2012 Summary

OK I did go and eat out in 2012. But I posted a grand total of zero reviews.  Here is a very quick summary of some of the highlights (and lowlights). Writing it made me realise how quickly you forget details - so my New Years Resolution this year will be to write more (and promptly)!

The Cross at Kingussie  (September 2011) - Excellent

Strictly speaking this was the end of 2011 but I'll include it here anyway. So my husband gets a new job in England, necessitating working away from home during the week. He's still doing this ...  To say goodbye we decided to treat ourselves to a night at The Cross, with a final hill walk of the year squeezed in on the way back home to Edinburgh (still had to tick off some of the munroes at the Drumochter Pass).

We had a riverside room, which was excellent. Comfiest bed I've ever slept in. Bathroom was a bit old, but functional with a good shower and a bath.

We enjoyed the meal, but now 18 months on I can't remember what we ate but we had an exceptional bottle of Tiganello  (or 'Tig') at a reasonable price.  Deserving Scottish Wine List awards winners. This is largely moot as ownership and the chef have now changed (see my January 2013 blog post for an up to date review) but I wanted to record the fact that we had an excellent time.Good food, great wine, and the building itself was stunning.

Locanda de Gusti (Spring 2012) - Passable

This restaurant is situated at the bottom of Broughton Road. It now has 2 AA rosettes (although I think only 1 when we were there). Comparisons with the Horseshoe Inn at Eddlestone (also of old having 2 rosettes) show that quality can vary!  The food is nice and hearty, but nowhere near the heights the Horseshoe would reach.  Wine list was passable. The service, however, was absolutely stunning - no question too difficult to find out, nothing too much trouble.  In summary a nice restaurant to which we'll probably go back, but not a 'wow' restaurant.

Mithas (March 2012) - Avoid

OK so this is a cut and paste of my Trip Advisor review.  I am clearly at odds with many of the other reviewers though (or perhaps my 'fine dining' standards are higher than most people's ...). 

I've been twice now and can only conclude this is a conflicted restaurant. One half wants to serve good food and aspires to 'Fine Dining', the other half places the customer far from first, and comes with the service you would expect in any informal curry house,

On the first occasion myself and partner went for the special tasting menu. Absolutely delicious food, particularly the monkish, but there was far too much of it for us! When the full curry came at the end, we were beaten. Then came dessert. Could we skip that and have tea and coffee instead? Apparently the answer was 'No'. We were strongly encouraged to have dessert, and shared a sorbet. Then they came back and tried to sell us tea and coffee. Not impressed, but we didn't say anything as we didn't want to spoil what had been a nice meal.

A few weeks later we returned with family. Again the food couldn't be faulted - very good. This time though the waiters cleared the table whilst one diner was still eating the starter. When he attempted to do the same thing again at the main course we had to tell him to stop and come back when we were all finished.

Fine Dining comes with an expectation of good food, attention to detail, and placing the customer first. Mithas scores 1 out of 3 for me, and I won't be returning. It set my expectations very high and then failed to deliver. If I want a curry there are plenty other places I can go. If I want fine dining, ditto.

North Bridge Brasserie (September 2012) - Recommended

Another year, another wedding anniversary racked up. We came here for our meal this year. The food was really good, and there was plenty of it. Of particular note was my chocolate pithivier dessert (aka chocolate pie!). Wine was also good although I confess I cannot remember what we had to drink.

Koyama (December 2012) - Recommended

The pressure was on - where to go for a work Christmas night out?   Somehow I ended up being given the task of finding somewhere. Remembering a trip to Koi a few years ago I thought about Japanese (this also had the potential advantage of offering me a healthier option than curry or pizza!). A quick trawl through Trip Advisor seemed to suggest this place was fairly good. We met up at The Doctors pub fora drink first. Worringly the restaurant was looking very closed. By the time we wandered back for our table however it was fully open, and already had a few people eating.  Unfortunately for me, because I picked the place everyone assumed I knew how to order the food (this was not the case!). Happily we had at least 1 veteran Japanese food fan with us who guided us through what to order.   I started with Kara Age Chicken (lovely) and followed up with Teriyaki Beef - also very good although huge amounts of noodles.  Others were more adventurous with the sushi - all of which got great reviews.  So although it looks like a bit of a greasy spoon from the outside, the food is fantastic, the service was equally good, we all liked it, and best of all it came in under our budget!  Question is, will I now be expected to pick the next restaurant?  And where could it be???

Angels With Bagpipes (Autumn 2012) - Excellent!

I saved the best for last. I'd been hearing really good things about this restaurant, so when some friends wanted to go out for a meal this was one of the ones I suggested. To my delight they picked it!  The restaurant itself is like a tardis - a tiny entrance opening up to a long thin ground floor, with stairs down to a huge lower level. We immediately felt right at home - fantastic ambience - and having considered some G&Ts ended up ordering some prosecco to start with. Again the detail of the food escapes me, although I remember my smoked salmon starter. But I very clearly remember that all four of us had different starters and main courses, and all four of us were raving about our own food, whilst looking on in jealously at everyone else's!  A great restaurant to which I will definitely return - and often.  This is currently my favourite restaurant in Edinburgh.