Snob value
Eating on the cheap doesn’t have to mean eating cheap food. Barry Shelby knows how to dine at the classiest restaurants on a budget.
meal at some of the finest restaurants in town doesn't always mean having to pay top pound. In terms of pure value for money. the least expensive meal is not the best you can do with your hard earned ducats. The greatest deals around are those found at top-notch restaurants that offer set- price lunches (and sometimes repeat those offers during a brief pre-theatre window Of Opportunity in the evening).
The discounts can be startling — acknowledging. of course. that full- price night-time meals are pretty damn dear. Dinner at a place such as Restaurant Martin Wishart. which offers one of the very best dining experiences in Scotland. can hit the £45 per person mark. But lunch at the Michelin star-holding Leith venue is just over £20 for three courses.
What other businesses offer near 50% reductions like that. day in and day out? None.
And it's not just Wishart. In the city centre. Edinburgh's other Michelin star-winning restaurant — Number One at the Balmoral — charges £20 (£19.95. in truth) for three courses during the day when dinner is $355.
Across the COuntry. a three- course lunch at Gamba. one of the best Glasgow has to offer, is £18.95. In the evening that is what you'd have to pay for a lot of the main courses at the esteemed fish restaurant. The new guy in town. another Michelin-star chef Michael Caines. does even better at his
eponymously nanred fine dining restaurant in the Abode hotel at the Arthouse (pictured beiowr: 3‘1 ‘7‘ for a starter, main course and pudding -- plus there are appetisers. an amuse bouche and fresh bread rolls. too. And if you want to forgo dessert. the price is a rather preposterous $312.50.
Get it while it lasts. though. because the prices don't always remain low. But in general. the cost of lunch deals hasn't really crept up much over the past five years: probably less than inflation (and certainly below the increases to bus or train rides). At Number One. for example. a two-course lunch has gone up only 45p in two years. In real economic terms, in fact. lunch at some places may be Cheaper today than it was in the 1990s.
Why do some the best restaurants in town do it? Primarin because it puts bums on seats. of COurse. But they also hope that a sample of the fare during lunch Will tempt punters back for a full-price evening meal.
Indeed. the lunch menus wrll not offer the scope of the complete evening menus. They are very much tasters. It is not unusual to see one or two dishes cross over. but sometimes an elaborate main course from the dinner menu Will be pared down to create a starter at lunch.
Yes. the sceptical (and God. there are a lot of them) Will argue that it's all relative: lunch at these places isn't a bargain because the evening prices are over-inflated.
Take that attitude to the local chippy or fast food joint. then. or sate the cynicism at one of the bog standard all you~can eat Chinese joints that have popped up everwrl iere.
In fact. most of the better restaurants charge more because the quality of cooking and the raw ingredients used arc- superior. Also. service is usually better because staff wages are higher and they take more pride in their work. The ojiierations are comfortable. refined and a pleasure to eat in. most of the time.
The final point is that the mid-day feeling is often more relaxed. So if you suffer from any posh restaurant anxiety. check them out during the day, when the atmosphere is less formal.
The hoary Ronald Reagan
slogan. ‘there's no free lunch'. may indeed be true but discounted midday meals at fine restaurants are probably here to stay.
10 of the best lunch bargains
Glasgow
* Brian Maule at Chardon d’Or
776 West Regent Street
07 47 248 3807
Lunch served: Mon—Fri noon—2.30pm
This celebrity chef may not be on the telly every five minutes. but Brian Maule's work with the Roux family ensures he will forever be lumped in with the high-profile cooks across the UK. His food should be up to their standard too. a La Fionentina
2 Paisley Road West 0747 420 7585
Lunch served: Mon—Sat noon—2. 75pm
A Govan favourite specialising in Italian food at unpretentious prices. La Fiorentina‘s set-price menus offer big ponions and particularly good value. * Gamba
2258 West George Street
0747 572 0899
Lunch served: Mon—Sat noon—2. 30pm
Any Glaswegian with a passion for fish should head for Garnba. Chef Derek Marshall demonstrates his own passion in a menu which creates complex flavours that are not over-elaborate.
* Michael Gaines at Abode
729 Bath Street
0747 572 6077
Lunch served: Mon—Sat noon—2.30pm
This newcomer has an excellent pedigree. Michael Caines won two Michelin stars at his Devon restaurant. Early days at Abode suggest this will be a similarly stellar expenence.
* No Fat Ladies
7 78a Blythswood Street
0747 847 0088
Lunch served: Mon-Fri noon—3pm
This tiny West End hideaway is so small it feels like dining at a friend's house. The most popular dish is deservedly Two Fat '8 fish platter — a daily
19 Jan~2 Feb 2006 THE LIST 17
changing, market fresh selection.
Edinburgh * Atrium
70 Cambridge Street 0737 228 8882
Lunch served: Mon—Fri noon_2pm
This restaurant succeeds in serving food of the highest quality. without any stuffiness. Using local, seasonal ingredients. Atrium creates the epitome of understated excellence.
* Cafe Royal Oyster Bar
77a West Register Street
0737 556 4 724 Mon—Sun noon—2pm Aside from the oysters. the Cafe Royal menu features salmon and sea bass as well as venison and pheasant. But it‘s the opulent surroundings that make this the perfect posh place to eat at bargain pnces.
at La Garrigue
37 Jeffrey Street
0737 557 3032
Lunch served: Mon-Sun noon—2.30pm
La Garrigue is all about regional French cooking that thrives on its owner's nostalgia for the Languedoc region of his home country.
* Number One
7 Princes Street
07 37 557 6727
Lunch served: Mon—Fri noon—2pm
Number One thrives thanks to Jeff Bland '5 cooking. It's impressive enough to have won him a Michelin star. but if you go for a set menu the prices aren't steep. at Restaurant Martin Wishart
54 The Shore
07 37 553 3557
Lunch served: Tue—Fri noon—2pm
A small, chef-owned operation in Leith. this restaurant is Currently serving up food that no-one else in Edinburgh can match. That you can get lunch deals here is little short of a miracle.