before us. You have to wonder what happens when they're busy.

The food, anyway, was fine. Nothing exciting i have to say and a little expensive for what is very average bar lunch. My risotto lacked the creaminess it should have and the chicken seemed pre-grilled and refrigereted, the deep fried parsley on top was just a bit odd. My companions burger looked better, but a little overcooked. The chips were amazing though apparently. Disappointing considering they were both over £10.
I didn't fancy pudding, so we had coffee and a tea. These arrived swiftly as did the bill. I even got good advice on where to get a nice bunch of flowers, so all was not lost.

Monteiths is good and atmospheric for a drink. The cocktails looked amazing and the whisky range is broad and VERY reasonably priced. The bar is well stocked, so next time I'll give the food a miss and have a gin martini thank you very much.

Lunch for two with two glasses of wine and hot drinks at the end plus tip was £37.