Review: Purslane, Edinburgh

IT SEEMS LIKE a lifetime ago that I began working as a cheesemonger at I.J. Mellis in Stockbridge; 14 years to be exact. Just around the corner, on St. Stephen Street, an ambitious young chef named Paul Gunning had just opened his first restaurant, Purslane, in a tiny basement and was beginning to make waves in the Edinburgh food scene. Back then, we were slowly finding our feet again after the financial crash and I doubt anybody would have foreseen the trading conditions restaurants are expected to navigate here in 2026.  I’m relieved to hear that “business is picking up after a slow start to the year” so I was eager to find out what’s cooking.

Now I have huge faith in the citizens of Edinburgh when it comes to supporting independent businesses; it’s part of being a proper Edinburger, isn’t it? If memory serves me correct, Purslane was one of the first “casual fine dining” establishments in the city, a welcome move away from the stuffy bow-tied waiter, white linen table cloths and formal dress code affair, although there’s nothing wrong with that done properly.

Paul’s cooking is modern with a solid grounding in classic cooking techniques, a keen focus on local 
suppliers, and in getting the most out of ingredients, such as whole animal butchery. What always stood out about Paul is that he’s a chef that enjoys eating out, no doubt learning from and admiring the craft of others. Evident again on during this visit where he speaks glowingly of a recent visit to Core by Clare Smith with his head chef, Nathan.

It’s Sarah’s birthday today and that means a long, slow lunch priced at £34.94 for two courses or, as in our case, £39.95 for three. Proceedings started superbly with a creative olive cannelloni with pickled broccoli stems and a delightfully tasty chicken roulade, which was marooned in a pool of an amazing chasseur sauce.  This was served warm and that tells you a lot about the attention paid to the little details here – nothing worse than a fridge temperature terrine.

For starters, my chicken liver parfait was perfectly balanced between rich-yet-light  and silky smooth 
with a crispy apple chutney choux vessel to scoop it up and provide a slightly sharp fruity contrast. Sarah’s birthday starter was a modern take on the classic salad nicoise. It looked as pretty as a picture with delicate confit trout successfully replacing the traditional tuna, crispy olive gnocchi, peppery radish and briny actual olives, all enhanced with a runny quail’s egg yolk and a zingy, herby sauce gribiche that was brimming with flavour.

We both had BBQ pork chop with smoked mash and an apple and mooli salad for main, which hit the spot with a hefty slab of protein benefiting from a kiss from the coals, the meat tender, perfectly seasoned and blessed with a little subtly sharp salad. A charred hispi cabbage leaf brought a bit of earthy goodness and the delicate sauce a great foil for it. I particularly enjoyed the  smoked potato, which worked congrunetly with the pig.

For puds, I had honey parfait with honeycomb and honey ice cream.  This served as a great palate 
cleanser after the pork dish. The temperature was perfectly served so you could easily glide your spoon through it. Although I maybe would have liked a touch more honey flavour in it, the ice cream dealt with that; it would have been too floral otherwise, I suspect. Honeycomb really evokes childhood memories of the Links Market in Kirkcaldy and provided the textural element and proper sweetness to the dish. The honeycomb tuille was a nice visual touch as well as biscuit

To conclude, Sarah opted for chocolate millefeuille with pear compote and chocolate ice cream, which 
is my sort of dessert. The millefeuille component was in the form of langue de chat biscuits that were ideal for scooping an indulgent chocolate ganache with a soothing pear element with the coldness of the ice cream a pleasant contrast. A good pud, indeed.

It's always a pleasure watching long-time restaurant manager Gregor work the room as if he has a bunch of people in his living room.  He really looked after a solo female diner with plenty of unintrusive chat, ensuring she had a very personable experience. Worth mentioning most quaffable bottle of viognier we enjoyed with our relaxing lunch.

Purlslane is well established because they stick to a formula they know works: delivering an outstanding dining experience to their guests, with unpretentious food using quality produce and sound cooking and an excellent price point. For me, it’s a restaurant that epitomises the Edinburgh dining scene: independent, individual and original.

Web: purslanerestaurant.co.uk

Instagram: @purslane1

Phone: (0131) 226 3500

Address: 33a St Stephen Street, Edinburgh, EH4 5AH

Open: Weds - Sat 12 noon - 13:30 (lunch), 18:30 - 19:30 (dinner)