As our taxi parks up in a residential street, the first thing I have to ask the driver is: “Where is The Stockbridge Restaurant?” But this is not a negative. The Stockbridge Restaurant, situated in the bohemian area of Stockbridge – in Edinburgh’s New Town – is hidden from view down a steep flight of town house steps, in the basement of a Georgian building.
We are the first guests to arrive at 7 pm on a Friday evening in November. Our waitress – an elegant young woman with a European accent – takes our coats and seats us at a table for two in a cosy corner of this room. There is a big table to our right that is set for a party of ten and six other tables positioned intimately in this space, which is more like a friend’s dining room than a restaurant.
There are black painted stonewalls decorated with mirrors; paintings by Scottish colourists; and purple patterned black out curtains along the street facing wall. The small bar, to the rear of this dining room, is made up of wooden shelves that are stacked with a variety of Scottish Gins to include Boe, Hendricks, The Botanist, Old Raj and Edinburgh Gin. But the most charming parts of this interior are the linen covered tables, with linen napkins and gold damask chairs, as well as the old fireplace filled with glowing candles and a cascade of white melted candle wax.
Chive and Chervil Pesto
To help us settle in, we are given a wine and drinks list, as well as a basket of toasted bread. The bread is cut into triangles and there are three varieties to choose from – white, brown and black olive bread. To show us that The Stockbridge Restaurant is a little more unusual than many Edinburgh dining establishments, we are given the traditional choice of toast topping (a small ceramic pot filled with butter) and an original offering. In a small ceramic pouring pot is a runny grass green liquid that we are told contains a homemade chive and chervil pesto.
My mum orders two large glasses of white wine for us – one glass of the Stoney Range Sauvignon Blanc from Sherwood Estate in New Zealand and one glass of the Santa Rosa Viognier from Argentina – while I pour this chive and chervil pesto over a triangle of black olive bread.
This combination reminds me of a lovely spring day and I quickly pour more pesto onto a second triangle of bread.
Set Menu or A La Carte Menu
Our waitress gives us a choice of two menus. There is a Set Menu available from Tuesday to Friday, which offers two courses for £20.95 or three courses for £24.95. Or, there is the A La Carte Menu available from 7 pm between Tuesday and Saturday. After having a quick scan over both menus, we decide on the A la Carte Menu – the more imaginative of the two.
There are five starters to choose from and all are priced at £7.95 except for the seared scallops with butternut squash puree, apple salsa, walnuts and Serrano ham, which is advertised at £12.45. There are two meat dishes, two fish dishes and one cheese dish to choose from.
The braised ox cheeks tempt me… but I decide to have an evening of game dishes instead – since we are now into November and the Scottish grouse, partridge, pheasant and hind season is in full swing. Jason Gallagher, Chef and Owner, sources all his game meat from Braehead Foods in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire (http://www.braeheadfoods.co.uk/).
I order the partridge breast and confit leg with leek puree, wild mushrooms and Madeira sauce to start and my mum picks the trio of cheese: goats cheese fondant with beetroot puree, blue cheese soufflé and cheddar cheese sausage.
The five maincourses on offer (two fish dishes and three game dishes) start at £20.95 and rise to £24.95 for the grouse and venison options. My mum orders the grilled halibut while I order the venison loin with venison pie.
The imagination that has gone into this selection of maincourses is superb, especially if you love game. But, if I had to highlight something, I would say that the maincourses might be off-putting to a vegetarian – especially as one of the two fish dishes is served with crispy pancetta. Not all vegetarians eat fish, so it would be good to offer a 100% vegetarian option on the A La Carte maincourse menu – similar to what the chef has already done with the starter menu.
Amuse Bouche
To our surprise, two small square dishes are placed in front of us containing an amuse bouche (The French term, ‘amuse bouche’ means a tiny portion of food served before the starter to stimulate the appetite).
The dish looks more Japanese than French though – probably due to the colour of the small square dish, which is black. But, it’s a cute idea.
Everything is in miniature. Sitting on top of a tiny rectangular sized piece of Parma ham is half a cherry tomato filled with tiny mozzarella cubes and sliced spring onions. This miniature wonder is finished off with a drizzle of balsamic glaze and a sprig of parsley.
In two bites, it is gone. But it leaves a lovely fresh taste in my mouth and has done what it is meant to do – it has whetted my appetite.
Starters
My mum and I both smile as our starters are laid in front of us. This is not what we were expecting at all – but in the best of ways.
My partridge breast and confit leg rest on a bed of vibrant green, the leek puree, and are surrounded by an assortment of wild mushrooms oozing with Madeira sauce. A small bouquet of parsley adds the finishing touch to this dish.
Even though I am mesmerised by the presentation of my mums starter, I cannot wait to start my own and end up trying a few bites of partridge and mushroom before we both clink glasses and toast the beginning of our meal.
To say the partridge is tender would be an understatement – the meat breaks off the confit leg at the lightest touch and the pink breast is cooked to perfection. The whole starter works very well and I can’t help thinking that this would be an achievable dish to cook at home. It’s a simple and traditional pairing of ingredients, cooked and presented in a modern fine dining style.
But the winner for best presentation must go to my mum’s starter: the trio of cheeses. The three different cheese dishes are presented side by side on a rectangular white plate – and they are all in miniature.
A small cheddar cheese sausage, which looks like a potato croquette, sits in the centre of a red circle of chilli sauce to the left. The goat’s cheese fondant rests on a brush stroke of beetroot puree and has three homemade savoury wafers rising like candles from its centre. And, lastly, the blue cheese soufflé has a dab of blue cheese sauce on top. This artistic presentation is interwoven with basil leaves still attached to their stem.
Sorbet
Just to remind us that we are in a fine dining establishment, our waitress brings us two small square dishes, each containing one scoop of homemade passionfruit sorbet, to suck slowly before the maincourse. The amuse bouche and the sorbet have been a welcome surprise – and they have transformed our three course meal into a five course meal.
Maincourses
The sorbet has cleansed our palate in preparation for the maincourse. This time it is my choice that wins the best presentation award.
My mum’s grilled halibut sits on a bed of crispy pancetta and crushed potatoes that are surrounded by spinach, mushrooms and an Arran mustard sauce. The fried quail egg rests to the side of this piece of halibut and is decorated with parsley. It looks appetising and it tastes very good, but it melts into insignificance next to my venison loin with venison pie – this presentation and combination is the best I have seen anywhere, including some famous London restaurants.
I took the chefs advice and had the venison loin cooked medium rare and it looks perfect, resting in a fan shape on top of the parsnip puree and surrounded by braised red cabbage, roasted vegetables, balls of piped mash potato and just enough port sauce.
But the pièce de résistanceis the venison pie, which comes in a ramekin with two rustic savoury wafers rising out of the mashed potato topping like deer antlers. In short, it is absolutely delicious. Everything on the plate compliments each other, from the sweet flavours of the parsnips and red cabbage to the very rustic flavours of the meat and plain potato mash.
Desserts
Eager not to miss our train home, we deliberate on whether to have desserts – as they can take between 20 to 30 minutes to prepare. But, after being assured by the host and co-owner of The Stockbridge Restaurant, Jane Walker (wife of Jason Gallagher) that she will put in a special request with the kitchen to make sure that our desserts come as quickly as possible, we order the chocolate brulee with chocolate brownie and the banana tart tatin.
Jane has just arrived in the restaurant. The locals eat here late and it’s only now, at just after 8.30 pm, that the dining room has become lively and full.
“We are often here until after midnight,” Jane says. “A lot of our customers don’t start eating their maincourses until after 10 pm.”
Banana tart tatin and Chocolate brulee
This time, both of our desserts win the best presentation award. My mum’s banana tart tatin is presented in the centre of a square white plate. To the right is a small pouring pot of butterscotch sauce and to the left is a neat scoop of vanilla ice cream. It’s a very minimalist looking dessert that has big chunks of banana in it. My mum assures me it tastes as good as it looks – and we are told that this dessert is the most popular.
My chocolate brulee is presented in a shot glass. There is one scoop of milk chocolate ice cream to the right of this brulee and a small, rectangular chunk of chocolate brownie to the left. The brownie is surrounded by two piped clusters of white chocolate mousse, which look like meringues. It is the first time that I have tasted chocolate brulee and it will not be my last. The combination of burnt sugar topping and creamy chocolate brulee is heavenly.
Coffee and Petit Fours
We finish our meal with an Americano and a cafe latte, served with homemade petit fours – two chunks of rocky road cake, two strips of chocolate chip biscotti and two after eight circles. It’s a nice final touch to this five course feast and, needles to say, the petit fours do not last as long as the coffee.
I don’t like to use the words perfect or amazing in my restaurant reviews because restaurants are like people – they are full of flaws if you look hard enough. But, I like to focus on the positives and not the negatives because I know how hard it is to make restaurants work – both my parents are restaurateurs.
So, to give credit where credit is due, I can honestly say that The Stockbridge Restaurant is as near to perfect as any restaurant can hope to be. The location is safe and interesting – and only a ten to fifteen minute walk from Edinburgh’s famous Princes street and Royal Mile. The architecture is beautiful and the dining room is intimate. The décor sets the scene for an evening of indulgence and relaxation and the staff are eager to please without being intrusive. The extensive list of Scottish Gins on offer is a nice touch. The chef has excellent presentation skills and the food is a work of art whilst also tasting homely. The local produce and seasonal dishes make you feel proud to be Scottish and the end of evening bill will not make you feel guilty or shocked.
I give The Stockbridge Restaurant 9 out of 10. And, if they added a 100% vegetarian course to the A La Carte maincourse menu and fixed the left hand toilet door in the Ladies, I would give it 10 out of 10. This restaurant is as good as it gets and is not to be missed on your next night out in Edinburgh. It’s a family run restaurant for locals and tourists alike.
Our bill:
1 x 250 ml glass of Viognier £7.75
1 x 250 ml glass of Sauvignon Blanc £9.30
1 x partridge starter £7.95
1 x trio of cheese starter £7.95
1 x venison loin with venison pie £24.95
1 x halibut £20.95
1 x chocolate crème brulee with chocolate brownie £6.95
1 x banana tart tatin £6.95
2 x coffee and petit fours £3.00 to £3.75 each
Total: £99.50 for a five-course meal for two including wine and coffees
Contact details:
54 St Stephen Street
EdinburghEH3 5AL
Phone: 0131 226 6766
Email: jane@thestockbridgerestaurant.co.uk
Website: http://www.thestockbridgerestaurant.co.uk/
But dinner was, of course, the main event. And dinner was the part that had changed. A new dining room, now advertised as being part of the kitchen, hidden behind a curtain as you take your pre-dinner drinks and snacks (oh, what snacks!) in a cosy new bar. And when you are ready, you are led down the hallways of the old farmhouse and into the bright, modern kitchen.
After chatting to James over a delicious bowl of lovage soup (food miles are second only to ingredient quality at Winteringham Fields, and lovage had come just a few yards from the bed in the garden outside) we were taken to our table, which had a great view of the pass so we could see and hear everything that was going on. It takes great confidence in your team to open a kitchen to that extent; some guests who hadn’t visited before were even invited to walk around.
We discussed our second favourite course for a very long time, without really coming to a conclusion. The huge hand dived scallop in laksa sauce was genius, but the lamb belly with asparagus, curds and mint such a clever blend of flavours and so completely melt in the mouth, it was hard to separate them. And both dessert (Winteringham Fields’ take on a Solero with mango, passion fruit, coconut and basil) and the lemon, thyme and honeycomb pre-dessert, were top notch.
