Most people save fine dining for special occasions. I’ll take any excuse.
It was my first time in Edinburgh and that was good enough for me. And I didn’t just do fine dining, I did it in style – no a la carte for me, I'll take the full tasting menu with matching wines thank you very much. At lunchtime. All by myself.
It was certainly an experience, and dining alone was a much more enjoyable experience than you might expect. Obviously, when I say that, I am taking as a prerequisite that you have a keen interest in food and that you, like me, would prioritise a few hours of flavour-filled fun over, say, a new iPod touch or that designer dress you have been coveting.
Martin Wishart is heralded as one of Scotland’s most innovative chefs, bringing Edinburgh its first Michelin star in 2001 and continuing to impress the critics each year with his blend of traditional and modern French cuisine using the finest and freshest Scottish produce. He opened Restaurant Martin Wishart with his wife, Celine, in 1999 and both the restaurant and his reputation have been growing ever since.
A beetroot macaron with horseradish cream (the first of many amuse bouche) set the tone. I am not usually a fan of savoury macarons but since beetroot is a sweet vegetable it worked really well in the meringue, with the salty, peppery horseradish cream bringing the savoury element and a great contrast.
The main menu began with Ox tongue and Norwegian stone crab with celeriac veloute. The crab was encased in a crispy golden basket weaved of thin strands of potato, which provided a pleasing textural contrast with the soft, delicate crab meat. The rich and gamey ox tongue worked wonderfully with the earthiness of the celeriac veloute. A square of dried seaweed turned out to be more than just a fanciful garnish, adding a real depth of flavour; umami-rich and salty, it helped to bring together the somewhat disparate elements of surf and turf.
Roasted Orkney Scallops and poached squid, winter cabbage and truffle cream was as wonderfully indulgent as it sounds – creamy, buttery sauces and scallops are always good together – and perfectly paired with a Wild Boy Chardonnay from Santa Barbara County. Oaky American chardonnays can be very rich and buttery themselves, so the sommelier had pitched this well with a slightly lighter, French-style chardonnay, silky smooth with hints of exotic fruit. I was so keen to get stuck in that I finished the dish before I realised I’d forgotten to photograph it.
The loin of borders roe deer, braised gem lettuce, goat’s cheese gnocchi and sauce grand veneur was what you might call the main course, in as much as it preceded the dessert, and for me it was the most harmonious dish. The deer was served rare and, unusually, quite delicate in flavour so well partnered with accompaniments which were understated yet elegant. The braised baby gem lettuce brought more in texture than flavour, while the goat’s cheese gnocchi was interesting in its own right – a crisp crust giving way to a smooth, creamy centre– but mild enough not to steal the show.
The only dish I wasn't keen on was the veal sweetbreads and langoustines with orange glazed chicory, sauternes and curry. It was all going so well until the curry; I thought as much when I read it and hoped the chef would prove me wrong. The orange glazed chicory brought both bitterness and sweetness to the dish, and worked really well with the plump, juicy langoustine and meaty sweetbreads. The curry sauce was ok with the sweetbreads, but as a whole it just didn’t come together.
I was stuck between the two desserts – the Valrhona dark chocolate cylinder and Guanaja chocolate cremeux with coffee ice cream or the poached Comice pears with caramel, hazelnut and praline. I am not really a chocolate person, but the poached pears just sounded like something I would make at home. In the end I reluctantly chose the chocolate cylinder, which was of course perfectly executed and beautifully presented … but still just a chocolate dessert for me.
More surprising was the fortified wine which came with the dessert; I don’t usually like them. Maybe I have just never had a good one because the N.V. Maury, 15 Year Prestige, Mas Amiel was beyond brilliant. Prunes and burnt sugar on the nose followed through with caramel and butterscotch and a nuttiness that, combined with the other elements, was reminiscent of peanut brittle. Perhaps the thing I most liked about it, though, was that a slight acidity meant that it was not too sweet. It took the edge off the rich, chocolatey dessert.
Petit fours, a selection of handmade chocolates, were on the house, but I did feel a bit miffed at being charged £5.95 for an espresso. Still, if you come for the 3 course lunch menu, which is what everyone else seemed to be having, it’s a steal at £28.50 with all the amuse included.
In this calibre of restaurant you expect the staff to be knowledgeable and eager to please, but had I not been alone, I think I would have found them a little over attentive. Also, the line between refined and poncey is a difficult one to tread and I’m afraid they did occasionally cross over; when I asked for a tissue to blow my nose the box was brought to me on a silver platter. No joke! It did make me giggle though.
I didn’t really look at the wine list, but the selection of matching wines indicate that the sommelier knows what he is doing. His passion and enthusiasm really shine when he explains the wine he has selected for each course on the tasting menu. Wines start at £25 and work their way up steadily through the hundreds, with a few four figure bottles dotted throughout.
I was farewelled by an enthusiastic and lengthy procession of waiters and waitresses that had all attended me at some point throughout the day. Yes, over the top, but the theatre of it all did leave me feeling warm and fuzzy inside. Or maybe that was the 6 glasses of wine? In any case I had a great time and to be able to say that of a meal spanning 3 hours spent almost entirely in my own company is as good a recommendation as any.
Restaurant Martin Wishart: 54 The Shore, Leith, Edinburgh, EH6 6RA; + 44 (0)131 553 3557
Tuesday to Friday: Lunch 12-2pm, Dinner 7-10pm; Saturday: Lunch 12-1.30pm, Dinner 7-10pm
Du Jour lunch (3 courses) £28.50; A la carte (3 courses) £65; Tasting menu (6 courses) £70