WHEN YOU THINK of the name Field, you think of grassy pastures,
hills and fresh air. Field’s mission
statement is to take the concepts of Michelin dining and turn it into a relaxed
affair and that’s a breath of fresh air indeed.
Opening in January of this year, the restaurant is run by an
ambitious team who have taken their experiences from several notable
establishments and put their own spin on fine dining.
Chef Gordon Craig for example, has worked at the Roux family’s
Waterside Inn, the Michelin starred Peat Inn and the Plumed Horse, while Maître
D’ Richard Conway worked at the later as restaurant manager.
My partner Sarah couldn’t manage to this one, so I invited
my brother Chris instead and he kindly added some professional photography
skills to my humble blog.
Richard greeted us warmly when we arrived and we admired
the freshness and feel of the dining area as the sunshine beamed through the windows.
Instantly relaxed, you could tell there was going to be no
pretention about Field and the giant cow picture brought both a talking point
and a statement about the ethos of the restaurant.
Our menus came playfully in a luminous green picture frames
and offered an intriguing mix of seasonal dishes.
As we awaited our order, we tucked into some
delicious homemade sun dried tomato bread.
Always pleasing to see bread being made in house.
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Chris opted for the asparagus, poached egg, parmesan crisp
and pickled shimeji (£5.95), while I went for beetroot cured Scottish salmon,
citrus crème fraiche, raisin and caper compote, pickled peppers and crispy crab
ball (£5.25).
My starter was the perfect choice for a summery day: fresh,
clean, light and zingy, it utilised the colours on the plate well and showed off
some good quality ingredients.
The salmon was wonderfully tender and paired well with the bite
of the pickled peppers. The citrus of the crème fraiche and flavours of the
compote really excited the palette. The crab ball was crisp and had a pleasant
note of dill through it, which I really liked.
Chris’s asparagus came nicely chargrilled and still had
suitable bite to it. He burst the egg
yolk to release a rich and velvety liquid centre that complimented the
asparagus. The pickled mushroom gave a good contrast to the plate too, while
the sauce brought it together.
This dish was simple yet effective and the chef really
allows the ingredients to do the talking.
I’m a man who really enjoys a good burger and after a fellow
blogger recommended Field’s chorizo burger (£9.95) earlier in the week, my mind was already made
up on my main course.
Moist and tasty, the burger didn’t disappoint. It was a tad pink in places, which would
probably put a few people off but I like my meat that way and gladly polished
it off. The sweet potato chips were very
earthy and without a hint of grease on them.
However, the spicy mayo could have done with a bit more oomph for me.
Enjoying his first Phil’s Food World outing, Chris went for
the pan friend hake with creamed sweetcorn, avocado, chorizo and chunky chips
(£11.95).
The hake was very fresh and the flesh inside soft and flaky
but we felt the skin could have been crisper.
Chris enjoyed the creamed sweetcorn in particular, as it partnered the
fish superbly and was well seasoned and vibrant.
You could tell the perfectly uniform manner
in which the chorizo and avocado had been cut that this is a chef that cares what
comes out of his kitchen.
Chris’s generous portion of chips was equally as good as
mine, which shows a good level of consistency and they dipped nicely into the
creamed corn too!
So, to the third and final course and I went for coconut
panna cotta with roasted pineapple and creamed gingerbread (£4.95) with Chris
selecting peach tart tatin with Birds custard ice cream (£5.50).
The panna cotta was just
set and no more and tasted pleasant.
The coconut on the outside added texture and enhanced the coconut taste of
the mild set cream.
The pineapple in this Caribbean inspired dish worked with
the coconut but could have been roasted a little more to add another dimension
of flavour. Unfortunately, I didn’t
really get anything from the gingerbread cream element.
Chris ordered peach tart tatin with Birds custard ice cream
and was impressed with the way the home-made ice cream balanced out the
sharpness of syrup. The tart itself was very tasty and the pastry was expertly
cooked. The ice cream was certainly a notable highlight of this pudding.
Field has only been open around six months and is certainly
one to watch. The team’s philosophies and menus are excellent and extremely
good value for money. It’ll be interesting to see the restaurant develop in the
near future.
I have to say it’s certainly one of the friendliest and most
relaxing restaurants I’ve visited in a while.
Field offers a lunch and pre-theatre menu for £11.95 (two
courses) or £14.50 (three courses).
41 West Nicolson Street,
Edinburgh, EH8 9DB
dine@fieldrestaurant.co.uk
Opening times:
Lunch: 12.00pm - 2.00pm
Pre-Theatre: 5.30pm - 6.45pm
Dinner: 5.30pm - 9.00pm
Field will be open
seven days during the Edinburgh Festival.
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