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FOUR TO TRY: WINTER WARMERS
We may be over the worst weather, but it’s still cold enough to appreciate the comfort of an open fire. Here are four dining venues offering just that simple pleasure
The Saint 44 St Stephen Street, Stockbridge, Edinburgh, 0131 225 9009. www.thesaintedinburgh.co.uk Not just one but two flickering gas-flame fires burn in this semi-subterranean venue in Stockbridge. A menu full of hearty soups and game dishes matches them, while the drinks list offers up chewy red wines, silky drams and a few warm and spicy cocktails. For that extra snuggle factor, nab one of the whisky barrel seats lined with sheepskin. Iglu 2b Jamaica Street, New Town, Edinburgh, 0131 476 5333. www.theiglu.com The name might imply a place that’s too cool for school, when it’s really a homely neighbourhood bar-restaurant tucked into Edinburgh’s New Town with an open fire upstairs. The menu draws on well-sourced local produce, much of it organic or wild, with pigeon, rabbit and creamy Scottish cheeses served up alongside real ales and unusual liqueurs from Demijohn.
The 78 10–14 Kelvinhaugh Street, West End, Glasgow, 0141 576 5018. www.the78cafebar.com A roaring (real) coal fire, comfy armchairs and chunky distressed wooden tables give The 78 a welcoming, rustic feel, with its vegan menu proving just as warming as the surroundings. From the all-day veggie breakfast through various platters, veggie burgers, haggis and a particularly indulgent cake selection, you’re unlikely to leave feeling peckish. Live music or DJs feature most nights. The Sisters Kelvingrove 36 Kelvingrove Street, West End, Glasgow, 0141 564 1157. www.thesisters.co.uk Among the chic neutral colours and minimalist design of Jacqueline and Pauline O’Donnell’s Kelvingrove venue, a modern living flame fire hints at the comforting tone of a menu featuring hand- dived scallops with meaty black pudding, roast Limerick ham with champ tatties and buttered cabbage, with puff candy meringue and ice- cream to round things off. Homely fare, but hardly twee.
are juicy and loaded with toppings, yet avoid being sloppy; as do the gourmet burgers, generously piled with cheese and assorted delights, resting on a bed of chunky hand-cut chips. An extensive range of beer from around the world has been teamed up with the wine list from its parent venture across the street. Edinburgh
RUSSIAN PASSION 5 Canonmills, Inverleith, 0131 556 9042, £4 (lunch) Edinburgh’s first Russian restaurant is also one of its smallest. With just three tables, the vision of owner, Moscow-born Maria Belyaeva, is big. Cooking Russia’s best traditional recipes using ingredients from Scotland, the borsch is the business: a deep bowl of garnet-red soup fragrant with fresh herbs and topped with soured cream. Although it’s a lunchtime spot, with extremely modest prices, dinner is available by advance booking for up to ten people.
THE EDINBURGH LARDER 15 Blackfriars Street, Old Town, 0131 556 6922, www.edinburghlarder.co.uk, £10 (lunch) / £10 (weekend dinner) New deli / café Edinburgh Larder sees brother and sister team Eleanor and Joe Davey scouring the country looking for good local products and suppliers, with Scottish cheeses, salmon, meats – including smoked venison and Borders salami – offered in various sandwich, toastie and deli plate combinations alongside soups and a stew of the day. It’s early days yet, and the team continue to tweak opening hours and menus, but this is one Old Town eatery that definitely should not be left to the tourists.
HAMBURGER HEAVEN 36 Broughton Street, 0131 556 2788, £16 (dinner) The latest twist in the varied career of the ‘back room’ of Barony Street’s Blue Moon Café – a space that happens to enjoy prime frontage onto Broughton Street – is as a New York City-themed diner. Its simple dining area, dominated by a wall- filling photo of a Manhattan street scene, has just 16 covers and a menu dominated by decent burgers, salads and the usual US-style line-up of starters such as corn-on-the-cob and cheesecake for desert.
Full independent write-ups on all the restaurants listed here can be found on our online Eating & Drinking Guide, list.co.uk/food-and-drink.
SIDE DISHES Local beers come out on top while eating goes underground
■ You may have noticed around town that local beers are reappearing. Not Tennent’s (owned by Irish C&C group) or McEwan’s (Dutch- owned) but ales from the WEST brewery at Glasgow Green and Stewart Brewing of Loanhead, just south of Edinburgh. Recent openings as varied as Slumdog, Blythswood Square and Cookie are serving WEST’s lager, brewed in accordance with the sixteenth- century Reinheitsgebot, or German Purity Law, on draught, while around 50 pubs in Edinburgh and Central Scotland now have taps pouring Stewart beers. Steve Stewart and his team have also just launched four beers in 330ml bottles with an emphasis on food matching: the range includes dark, malty St Giles and light, hoppy Hollyrood [sic] lager. ■ Local guerrilla gardeners have been leaving messages as well as planting seed bombs in recent weeks, so the time is clearly ripe for some guerilla eating. Based at a large Victorian villa in Pollokshields, artist Hilary Nicoll is running the Glasgow Guerrilla Supper Club on the last Saturday of every month, offering restaurant style service in a private setting for a dozen or so diners. There might be many other underground restaurants operating in Glasgow and Edinburgh, but it’s not easy to pin them down. Guerrilla marketing works in unconventional ways, after all. Try facebook, word of mouth, or give Hilary a call on 07805 346314.
■ Petra Wetzel, Managing Director of WEST, is sufficiently encouraged by the growing profile of local breweries in Scotland to suggest the formation of a Scottish Small Brewers Association. She managed to get representatives from around 45 breweries to Glasgow last month to discuss issues such as packaging, bottling and distribution. ‘There is strength in unity,’ Wetzel said, ‘and I’m convinced that, together, Scotland’s small brewers can raise the profile of our products amongst consumers internationally, to all our benefit.’ 18 Feb–4 Mar 2010 THE LIST 11