The Edinburgh Blog

Walking past eteaket on Edinburgh’s Frederick St several times, I have been intrigued by their clever branding and pretty styling. Recently boutique tea houses, like Morningside’s Loopy Lornas, and the very tradition of afternoon tea have undergone somewhat of a renaissance. I’ve always been partial to afternoon tea and the allure of enjoying this tradition in Edinburgh city centre proved too much this Saturday. With the rain splashing on eteaket’s outdoor seating, we soon found ourselves entering eteaket’s charming facade and obediently waiting by the “please wait here to be seated” sign.

It was no surprise to find eteaket extremely busy, especially with groups of women enjoying a respite from the shopping crowds. However, it was a surprise to see eteaket’s staff brush past us as if we were invisible. Had it not been for the sight of the delicious looking cakes, mini scones and chocolate brownies we would have taken our trade elsewhere long before we found ourselves walking towards the counter. Once there we were hardly greeted, but did have some menus pushed towards us, which we took as a sign to wait for a table.

A chirpier waitress shortly explained that a table would be free soon and 10 minutes later we were directed to the bright seats of the ‘lounge’. After the time we’d spent absorbing the grandeur and finish of the eteaket’s front room, the backroom gave the impression of economy class, against the first class of our waiting room. A range of sandwiches, light meals, teas and treats constitute eteaket’s menu, but we had eyes only for eteaket’s afternoon tea at £9.85 each. This offers a sandwich of your choice, scone with jam and creme and a small collection of mini cakes.

A few minutes after ordering the waitress came out to advise there were no New York deli sandwiches “made up” and did I want to reorder or wait an indeterminable period for my afternoon tea to arrive. Not appreciating the time consuming nature of placing pastrami, mustard and pickle between two slices of bread I stuck with my original choice, but agreed that one afternoon tea could be served before the other. Five minutes later our tea, complete with quirky hourglass timers to indicate optimum brew, arrived. Fifteen minutes later both afternoon teas arrived on a single cake stand.

The irritation at the almost nonchalant service and slowness to prepare a very simple product, was overcome somewhat by two deliciously fresh sandwiches, helped by the quite brilliant soft multigrain bread. The scones were excellent - light and obviously baked earlier in the day. All the mini cakes had their own merits, but the mini banoffees really were delicious and the chocolate brownies passed the Blog’s Brownie Barometer test. My “rare” tea, Oriental Oolong, carried a 40p supplement but it went down a treat, as did our other choice of second flush Darjeeling.

The great concept, colourful marketing, quality food and tea offerings make it clear why eteaket has become such a popular tea house in Edinburgh city centre, in such a short time. It’s just a shame the service failed to show the same panache as eteaket’s product.

eteaket is located at 41 Frederick Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1EP
Telephone: 0131 226 2982

Nobles bar, on Leith’s Constitution St, has recently reopened after a refurbishment. This represents Fuller Thomson’s first Edinburgh venture outside the confines of Ocean Terminal shopping centre - they already run Ocean Kitchen and Cafe Tiki. The interior of Nobles is absolutely stunning - the Edinburgh based Malcolm Fraser architects were responsible for the look, which expertly retains the best features of a traditional bar, but with sympathetic modern touches. The stained glass facade, the long bar and the wide open, airy space really make Nobles a good looker; infact our first words after stepping inside were “wow”.

First off Nobles was and still is a solid pub to enjoy drinks in. There is ample room to sit, whether on the modern bar stools or classic pub tables, or to stand around the bar and enjoy your favourite tipple. While attracting a new crowd with its recent evolution, it was refreshing to still see a good mix of locals around the bar who clearly hadn’t been isolated by the recent changes. We tried a glass of Nobles’ white rioja (£3.75) which was absolutely lovely. Despite Bellinis being available with Nobles’ hearty breakfast, it was disappointing the bar staff were unable to conjure this drink up at night time.

Nobles menu is fresh, interesting and eminently reasonably priced. For starter we shared a British asparagus, pea and basil risotto (£5.15) - this was a good effort, which was simply seasoned and allowed the fresh asparagus to do all the talking. My creme fraiche mash potato was sublime and just stole the show from the accompanying meat packed chicken and ham pie (£7.15), which itself was delicious. Our other main, beer battered haddock with chips and mushy peas (£7.95), was very good too - although the batter was perhaps a little too crisp in places.

If I can judge any item of food it’s chocolate brownies, which are a personal favourite of mine. This dessert was sensationally good - warm, crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside. The pleasure of Nobles’ chocolate brownie was over all too quickly though - a deeper/larger portion size would be appreciated on future visits! It’s worth noting that in general Nobles’ dishes are towards the light size, but (as usual) maybe that’s just me.

We left Nobles suitably impressed with not only the bar, but also the quality of food on offer. If this is what Fuller Thomson can do to traditional bars then we can only hope their Edinburgh empire expands even wider.

Nobles is located at 44a Constitution Street, Leith, Edinburgh, EH6 6RS.
Telephone: 0131 561 821

Crombie’s, the butcher on Edinburgh’s Broughton St, and Innis and Gunn, the Edinburgh brewer, are two favourites of the blog. Only last week I was throwing some of Crombie’s Innis and Gunn sausages on the barbecue, alongside some of their venison and wild boar sizzlers. For Father’s Day Crombie’s are running a promotion, which offers a free bottle of Innis and Gunn’s oak aged beer when you purchase four of their Innis and Gunn sausages on the 19th and 20th June.

The Innis & Gunn sausages exude the usual Crombie’s quality and have a high pork content of 70%. The addition of the beer gives the sausages a pleasing sweet caramel flavour. If you’ve never been introduced to Innis & Gunn beer, you’re missing out. Brewed in Edinburgh, it has deservedly won a string of awards - unsurprising given its unique toffee, vanilla and oak flavours. In a saturated market, Innis & Gunn offer a beer that is genuinely different.

The weather will determine the feasibility of a barbecue this weekend, but with or without good weather the Innis and Gunn sausages and beer are a great way to enjoy Sunday - a real treat for fathers everywhere. Don’t go overboard though - the beer is a whopping 6.6% abv!

Crombies is located at: 97-101 Broughton Street, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland, EH1 3RZ
Telephone: 0131 557 0111. The Pork and Edinburgh Ale Sausages are priced at £9.24 per kg.

The 2009 Edinburgh Festival Fringe will run from Friday 7th August to Monday 31st August. Tickets are on sale from Monday June 15th either online (edfringe.com), in person at the box office on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile or over the phone (0131 226 0000). Here The Edinburgh Blog takes a look at some key dates and picks out a few shows which should be worth seeing.

Given the holes in Princes St at the moment the organisers have sensibly moved the opening Edinburgh Festival Fringe cavalcade to Holyrood Park this year - it will be on the 9th August, 12pm - 4pm. The 2 for 1 show offer applies to shows on the 9th and 10th of August, although be aware a lot of the popular shows aren’t participating. For online and telephone bookings a 90p per ticket booking fee applies, which I think is a little cheeky given the farcical meltdown of the Fringe’s booking system last year!

The Festival Fringe programme is available to browse online or can be picked up at Fringe locations around Edinburgh or Waterstone’s book shops - I picked mine up from the branch on George St. The programme really is a monster to digest, but my initial picks were:

• Surely great comedy from comedians Jason Byrne, Adam Hills, Pete Firman and Alun Cochrane
• Daniel Kitson back with a stand up show at The Stand comedy club and the world premiere of his new play - ‘Interminable Suicide of Gregory Church’ - at The Traverse Theatre. In my opinion Kitson is the most talented and original comedian at the Fringe
• The UK premiere of ‘One man lord of the rings trilogy” from Charlie Ross - I was impressed by his equivalent Star Wars offering a couple of years ago
• Frank Skinner’s Credit Crunch Cabaret at The Assembly on George St.
• The return of Faulty Towers - The Dining Experience. This was an hilarious end to our Fringe last year.
• The reliable and beautiful Scottish Dance Theatre performing two different shows
• Denise van Outen singing and dancing in Basildon Blonde

There are also a large number of free festival fringe shows this year and many shows offering the fringe for a fiver. This is refreshing given the upward trend in ticket prices over the years. I’m planning on taking advantage of these cheaper offerings, which surely beat paying £16 a ticket to see Brendon Burns!

Feel free to share your Edinburgh Festival Fringe tips with the blog using the comments functionality or by e-mailing mailXtheedinburghblog.co.uk, where X is @.

Edinburgh certainly isn’t short of French restaurants, so earning press praise for French cuisine in Edinburgh is no mean feat. On the back of positive publicity the Edinburgh Blog’s lunch club headed to L’escargot Bleu on Broughton Street. Last year L’escargot Bleu wasn’t even open, but the loyal following this French bistro has already created is testament to the excellent job Betty Jourjon and Frederic Berkmiller - the couple behind the Grassmarket’s Petis Paris restaurant - have done.

L’escargot Bleu effortlessly portrays itself as a pleasant French Bistro and our nice window seat provided an elevated view away from the hustle and bustle of Broughton Street. Simple checked tablecloths, brass cooking utensils hanging from pot racks, quintessential French posters on the wall, waitresses who are chirpier speaking their native French all complete a virtual journey 900 miles south east of the spot.

There were only two lunch club members on this visit. The third turned up long after we’d ordered so had to be satisfied with a bottle of Peroni beer (straight from Italy!). Therefore this review is only two-thirds of our collective wisdom. Such wisdom was obviously in short supply when we read the advertisement outside L’escargot Bleu for a £7.90 lunch. It was only while drinking a very affable glass of house white wine and perusing the the blackboard menu that we realised it was £7.90 per main (with fairness towards our group the restaurant’s advertising could be clearer). Starters were all just under £5, while side dishes were just under £2. All in all not such a cheap lunch! L’escargot Bleu’s pricing structure is the same for lunch as early dinner, with their evening menu substantially more. I find this a little strange as I’d normally expect lunch to be the day’s cheapest offering.

Anyhow, with a busy afternoon planned, we ordered a couple of mains with a side dish of seasonal vegetables. I shunned the Buccleuch beef for French braised rabbit served with tomatoes. This was a fine dish, with plentiful meat and a good definition of flavour between the rabbit meat and tomato based sauce. The potatoes with my dish and the other lunch club member’s salmon (fish of the day) were lovely. The salmon was flavoursome and enriched well by mussels - these dishes clearly showed the quality ingredients sourced by L’escargot Bleu.

Our visit to L’escargot Bleu was a mere flirt with the solid and skilled French cooking on offer. It’s a restaurant I’m keen to try once more for a complete picture.

Here are the quotes from the lunch club members:

Quality French cooking in a pleasant environment

Delicious fresh food and a lovely setting

L’escargot Bleu is located at 56-56a Broughton St, Edinburgh, EH1 3SA
Telephone: 0131 557 1600

Artist Rooms, at the Edinburgh based Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, will form part of 18 exhibitions of Artist Rooms across Britain this Summer. Other sites include Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, Tate Modern and Tramway in Glasgow. All of the exhibitions are the result of remarkable generosity by British art dealer Anthony d’Offay, who partially donated 725 post-war and contemporary works from his collection to the National Galleries of Scotland and the Tate. The collection was valued at over £125 million, but d’Offay sold them for £26.5 million: the amount he spent acquiring them. Accordingly the Dean based Modern Art gallery, like all the other Artist Rooms’ hosts, makes no charge to visit the exhibition.

Francesca Woodman’s Artist Room provides an unsettling opening to the exhibit. Black and white self portraits of the artist build a heightened sense of fragility on the artist’s part. This eventually culminates in ‘Untitled’, which illustrates the fact Woodman took her own life at a young age as clear as the accompanying notes.

The use of charcoal, graphite and erasers is a simple concept which Vija Celmins uses to stunning affect when creating detailed images. Spider’s webs are accompanied by my personal favourite of stars in the night sky, which just beat the intricately etched waves of the sea. Yes, creating images in this way is a skill many crafts folk of the past mastered, but Celmins varied material has a quality and balance which catches the eye and imagination.

Andy Warhol’s Artist Room in Edinburgh is dedicated to his stitched photographs, including a couple of shots of Grace Jones. The emphasis though is on the mundane, every day scenes such as the self describing ‘No Parking’ or ‘Trash Cans’ - all of which I found rather endearing.

Ellen Gallagher’s work was, for myself personally, the least challenging. However this smaller Artist Room holds a wall full of ‘annotated’ pages from magazines aimed at African American women, which many will find interesting just for their historical footprint.

The introduction to Damien Hirst is ‘Away From the Flock’, which stands surreally in the centre of the first room dedicated to this British artist. ‘Away From the Flock’ was the first formaldehyde piece of art I’d seen from Hirst - I was captivated by the tranquility of the image, and the vibrant life which had been captured in this most real of three dimensional images. I certainly appreciated this more than the visitor who commented “Nice Lamb, shame it didn’t end up on my plate”!. Later the gigantic display of formaldehyde fish and the skeletons opposite, provided an impromptu game of ‘can you name the fish?’.

The majority of the Artist Rooms exhibit is dedicated to Hirst, with pharmacy themed items occupying much of the space. One of Hirst’s well-known spin paintings is present though. The drugs cabinet, pharmacy sign and medical cabinets run with the pharmaceutical theme. Some of you may remember the fixtures and fittings of Hirst’s pharmacy restaurant selling for £11 million at auction some time ago. While Woodman’s photographs explored the human fragility of life Hirst’s exhibit shows the same through our reliance on medical science and technology - I thought it a point very well made.

I was awestruck by the simple beauty of Alez Katz’s small paintings, particularly the landscapes, which were genuinely beautiful and the style of paintings I’d long to own myself. Katz’s room provided simple and serene imagery, heightened by its location just after the challenge of Hirst’s Artist Room. Saying that, Hirst had the last word with his pharmaceutical product posters along the exit corridor.

This is a prized exhibition for the city of Edinburgh and a flasgship display of the collection purchased from d’Offay. The six Artist Rooms in Edinburgh offer enough variety and intrigue to ensure everyone leaves the gallery with a spring in their step. Excellent.

Artist Rooms in Edinburgh is showing until the 8th November 2009. Daily 10am-5pm.

The Who’s historic album Quadrophenia, which illustrates the Mod culture of the mid 1960s, has spawned an iconic film and now 36 years later a Rock Opera. Fresh from its premiere in Plymouth and subsequent showing in Birmingham Quadrophenia has arrived in Edinburgh for a five night run at the Festival Theatre.

Quadrophenia is played out on stage through the eyes of Jimmy - unable to fit in with his dysfunctional family he rebels by immersing himself in the Mod scene of the Sixties. Despite the waning of the Mod movement, Jimmy refuses to let go - with a descent into lunacy the result. Unlike the film Jimmy is played on stage by four different actors, who simultaneously illustrate each quarter of his personality: romantic, tough guy, lunatic and hypocrite. The plot and which of Jimmys’ personalities are at play are often lucid, especially during a chaotic and high impact performance of ‘Doctor Jimmy’. Though at times spotting the personality or following the plot becomes more of a challenge. I recommend a brief recap of, or introduction to the story behind each song of the Quadrophenia double album before seeing this Rock Opera.

With music, lyrics and concept by Pete Townshend, the stage adaption has been well crafted by Jeff Young, John O’Hara and Tom Critchley. A large band justly bring Quadrophenia to life and deliver a mostly note perfect extended play of the album. At times though the power of the band somewhat dilutes the vocals, which are partially integral to understanding Jimmy’s journey. Standout performances are two different renditions of ‘Love Reign O’er Me’, firstly by ‘The Girl’ (Sydney Rae White) and latterly Jimmy The Romantic (Ryan O’Donnell). These prove compelling and emotive; boosting what is an already skilled, accomplished and hugely entertaining vocal performance by the whole cast.

The audience at the opening night of Quadrophenia in Edinburgh was a wide demographic - the masterpiece that is The Who’s Quadrophenia album and the timeless, familiar story of Jimmy should ensure Quadrophenia, like the original album, has a sell by date well past the 6 month tour. For the music alone Quadrophenia would be worth a watch, but thankfully a fitting Rock Opera has been created to run alongside the soundtrack.

Quadrophenia is showing at The Edinburgh Festival Theatre until the 30th May. Tickets are available via calling 0131 529 6000 or online. Check out the official website for details of the Quadrophenia, which includes runs at Glasgow, Aberdeen, Manchester and Liverpool.

The Bailie Bar is a traditional Scottish pub in every possible way. It is located in the basement on the corner of Stockbridge’s St Stephen St, so while accessible to the scores of Stockbridge residents who call the Bailie Bar their local, it’s also within walking distance of Edinburgh city centre. Lovingly unspoilt perfectly describes the Bailie Bar’s interior - low dark ceilings, island bar, red leather upholstery and no music or fruit machines. The Bailie Bar, which has been around in one form or another since the 1870s, has embraced sport though and is a very popular pub for watching live football in Stockbridge.

The attraction of the Bailie Bar for the drinker is beyond doubt - IPA, Caledonian 80 and regularly changing guest ales stand alongside Guinness, Tennents and Stella Artois. There’s also a solid selection of malt whiskys at the Bailie Bar, which are perfect for cold Scottish nights and when the Bailie Bar really does come into its own. The Bailie Bar is friendly and welcoming; a genuine place where pub banter is welcomed. We chose to visit on a beautifully sunny day though, so didn’t see much of the blue sky outside!

Towards the back of the Bailie Bar is an area used mainly for dining. The traditional ‘pub grub’ menu reads well, although when the specials menu is taken into account it’s so large that making a decision is difficult. My El Paso burger from the specials menu was as hearty and solid as the pub itself, but Crombie sausage and mash (£8.75) was a little disappointing due to the overcooked sausages and the viscous gravy swamping the dish. The lasagne was typical of what you’d find offered in a lot of pubs. Our other choice from the specials menu, a triple decker club sandwich (£6.95), was humongous and good value.

While the food was fine enough, it’s really a case of the pub making the food an attractive proposition, rather than the food making the pub an attractive proposition. I fully recommend enjoying drinks at the Bailie Bar and soaking up the atmosphere. If you’re after food the Bailie Bar won’t excel, but it probably won’t disappoint either.

The Bailie Bar is located at 2 - 4 St. Stephen Street, Edinburgh, EH3 5AL
Telephone: 0131 225 4673

Another Friday and another outing for The Edinburgh Blog’s Lunch Club. After hearing positive reviews from friends who had enjoyed the tapas at Dionika in Canonmills, we headed to this established restaurant for lunch. Apparently fish is the speciality of Dionika; infact it was this which inspired the owner to bring his Spanish roots to Scotland. Three courses including a glass of wine for just £7.50 makes Dionika a very attractive proposition on paper. However, despite the popular Friday lunch spot we were the only group in the restaurant until another couple of tables arrived towards 1pm. Inside Dionika is a rather charming and simple restaurant with a delicatessen area to one side and the restaurant area to the other.

There can be no complaints about the size of the glass of wine we received, although its contents would certainly win no awards! The £7.50 lunch deal offers a choice between two soup starters, two mains (fish or chicken wings) and two desserts. My light starter of mussel soup was tasty stuff, while the vegetable soup drew no complaints from its recipients.

We all chose the plaice fillets, but agreed to cod as a substitute. Dionika seemed to have trouble matching the written menu to the delivered food - a solitary slice of cod constituted the fillets and, strawberries and ice cream for dessert actually meant ice cream with a gooey strawberry sauce squirted all over. Anyhow, all three mouthfuls of the cod were lovely and the chips were good - but with portion sizes this small, it really should be advertised as a ‘light lunch’.

There’s little else I can say about the ’strawberries’ and ice cream - except ‘change your menu’. My creme caramel flavours were a little too intense. The food showed some promise, but Dionika are perhaps trying too hard to fit the food to the £7.50 price tag. On this evidence alone I wouldn’t rush to Dionika for dinner.

Lunch certainly wasn’t a quick affair. In the end we worked out the total cost (3 x £7.50 wasn’t too difficult!) and paid before receiving the bill. I’d hope the speed and attentiveness of service would improve for dinner, otherwise it will be a long night.

The final quotes, as ever, go to the Lunch Club members:

The only thing substantial was the vino!

Lovely setting and food, unfortunately no atmosphere and portions too light

Competent cooking, but too light a lunch!

Dionika is located at 3-6 Canonmills Bridge, Canonmills, Edinburgh, EH3 5LF
Telephone: 0131 652 3993

In the 1980s television favourites such as Bread, Brookside, Wish You Were Here and Rainbow adorned our television sets. I imagine Italian food similar to which the Bellini restaurant served for our third lunch club outing would, for some reason, have been acceptable back then. Like our TV choices Italian restaurants in Britain have evolved somewhat over the years. Unfortunately it appears the proprietors of Edinburgh’s Bellini either didn’t notice or weren’t told.

The website for Bellini proclaims that restaurant Bellini is no more - it is now a Bistro. Is this a serious attempt by the owners to bring Bellini kicking and screaming into the 21st century? Not judging by our evidence. I imagine 10 years ago lunch or dinner at Bellini, on Edinburgh’s Abercromby Place, would have been quite a treat. The dining room would have seemed grandiose and the separate bar somewhat impressive. Fast forward a decade and Bellini Bistro are offering a two course lunch for £5, which even at that price isn’t worth the money. The interior looks dark and dated - we had to pull up the window blind to let some much needed light in. For the £5 Friday lunch we were the only group in the large restaurant until two more tables joined a hour later.

The balsamic dressed salad for starter looked as though the contents of a vegetable patch had been uprooted, washed and dropped on a plate. Chunky most kindly sums it up. Our other two starters - Bellini’s bruschetta topped with tomatoes - should not be a problem for any kitchen, but the bread was soggy and it had an uncomfortable taste.

Barely cooked slices of potato, hard and dry chicken, and, a few chunks of pepper defined my main of chicken casserole. I think my mind has made a genuine attempt to hide the garlic inflicted trauma - it was over 24 hours after enduring this dish before the taste finally abated. The two pasta dishes were nothing to celebrate: pasta piccante (tomato sauce) was as bland as it reads, while the cream was overwhelming in the pasta with ham. This certainly was not the finest advert for Italian dining.

The bill predictably came hand written and with mints. The name may have changed and the website may have been updated, but on the basis of our lunch club visit Bellini needs the changes to run a whole lot deeper before it’s a viable contender in Edinburgh’s congested Italian dining repertoire.

Quotes from the lunch club members below:

Dark and dingy with food from an era thankfully long gone.

Exceptionally quiet, plain, good value, but definitely beatable Italian

Plain uninspiring food and surroundings

Bellini Bistro is located at 8b Abercromby Place, Edinburgh,EH3 6LB
Telephone: 0131 476 2602