The Dickins Edinburgh Accommodation Blog

Dickins Lunch at Award Winning 'The Kitchin' in Edinburgh....!

The Dickins team enjoyed one of the most delicious lunches at The Kitchin last Friday. Awarded a Michelin Star in 2007 and recently receiving a five star review by AA Gill in The Sunday Times, The Kitchin is located at the Shore in Leith, Edinburgh.

The Restaurant opened in 2006 by husband and wife team Tom & Michaela Kitchin on Edinburgh’s stylish waterfront and is relaxed but welcoming with the food in clear focus.The passion of Tom and Michaela, Maitre d’ Philippe and their entire team shine through in what they deliver; quality and consistency.

We went for the 3 course set lunch menu for £24.50 which felt like great value considering the quality and taste of the food on offer. An appetiser of langoustine consomme was served followed by Louise having crab whilst Nicky and Gaby went for the lamb sweetbreads which were wrapped in pork belly and served with roasted garlic and a pea puree. Whilst Louise found the crab very light and delicate in taste, the sweetbreads which neither Nicky or Gaby had tried before were packed full of flavour and were simply delicious...!

For the main course, Nicky and Louise went for the whole partridge in a deliciously rich sauce served with locally sourced, seasonal vegetables and bread sauce on a bed of braised red cabbage. The partridge was a perfect example of Tom Kitchin's 'Nature to Plate' phenomenon where he is extremely passionate about 'seasonality' and using produce when it's naturally available. What was even nicer was being able to see Tom himself cooking in the Kitchen through the perspex glass which looks out into the restaurant. If there had been the option of second helpings, they definitely would have had more although room had to be saved for a dessert which everyone had caught a glimpse of as other diners received theirs. Gaby went for crispy red mullet fillets in served with a fine ratatouille of vegetables in a delicately chili flavoured sauce which were beautifully cooked and full of flavour.

Now for the piece de resistance which was the dessert. Although the apple tart looked appealing and the cheese board selection was vast, everyone went for the Pistachio souffle served with pistachio ice cream. Now, that was a dessert to be rivalled....! All three souffles looked almost too perfect to eat although within seconds, they were being demolished! Although pistachio souffle and pistachio ice cream may seem a little too much, the balance was perfect and the ice cream with little pieces of pistachio in it complimented the souffle beautifully...!

This fantastic lunch was accompanied by lovely staff who were attentive but not overly fussy. You could enjoy your meal and chat knowing that if you needed anything, someone would be there to see to you. The wine too was delicious and the restaurant Ssommelier was on hand to offer advice if required. If you really wanted to push the boat out on a Friday afternoon and wanted to start your weekend early, you could opt for the matched wine package at only £45, offering a glass of wine for each course including a welcoming glass of champagne before you even start...!

The Kitchin didn't disappoint, it was the perfect venue for a real treat at lunchtime and having looked at the evening menu which changes daily depending on what's locally available, going for a special dinner with family or friends would be just as good as lunch with maybe just a little extra glass of wine or two added in for good measure...! To top it all off, Tom was out on the restaurant floor towards the end of service chatting to what looked to be regular diners. The Kitchin is a restaurant for special occasions and rightfully deserves all awards received up until now...!

If you're from Edinburgh, are here on business or on holiday and staying in a Dickins self catering Edinburgh apartment , The Kitchin is only a short taxi or car journey from the City Centre. On a nice day, you can walk through Edinburgh's New Town into Stockbridge and then along the Water of Leith or perhaps make this journey on the way back to walk off your food...!

Whatever you do...don't miss a trip to The Kitchin, it's seriously a meal you'll not forget in a long time...!

Taste Edinburgh 28th to 31st May 09

If you love food, then why not head to Edinburgh from 28th to 31st May as we're celebrating the Taste Festival in its new location in Inverleith Park, next door to the Royal Botanic Gardens. Famous chefs like Jean-Christophe Novelli and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall are appearing as well as some of Edinburgh's own Michelin starred chefs like Tom Kitchin. If the sun is shining like it is today, then you'll be in for a treat.

The Edinburgh Marathon is taking place that weekend too and so you can support some of the 16,000 runners by giving them encouragement from the sidelines.

We still have a few Edinburgh self catering apartments left like a charming one bedroom holiday apartment with a garden at 20 West Scotland Street Lane which has a special offer for the week from 26th May of only £375 saving you £65 and this fantastic modern apartment with parking, two bedrooms and two bathrooms overlooking Arthur's Seat, so perfect for the marathon which is just £424 for the 3 nights. It's at Ann Terrace but get in touch as they're going fast.

Our Hot Tip of the Month

L'Escargot Bleu at 56 Broughton Street, 0131 557 1600 is a very welcome addition to the Edinburgh eating scene. On a recent visit we spied one of the chefs who was on a night off ordering a Cote de Boeuf and it looked so good we had to have one. A Cote de Boeuf at L'Escargot Bleu is a whole rib of the most fantastic beef and all four of us agreed it is the most delicious thing we've tasted in Edinburgh this year. It costs £39 and is so big that we shared one between four and felt there was plenty as we'd already tucked into some typically French starters including moules and frogs legs. We've been back and had the same again but have never had enough space for the cheese board which looks fabulous. The house wine is good and the atmosphere fun and French with giant posters, copper pans hanging around the kitchen and some clever lights. When we left the chefs were deep into some serious looking recipe books. This place is the real deal.

Long lunch venue guaranteed to beat the winter blues

Simon and I took advantage of a superb offer this weekend from the newly opened Bistro du Vin and Bar in the Edinburgh Hotel du Vin which opened in Bristo Place in December.

The deal is two courses, a bottle of house wine and coffee for 2 for £29. You need to print off a voucher which you can find at www.hotelduvin.com/2009 and mention it when you book. The deal lasts until the end of March for any lunch or dinner except for Saturday evening. We plumped for a long and as it turned out somewhat boozy, Saturday lunch. The hotel looks great. Set off the road with a cigar shack being built in the charming courtyard to satisfy the needs to smokers. We didn't see the bedrooms, but there are 47 of them. 

The lunch menu had many of the French bistro classics you'd expect to see and it was very good to know that they are sourcing a number of local ingredients such as Buccleuch beef and Linda Dick's chickens. We had a chicken liver parfait served with a fig jam and brioche and a mutton broth. Both were tasty and substantial. Then Simon had a steak hache served beautifully on a wooden board with a small copper pan of home made ketchup whilst I chose duck confit, partly as I had started the long process of making it for the first time and wanted to have tasted one to compare mine too. 

For us the star of the show was definitely Romain Audrerie who is in charge of the wine. Simon and I said that we'd never been served by such a knowledgable and charming person in the 14 years we've been eating out in Edinburgh and it turns out that his credentials are impeccable. He comes to Edinburgh from the Savoy Grill and seriously knows his stuff. Wine buffs should check out his comprehensive wine list and take up any suggestions he makes. We had a glass of 18 year old Calvados to finish, Romain's favourite, and it was superb. The rich taste still lingering 5 minutes after the last drop had been savoured.   

We walked home taking in the Henry Moore textiles exhibition at the Dovecot exhibition space on Infirmary Street. Both were inspirational new finds and well worth checking out. 

We've just taken on a sweet little attic flat just around the corner from Hotel Du Vin at 1 Forrest Hill and so if you are looking for an Edinburgh self catering holiday apartment in the very heart of the Old Town, take a look at our Self catering holiday apartment at 1 Forrest Hill . It's available from only £275 per week.

Happy lunching!   

Blonde, 75 St Leonards St, Edinburgh

Blonde restaurant, Edinburgh (75 St Leonards Street, EH8 9QR. Tel: 0131 668 2917) offers good quality, fresh produce and laid back atmosphere whilst being affordable. If you are looking for an informal dining experience where service is still second to none then this is your kind of place.

Gaby dined with fiance James last Saturday and was impressed by not only the food but the contemporary yet relaxed atmosphere that Blonde had to offer. They tucked into Spicy Chickpea Burger (£4.95) and Terrine of Chicken (£5.25) to start followed by Breast of Chicken Stuffed with Feta (£9.95) and Grilled Fillet of Trout with Black Pudding (at just £10.95). This was rounded off with a real homemade Banoffee Pie (£4.95) and Pistachio & Orange Bread & Butter Pudding (£4.95). This was all washed down with a nice bottle of Merlot (£10.90) but they have wines ranging from £9 up to £25.

Blonde is the kind of restaurant everyone would love to have on their doorstep so the locals in Southside must be over the moon at having somewhere that you can either swing by after work or book a 3 course meal on a Saturday night with your family or friends.

With reviews from Lonely Planet, Time Out and The Scotsman as well as us here at Dickins it can't be bad.

It really is true what Blonde says "good food needn't break the bank"!

The Dogs, Edinburgh

It's always a delight to find a new local restaurant near the Dickins office in Dundas Street, Edinburgh which feels individual, where the food is great and the service excellent and we've just found one at 110 Hanover Street, Edinburgh (0131 220 1208) called The Dogs.

David Ramsden of (Fitz)Henry and Rogue has paired things down here, serving up gastro pub style food with a twist in an elegant first floor bar/restaurant location in the centre of Edinburgh.

The decoration is quirky and fun with plenty of doggy references and the odd dog bowl, unmatching tables and chairs and great old fashioned crockery that makes you reminisce times gone by, as do some of the ingredients on the tasty menu such as mutton broth and boiled salt beef. Here David and his team are doing us a favour by reminding us just how delicious some of these cheaper cuts of meat can be. The Mutton Broth with root veg and pearl barley (£2.75) is fresh and clean and feels really nutritious. For mains the Fish, chips and mushy peas (£4.95) is the perfect size for lunch with chips cooked in dripping and really delicious crsipy batter on the fish. The sausages and lentils (£4.75) are also wholesome with tasty proper butchers sausages. And because the portions are perfect for lunch you may be able to treat yourself to a wonderful old fashioned pudding like Rhubarb and custard (£3.50) which inspired me to go home and cook up the same for my husband at the weekend.

The coffee is good and they do decaf. The crowd is eclectic and arty and we sat next to Richard Jobson who is in town making a movie, so word is out on the street that The Dogs is the place to eat so call before you drop in to make sure you'll get a table.

The Dogs has just won the The List Edinburgh Newcomer of the Year for Originality and Commitment award.

Louise Dickins 24/4/08