Review: The Newsroom, Edinburgh

THAT ‘BACK TO work’ feeling had truly set in as our holiday drew to a close; the cuisine in Istanbul was as cheap as it was excellent. Edinburgh rarely lets you down when you avoid the usual horde of monotonous chain food joints and, thankfully, there was still time for one last meal - The Newsroom being the venue.

The businesses on Leith Street have no doubt suffered from the demolition/regeneration of the St. James Centre. I have enjoyed food in here a few times and found it to be of a respectable gastropub standard. It was reasonably quiet when we arrived for our 6 p.m. booking, which I hoped wasn’t a sign of the disruption outside.

Our table was neatly set out and a tempting cocktail menu teased us as we went through the food card.  Our servers confidently talked about the food and drinks and our orders made their way to the kitchen.  I imbibed a rubbish glass of Malbec at Hemma the day before, but the offering here was far superior

I started with The Newsroom chicken wings (£6.50) and opted for the smoky and sweet barbeque sauce over the fiery hot sauce option.  Expectations were of tender meat with a sauce that hopefully was more smoky than sweet.  That’s precisely what I got. I liked the extra detail with the little bowl of lemon water and our server even dropped off some wet wipes as I munched away on these tasty wings.

Sarah’s opening act was a neat idea in the shape of a cheese brûleé with asparagus wrapped in bacon (£8). I’ve seen a few cheese brûleé concoctions yet never sampled one.  This was a cracking little dish.  A joy to see seasonal asparagus – and a generous helping at that – cooked respectfully with a slight bite intact.  The brûleé itself tasted like cheese thins and it was fun to dunk the flavoursome green spears in.  The pesto freshened it up and brought a light touch, with the salty bacon adding a whack of seasoning along with the cheese.  Impressive gastropub cooking that could easily be tarted up to Michelin level.

I know from previous visits that the burgers are commendable, so I stuck to the tried and tested. The menu offered a tempting array of options, but I opted for The Big Story (£8.50), which was a beef patty with bacon, gherkins and cheese. The acid test always begins with the bun for me.  You want a robust one that doesn’t disintegrate halfway through the eat.  This roll passed the test.  The burger patty used good Scotch beef with the quality gherkins and bacon wonderfully smoky and crisp.  I added hand cut chips for £3.50 which were superb: not greasy, yet crispy and moreish as the chip gods intended.

Over the table, Sarah dived into a steak and Guinness pie with mash and seasonal veg priced for £13. The pastry gave a decent crunch with the meat being tender and full of flavour.  The mash was spot on texture wise, smooth and just solid enough without being overly puréed. The carrots and broccoli were cooked to a satisfying standard.  I felt the taste of the gravy, which was pleasingly thick, just suggested a little Bisto was going down in the kitchen.  A touch of seasoning throughout would have helped, but it was a solid dish for the price.

My brother Steven introduced me to the wonders of the affogato many years back, the key to that being a quality coffee for there is nothing sadder than crap coffee. I was very impressed by the rich, robust flavoured espresso that accompanied this perfectly tempered vanilla ice cream – a snip at £3.50.

To finish, Sarah opted for The Newsroom fruit crumble (£5) which happened to be of peach variety today and just in season. As it happens, the fruit was well cooked – juicy and holding texture. The crumble was well balanced in terms of sweetness and met expectations crunch-wise.  The ice cream was rich, smooth and creamy.  Well-built dish.

Now, that cocktail list had been drawing me in all evening, hence we decided to treat ourselves to one last holiday drink.  The lady ordered a Ron Burgundy (£8.25) and I opted for a good old Negroni (£7.50).  One of my pet hates is rubbish cocktails, watery and sickly sweet like some sort of alcoholic kid's drink. I was really impressed with these cocktails.  Watching the bartenders from my seat as we dined, they were thoroughly trained. In fact, I was impressed with the staff all night.  The bar picked up and was soon full, but the quality of service we had was maintained.

Hold the front page! I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at The Newsroom. The service was top notch and the food was gratifying, and reasonably priced for a city centre bar. I’ll definitely pop back in to wire into that cocktail menu.

Web: newsroomedinburgh.co.uk/
Phone: (0131) 557 5830
Address: 5-11 Leith Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3AT