Electric Circus and Le Sept

I went out for a friends hen night.  I would like to say that I am the type of person that usually avoids such occasions, but I realised - this is the first I've been invited to, therefore, 100% attendance! After a rather short stint of playing Cinderella in the restaurant, I was allowed to go to the ball, well, to a karaoke bar.  Electric Circus is a place that, I have to admit, I would never have entered off my own back - mainly due to the afore mentioned karaoke.  It is weird that I have no idea of the reputations of the clubs and pubs in Edinburgh anymore.  If I say I like somewhere I could be committing a massive social faux pas - but then Adam will not know either, so to hell with it!  My name is Nicola Pym and I like Electric Circus.  I do not like karaoke, but as these people are kept segregated, much like the smokers, everyone's health is protected!  There is some live cabaret, and a good mix of music (indie included) and I really wanted to dance!  This opinion was formed on a very brief visit, but I would like to go back soon.  The staff deserve a special mention as they are amazing!  The hen night hit a 'snag' and they were really helpful, nice and supportive.  This is certainly not the norm in my experience of the majority of club/pub staff!  However, this is maybe more a comment on the type of establishments I frequent...  (The night ended in my darling Citrus Club, swigging Red Stripe from the can and moshing with sweaty men!)

On the note of Electric Circus being a slightly more upmarket venue, they make a fabulous Old Fashioned!  A perfection that is hard to find, especially in this type of place, when it can take up to 5 minutes to make.  The perfect blend of sweet and bitter and finished of with the crowning glory of a cocktail cherry - perhaps not the purists choice of garnish - but... lets put it this way I have an obsession with all things cherry related!  I will however, draw the line at having a cherry on my Guiness - however, I drink my Guiness through a straw so a cherry probably wouldn't bother me - hey - throw on an umbrella too!  Lets party!

So, from one celebration to another: B's birthday.  Believe it or not, we didn't go for Mexican!  Le Sept was suggested by the Urban Spoon app on my phone, and although it wasn't my birthday, I was paying and, damn it, I wanted snails!  It was a departure from the usual night of carnage at the Pav Tav (a first floor hole in Brighton) expected of a birthday, but I think B had a good time.  We learned from our experiences with reviews regarding Garibaldi, so we approached the restaurant with no further expections than those formed from a look at the menu.  Thankfully we had booked, as despite it being a Sunday - it was packed.  The poor staff (my brethren!) were rushed off their feet, but remained upbeat at all times, and ok, we had to ask for the dessert menu a few times but it just allowed us to digest our mains.  There is nothing worse than having your plate cleared with one hand and the dessert menu thrust upon you with the other.  The decor was simple but accessorised with French photographs and posters, which gave the restaurant a nice casual feel and the busyness gave a great buzz.

I didn't look at the wine menu as B and I arrived a few minutes later than my compulsively punctual parents.  The only wine dilemma I had to face was white or red; mum or dad!  Red was the order of the day, so dad and I had a bottle between us of the house - which was very nice, and mum had a half bottle of white, (again house!) which seemed to keep her happy.  We were all able to ponder the menu for enough time to feel that we had chosen wisely.  I had the escargots that I had been craving for a week!  For my main course I had rabbit in white wine with dauphinoise potatoes - which, yeah is me!, the waiter complemented me on my choice of meal for being "very French"!  Dad and B had the baked camembert and then beef daube and steak respectively.  Mum had a crepe with ham and cheese followed by a rack of lamb.  At this point I would like to point out that I could again see the microwave in the kitchen, however, there is no way that my mum's perfectly pink lamb and B's steak were 'zapped'.

Anthony Bourdain once travelled the world in search of the perfect meal, and rightly pointed out that it is not always exclusively to do with the food.  I agree, ok, really bad food is going to sour the occasion, but a perfect meal (and I am not holding Le Sept in quite such high esteem) has a lot to do with the company.  (Equally I am not quite putting my parents on that pedestal!)  There were imperfections with the service, due to the busyness, but when the conversation and the wine are flowing it doesn't always matter.  The food was good and I have to say that I really enjoyed my overall experience at Le Sept, and I think that goes unanimously.

I think that this would definitely be a contender for a meal with some visitors.  It is French without the stuffy-ness that often accompanies a French restaurant.  It may perhaps stray slightly from being truly authentic - but who cares?  Not Adam, he was so poor during his stint in Paris that the closest he got to the French culinary experience was the Kronenburg that we had with our Big Macs!  Also, I would like to point out that B was not denied his Mexican fix on his actual birthday, as we had a Mexican take-away.  So I am a well behaved girlfriend after all!

International Starters

Mum is fussy about her food, nothing too spicy (Indian food makes her drunk apparently!) Dad and I will literally eat anything and everything and B, as always, was on a quest for nachos...  Where better than International Starters.  The usual truism of 'Jack of all trades, master of none' need not apply to here, and lets face it - where else can you indulge in crisps from around the world (tortila chips, popadoms, prawn crackers) and call it dinner?!  There are many different styles of Tapas restaurants around these days; I read an article once acusing owners of using it as a trick to get more money from the customers.  Perhaps we do spend more than we would normally, and invariably there is always too much food as the last dish turns up to polite smiles and stifled groans.  But, I personally enjoy tasting lots of different dishes - order unwisely in a normal restaurant and you are stuck, at least here you are almost guarenteed to leave with a smile and a stuffed tummy! 

I have been here to International Starters a few times before and I have enjoyed it everytime.  My particular favourite dish is the crispy haggis parcels, these are served hot with a whisky and mustard sauce that just works so well and adds just the right amount of sweet to the intense savoury of the haggis.  I could eat solely from the Scottish section of the menu and be a happy girl; prawns and mussels and salmon, oh my!  The Americas, Mediteranian and Asian sections offer up sooo many delights - it is difficult to choose.  Lets not even get started on the platters for sharing, they could cause a family feud - well Dad and I would certaily
fight over the scallops au gratin!  I am looking at the menu now online and I am very nearly making my way down there...  However the recipes are available on the website for some of the more popular dishes - a fantastically confident and friendly touch, so I may have a go at making my own 'Goan Discovery'!

As much as I like this restaurant, I think that it is one that should be saved for large groups; for those true family moments. (Simply to make sure that you get a taste of everything on the menu!)  It is a fantastic concept, and it is not over complicated by the setting, which is simple and fuss free.  As a night out destination though, it is a wee bit out of the way as it is not in the centre of Edinburgh.  But, I am still getting to know the North-East side of the city, and Leith still remains practically unknown to me.  Maybe if Adam has an early train to catch the next day and we fancied a quieter night... or a pub crawl on the way home! 

Garibaldi

Lets face it, most restaurants use microwaves. (I hesitate to say 'all' as I still have some faith!) But going to a restaurant is like watching a play, there has to be a suspension of disbelief for the illusion to be created and the experience to be fully enjoyed. I love the 'theatre' created by kitchens that are open for the diners to view. For me, it gives me a glimpse of the professional kitchen I long to work in, and gives me faith in the hygiene practises as they are there on display. However, the other night in Garaboldi, when the waiter said our mains wouldn't be long, I could verify this fact by looking at the microwave timer! If I wanted a microwave meal (which NEVER do!) I would have stayed at home. (Or gone to my mums!)
So another Monday, another internet browsing session! B and I both love our Mexican food, B especially! A big consideration in our move was the number of Mexicans restaurants in Edinburgh - a massive step up from the choice of 1 in Brighton!  I have visited many of the ones in Edinburgh over the years and I have decided I prefer Viva Mexico on Cockburn Street, so when we came across a review of Garibaldi which compared it favourably with it - I was hopeful.  There were lots of reviews mentioning good, authentic food and fabulous cocktails - perfect!  In the back of my mind was the one bad review - "avoid at all costs" - everywhere has at least one poor review though, a girl could go hungry looking for somewhere with a perfect record! Oh how I wish I had taken heed!

As promised by the bad review, we were met by a pungent smell of detergent - there is a fine line between clean and toilet!  But, Garibaldi is also a club, so I suppose the over-powering smell of clean is better than stale sweat, beer and vomit!  The seats are covered in a bright and Mexican looking fabric - which is covered with 'authentic' plastic, obviously to protect from the afore mentioned sweat, beer and vomit!  You know what, I am not a snob - I can accept practicality in multi-purpose venues, and I kind of feel bad laying into it in such a big way BUT there were 'bacon bits' on my stuffed potato skins.  This is unacceptable!  If you say bacon on the menu - I expect the bacon to be meat based and not a fake 'salad sprinkle' substitute!  They could have used bits of Frazzles - at least they would have tasted better!  So starter done, the waiter came to clear our table... well not quite!  We were asked to keep our dirty cutlery, apparently a "French thing", well not to my knowledge, and even if it is, we are in a Mexican restaurant in Scotland sooooo.......???!!!

Our mains were fine, standard tex-mex cheesey, tomatoey tortilla based stuff.  B's was a tad on the small side, so being the fabulous person that I am - I shared! (Perhaps that is more of a comment on the food than me!)  We didn't hang around long enough to find out if we were expected to use our knife and fork again for dessert, and in all we were in and out in under an hour!  Oh the table turning powers of microwave cooking - although with just one other table in use - I can't see that being of any benefit!  It wasn't even worth hanging around for the cocktails - they had a extensive collection of spirits - but the cocktail menu was full of gimiky drinks served in one-size fits all glasses and garnished garishly! This translates as no Old Fashioned! Oh well.

This restaurant does not have its own website, so therefore it is not directly responsible for the claims of greatness and authenticity.  I do not understand why there are some who rate this restaurant so highly!  I am not an expert of Mexican cuisine, but I think I know the difference between a Mexican restaurant serving chervice and other seafood dishes; meat dishes and refried beans that still have the texture of beans and a tex-mex restaurant serving microwaved fast food!  The clue to the authenticity is there in the the name of the restaurant: 'Garibaldi', the famous Italian milatry and political figure, or the small flat biscuit with raisins, which I will be eating instead of dinner the night I am ever asked to return to this place!

We all have a bad restaurant experience at some point - one thing that I am thankful for is that they only help to increase the appreciation of the good experiences!  For some reason though, Adam and I have poor luck when it comes to Mexicans - I think that I will play it safe with him and go to Viva Mexico!

The Voodoo Rooms

First and foremost I suppose I must admit this is an exercise in vanity. I aim to search out wonderful and good value places to eat fantastic food and drink well mixed cocktails and then write about my experiences - which assumes that there are people who want to read about my opinion on this subject!

As this is my first post, I will flatter my vanity further and explain a bit about myself... I love to eat out and I enjoy going for cocktails - but dont get me wrong - I am not a high flying rich girl! While in Brighton I was a manager of a small high street store, but I have since decided that I want to follow a life in the catering industry. Through a friend I have found myself working in a lovely Italian deli/ restaurant in Leith. I have absolutely no waitressing experience - so I am learning as I go! I would like to take this opportunity to take my hat off to all waiting staff who never get enough respect - it is a hard job! It is really difficult to remember everything, and to make sure that you have enough information to answer all the questions that customers throw at you!

So, this is coming towards the end of my first 4 weeks back in Edinburgh. I am loving being in my home city and I am just about settling down. My boyfriend, B, and I have managed to get out and about a wee bit, but I am finding it difficult to break out of my comfort zone of the usual suspects that I have frequented throughout my visits to my parents.

Last Monday night was spent infront of the laptop trying to find somewhere different to go - but it is ALWAYS a gamble. What is it that makes us take that chance? I certainly dont know, but I have to admit that along with a huge amount of hunger and a loss of pateince; I was swayed by the design of a randomly found website! B and I found ourselves eating in The Voodoo Rooms on West Register Street. The menu is varied and the prices seemed reasonable - plus they do cocktails! The decor of the place is fabulously gothic and styled, and the clientel pleasantly mixed. We sat in the dining room and shared a platter with various bits and bobs including a fabulous goats cheese crostini and a yummy garlic and chilli mayo for the chips.  Without fail, B had the most Mexican orientated meal from the specials board.  I had an Italian sausage, bean and olive stew, which was very flavoursome.  The portions were on the small side, and the prices high for them, but larger portions would mean our bill would have been larger too!  We were able to access a bit of style for a price we were willing to pay and left nicely full but not bloated.

The cocktail menu was fairly extensive but without the usual suspects - no Old Fashioned!  I had a drink with the word cherry in the name and thought I'd be into a sure thing... hmmm.  The most questionable concoction has to be Irn Bru and Campari - someone must like it for it to make it onto the menu!  The tap water was served as standard and was flavoured with mint and cucumber, it was lovely and refreshing. (Yes, I am this excited about tap water!) 

I would visit here again for drinks (despite the mark-up, I may even order the Space Raiders from the bar snack menu) but I dont think that I would eat here again.  Not that there is anything wrong with the food it is just that I was not blown away and there was no stand out dish that I will crave.  The Voodoo Rooms is somewhere that looks good, and will be an interesting place to take my friends from Brighton and London, but there is perhaps only a wee step up from Frankensteins!

Well I guess all that is left to do is to press publish, which I am a bit nervous about!