This title perhaps makes my life sound a bit more sophisticated than it is, but it is in fact a truism that at least 6 days out of 7, I eat my lunch in a restaurant. The figures are somewhat skewed by the fact that I work in a restaurant and get fed at the end of each lunch shift! However, there has been a sprinkling of other places I've visited that I feel I should group together as I can't really justify drawing out reviews of sandwiches!
At the end of summer, when I had been back in Edinburgh for about 2 weeks, I met a friend for lunch at Tigerlily, a very pink 'boutique hotel' on George Street is full of pretentious places for a certain type of person and despite my love of cocktails, I do not feel that I completely fit into this scene. As I am game for anything now, and I have to say, encouraged by my friend's money off voucher, we took our seats in a very large, but fairly empty dining area. The menu was small, and as I discovered when our food arrived - over priced. Had we not had the voucher, I would be asking which sparkly light or glass baubley bit I had just bought shares in! I have just looked at the 'Day Menu' that is on line at the moment and I do not think that the prices are the same as we (would have) paid - I can only blame the festival... To explain my moaning, I ordered a salad with halloumi, sun blush tomatoes and kalamata olives for £7.95. It duly arrived; a couple of thin slices of halloumi on a not so large pile of mixed leaves with a couple of olives, and a couple of tomatoes. Maybe I was spoilt by food like this being pretty much a staple in Brighton, but I think that this was a fairly expensive salad! It was lovely, don't get me wrong, I often have something similar at home, just on a slightly larger scale. I (thankfully) ordered a side of edamame beans with prosciutto; at £3.50, I also found it quite expensive - but divine! My friend who was slightly hung-over and in need of stodge (so perhaps in the wrong place) ordered a burger that I think was around the £9 mark. I don't know if it is just me but I have very strong feelings about 'high end' burgers. We all know that it is a burger, the waiting staff, the kitchen staff and most definately the person who ordered it. The rectangular platter, leaving the top off and putting the chips in a ceramic cup does not detract from the fact that it is a burger and chips! Fancy presentation can not be the only reason for the extreme prices, can it... If it was a huge burger and a generous portion of chips, perhaps the whole thing would have been easier to swallow! The glasses of Prosecco with a dash of rose liquor (serious amounts of pink in this place!) did, however, help us on our way!
When it has been my choice of lunch venue, I have opted for The Keniworth on Rose Street. There is no pretension in this venue at all, it is a traditional pub, selling traditional Scottish pub food and it won my heart due to the size of the chunks of cheese on the ploughman's! While up visiting, B and I happened upon it one afternoon and we were both very happy with our lot, it was difficult to choose, so we had to go back. I have been here a couple of times since I have moved up, including a Sunday lunch with Adam and co. All the food that I have had there, I have enjoyed, creamy and filling Cullen Skink and good old haggis, neeps and tatties - all reasonably priced. I think that amongst the millions of bars and restaurants on Rose Street, it is handy to have a tried and tested friend, and this really is the type of place I can imagine myself taking respite from the harsh Scottish winter! It will also be a wee gem when B's parents and grandparents visit.
There have been a few really nice Saturdays lately, and my shifts have worked out to allow B and I to spend the day together i.e. go for lunch. Urban Angel is another place suggested by Urban Spon and we had been wanting to go there for a while. The ethos of the company is all about organic produce, something that is very common in Brighton, but that does not appear to be so prevalent in Edinburgh. The menu offered a nice selection of healthy sounding meze style small plates and then sandwiches etc. The food was good, but again expensive. I had a falafel flatbread sandwich with raita and chilli jam for £8.95. No accompaniment, no chips, crisps, salad - not even a garnish. B had a sun blush tomato and goats cheese gallette, with a really nice quinoa salad. The food was tasty and nutritious, I may go back there in the future, but it was strange to pay so much for the novelty of something that used to be part of my everyday life down south. I also would make sure that I had a lot of time on my hands! I am new to the waiting profession, I do not claim to be the best, but the staff in Urban Angel were useless! There was a couple beside us who had to wait 20 minutes for a drink and there was a fair amount of waiting for us, including the worst kind: waiting for the bill! (I do have to say that I have also been to the deli and found this to be fantastic, especially the cucumber, apple and lemon juice!)
I always try to think about my experiences in restaurants, the good and the bad from waiting staff, and create a good experience for my customers, I hope that I achieve this most of the time! I also get to be a customer in Cafe Domenico on a daily basis. Having been there for 7 weeks now, I am working my way through the menu! I have had loads of the house favourite Spicy Sausage pasta, and by loads, I mean loads! This is the ready made take-away pasta and there are sometimes leftovers that just have to be eaten... All of the food that I have tasted has been fantastic. It is a testimony to the quality of the food that I have not yet had enough pasta to last me a lifetime! Adam, B, my mum, dad and aunty have all visited the restaurant and have loved it - and I do not think they are being biased as nightly I hear customers echoing their opinions. Last Friday, I got treated to Spaghetti Al Mare - a fabulous seafood dish, I would happily bankrupt the restaurant having this for lunch everyday.
My lunching has not always been so indulgent... B and I tried out in infamous Jimmy Chung's, a Chinese buffet restaurant that is almost an Edinburgh institution for whatever reason. Adam and I are not above our dirty food binges but I do not think that this place will satisfy! I would certainly be hesitant about returning to eat chicken 100 ways! It gets worse; after aiming for a pub lunch on Sunday after a walk around Arthur's Seat, B and I ended up in McDonalds. Enough said. Apart from - the Big Mac has seriously shrunk.
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