Food&Drink News&Reviews
Richly spiced Mithas offers a variety of fresh dishes in stylish, fine dining surroundings. Stan Blackley tries out the tasting menu
SIDE DISHES NEWS TO NIBBLE ON
FREDERICK BERKMILLER and Betty Jourjon of L’escargot Bleu on Broughton
Street in Edinburgh are behind the re-establishment of a bistro in the French Institute on Randolph Crescent. It’ll be in full swing during August. Down in Leith, meanwhile, La Garrigue’s Jean-Michel Gauffre has taken over Daniel’s Bistro – it’s now La Garrigue Bistro.
STAND BY for the march of the chains into Edinburgh over the summer and autumn. Just
opening or on their way are Wagamama on Lothian Road, Yocoko Noodle Bar on South Bridge, high street Italian from Strada on Castle Street, and Jamie’s Italian in the Assembly Rooms on George Street.
ANOTHER EDINBURGH
NEWCOMER to St Andrew Square is a sister branch of Glasgow’s Amarone from the Di Maggio’s group, who recently transformed the venerable L’Ariosto on Mitchell Street into Barolo Grill. This swanky Italian offers a range of steaks from Simon Howie plus other speciality grills and, of course, pizzas and pastas.
Stylish venture from an Edinburgh institution Tandoor-side seats get unpleasantly hot
expect to get filled up for £35 a head. Like its predecessors, Mithas doesn’t sell alcohol but generously offers BYOB with no corkage for wine, and is connected by a glass door to the adjoining pub, Shebeen, which has a decent selection of draft beers and spirits.
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M ithas is the latest venture from the people behind Edinburgh institution Khushi’s. This isn’t just another new curry house, however. From the crisp white linen napkins that to the sea kelp are unfolded onto your lap, moisturiser dispensers in the bathrooms, this is clearly fine dining, with little expense spared on fitting out these new premises in swathes of luxurious marble, smoked glass and dark wood.
The menu takes a bit of getting used to as there are no conventional starter or main courses. Instead you’ll find a selection of meat, fish and vegetarian dishes, predominantly upmarket kebabs, designed to be shared, with each prepared to order from fresh and delivered to your table one at a time, somewhat like Indian tapas. A tasting menu for two showcases a selection of what’s available. Roasted aloo and tarka dhal are rich and buttery, while the grouper fish kebab from the charcoal grill is succulent and nicely spiced. The lamb sheekh kebab with cheese and saffron is a touch bland by comparison and chicken shami kebab of pan-fried minced chicken with soft cheese is also a little disappointing. That said, you don’t get long to linger over any one dish and the beautifully presented plates just keep on coming. Working your way through the tasting menu can take two and a half hours and can be very filling, but then you’d
22 THE LIST 21 Jul–4 Aug 2011
There are a few reminders of Mithas’ heritage, including a mural showing Edinburgh’s Khushi’s through the ages, but the management here are keen to distinguish Mithas from anything that’s gone before. Certainly, it is classier and much more expensive than its predecessors. Due to launch properly at the end of this month, the restaurant is already busy with an older, more well-to-do crowd. New innovations are promised for the menu in the coming weeks, making this a welcome and unusual new experience for regular diners.
MITHAS
7 Dock Place, Leith, Edinburgh 0131 554 0008, mithas.co.uk
Food served: Tue–Sun noon–2.30pm, 5.30–10pm. Closed Mon. Tasting menu: £34.95 (£29.95 vegetarian)
BAR CRAWLER 1901 1534 Pollokshaws Road, Glasgow
Something is happening on the QT in Glasgow’s Southside. New 1901 owner Graham Sutherland, who also has the Wise Monkey in the West End, has introduced a complete rethink, inside, outside and in the kitchen. The key ingredient is quality beer, into which category fall their real ales and selection of lagers and weiss beers from around the globe.