I STUMBLED across this Edinburgh restaurant by accident whilst meeting my girlfriend after her work on York Place. The rain was pouring down and we were in no
mood to trudge around the streets of Edinburgh, so after quickly glancing at
the menu outside, decided this was the most logical place to eat.
I must have walked past the Hotel Indigo (The Turquoise
Thistle is the hotel restaurant) hundreds of times and never really thought of
trying it; not because there looked anything wrong with the place, just
circumstance I guess.
It was early in the evening so the place was fairly quiet,
bar some sort of commotion outside which warranted three police cars; anyway
the receptionist sat us in the bar where we ordered drinks.
Sarah asked if they had a wine list but the gentleman waiter
instead rattled through the menu verbally.
I had to try and not burst out laughing as he incorrectly pronounced half
of the wine list, whilst I sat staring at the floor.
Anyway, the young waitress was a little more competent I’m
pleased to say and seated at a table by the window with all the police cars
outside. I couldn’t help but be nosey and
ask what happened as I peered out the window, but that’s another story.
We had both decided on a very reasonable priced pre-theatre
menu before coming in, but I looked through the a la carte menu as always.
Now there are a few good restaurants popping up down this end
of the town (notably Restaurant Mark Greenaway) but some of these prices
seemed a bit ludicrous to me; £8-9 odd
for tomato soup with fresh crab meat?
I could see this restaurant being very pretty at night with some
nice lights and the soft turquoise blue walls creating a nice ambience and
freshness to the dining room. It's a spacious, unimposing dining room too, with a touch of 'being in your living room' to it.
We were served our bread, which was well, just okay
and not warm and awaited our order of potted smoked haddock with horseradish
butter, soda bread and tomato salsa whilst Sarah opted for their home-made
haggis, neeps and tatties.
I was a little confused why they went to all the effort of
making their own haggis but not advertise it on the menu but never
mind, the waitress had done a good job of upselling it.
The presentation of both dishes was very well done and
looked appealing, whilst you could see the baby veg on Sarah’s dish had been
carefully prepared and cared for.
Taste wise, my potted smoked haddock was well decent let’s
say, although I couldn’t for the life of me taste that fiery horseradish or any
seasoning for that matter. I didn’t get
why there was baby basil on the plate either; it just didn’t go for me. The salsa was however nice and zingy and
fresh.
I’m not overly a big fan of haggis, although this did taste pleasant. The baby veg had a good crunch and
earthiness and the turnip puree was pleasant.
The deep fried straw potatoes were sadly a little soggy but a nice take on
this Scottish classic.
I very rarely order chicken from a menu but I love chorizo,
so went for chicken stuffed with chorizo with sautéed potatoes, kale and sweet
corn puree. Sarah opted for pan-fried
cod loin with mashed potato and peas.
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The dishes again were neatly presented on nice clean plates
(I hate finger marks on plates, our chef used to go nuts if he saw them). My chicken was moist enough, with the lovely
spice of that chorizo coming through and combining well with the iron-rich
kale, which possibly could have been prepared a little bit smaller if I’m being
picky. The sweet corn puree was
beautifully flavoured and smooth as silk.
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Sarah’s cod looked a little over done, although it was fine
in the middle but the soggy skin let it down.
The peas and bacon is a classic combo with cod and were very tasty, as
was the smooth and well-seasoned mash.
I’m glad I stumbled upon this restaurant as I would
definitely like to give the full a la carte menu a go. The pre-theatre menu represented good value
for £12.95 so if you’re looking for a decent dinner after work, by all means
give The Turquoise Thistle a bash.
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