Review: Juniper

Friday nights are usually a bit of a washout for me, which is a shame because really they should be celebrated. After all, for most of us (I know, I know, not all of us) they mark The Start Of The Weekend. They should not be spent watching films in my pyjamas and falling asleep on the sofa before 10pm, which ironically tends to be the earliest night I get all week. 

I’ve been hearing murmurings about Juniper, and it’s neighbouring restaurant Twenty Princes Street for a while, but it never really struck me as somewhere to head to (I am far too much a creature of habit for my own good) until a friend commented on how much she liked it there for an after work drink. A little bit of menu perving, a perusal of the cocktail list, and the discovery of their Friday Fondue, it was firmly on the list. A plan was formed. February Friday Fondue would be had.

I emailed ahead and asked for a window table so that we could enjoy the view of the city skyline, which was probably a good idea as by 5.30, it was fairly busy.

Incredible view of the skyline

We perused the drinks menu, raised an eyebrow at the use of whiskey-with-an-e above the Scotch list, and were slightly overwhelmed by the range of cocktails. We decided to be awkward and went off menu to order a couple of our favourite classics - an Aviation and a Whiskey Sour. 

Aviation

The fondue dipping agents

Our drinks didn't take long, and the fondue arrived shortly afterwards. We had opted for a chilli and Innis and Gunn infused cheesy sauce (the alternative cheesy option being cider and bacon) which was tasty, but not obviously infused with such a strong tasting beer. The portion of sauce was generous - no worries about running out of cheese before you've finished the crudités and dipping treats. The dipping treats were perfect - a range of crunchy veg and soft meats and fish, rather than the cheap bread and potatoes I had expected to be filling up on (note: if you're ravenous, order a side of chips for a carbohydrate hit).

The fondue was devoured, we were happy, and decided to pick another cocktail for pudding. The mister was unadventurous and opted for the same again, but I was in the mood for something sweeter, and braved the Caramel-Saltra from the menu. 

Caramel-Sutra

It was tasty, but I wasn't convinved about Genever as the spirit - it was a bit of a harsh aftertaste, and is traditionally drank neat or with water. I got the impression that this was a cocktail which was trying a bit too hard to be interesting. The little bottle was a sweet presentation tool, but as the mister pointed out (he's a former bar manager, and therefore a bit picky with his cocktails) it meant that I lost some of the effect of the cocktail itself, as the smell and colour were hidden.

We stumbled back down the stairs into the chilly air, slightly tipsy, slightly cheese-drunk. An excellent start to the weekend, one I have no doubt we'll be repeating, although possibly sipping wine instead of cocktails.

Four cocktails and fondue for two: £46

(Apparently you get a discretionary 20% discount for wearing your workwear, but we seemed to miss out on that, presumably as neither of us wear suits to work).

Juniper

20 Princes Street

Edinburgh

Midlothian

EH2 2AN

Rubbish phone pictures by me - top picture from the Juniper website.

Yorkshire: Betty's Cafe and Tea Rooms

When I was little, we had a tradition of going to Betty's. We used to go fairly often - it was the default spot for birthday celebrations. I think it's where my love of afternoon tea comes from.

I have fond memories of their beautiful tearooms, trimmed with shelves of tea pots and with the gentle soundtrack of a pianist, who appeared in their Ilkley tearooms on a Sunday. There was the time that, after they started trimming the crusts off sandwiches, my mum sent them back because "there was half missing now". There was the afternoon tea when the pianist played "happy birthday" to me and the waitress sang. There were Yorkshire Curd tarts, toasted tea cakes and Rosti's. There were our favourites, the usuals, the Welsh Rarebits and Vanilla slices, and the fruit tarts with confectioners custards. 

For years, we went on Christmas Eve to the Ilkley tea room. It was somewhat of a ritual - a country drive over, a treat to eat, and a drive back home in the early evening, admiring the lights on trees and festive decorations. 

2013 was the first year in quite a few that I've spent Christmas in Yorkshire. Although my parents have both moved away from the area I grew up in, it was so lovely to be back. Staying near York meant that a trip to Betty's on Christmas was a necessity...

Betty's, Stonegate, York

Seasonal menu, with Christmas specials

It's the little things that make it special - the silver tea set, the automatic hot water, and the drip absorbers on the saucers!

China teacups

My favourite: Welsh rarebit, with bacon and chutneys. 

Mr F had a chicken, bacon and gruyere rosti

Lamps, complete with mice. Betty's cafes have these beautiful wooden carvings by the Yorkshire Mouseman. 

The beautiful shop

Gift packages of tea and coffee

Beautiful wooden drawers

Christmas gifts on display

Cakes to take home

Treats for later

Adorable seasonal specials

My supper - a vanilla sponge with buttercream and soft marzipan decoration

Mr F's cherry and chocolate treat

Review: Anteaques

There's a few places in Edinburgh which I really love, but don't go to as frequently as I should. Anteaques is one of them. It's on the opposite side of the city centre to me, up in Newington, so it's not somewhere I wander past casually. However, I do have a friend who lives around the corner, and who is about to move away from the area. She'd never been in, but an afternoon of charity shop browsing led us to stroll past Anteaques at around 3pm. The perfect time for a scone...

We wandered in, and the lovely owner admitted that they were very busy and we probably should have booked. But - their next booking wasn't for 35 minutes, so if we didn't mind taking our tea quickly, we were welcome to take a seat. His apologetic nature was so charming that we jumped at the chance.

I love the slightly eccentric nature, the cross between a tea shop and an antiques shop - and how very beautiful absolutely everything is. The attention to detail here is incredible.

The welcome table - everything on display - and around the shop - is for sale!

The enormous tea menu, priced to take away

The serving counter. Beautiful cakes, scones, tarts and belgian chocolates and enormous tea caddies.

Our table in the back room, surrounded by beautiful things

Behind our table - fur coats, clocks, and a picnic basket full of silver crockery

Beautiful vintage cups, apostle spoons and silver milk and sugar bowls

A three tier cake stand! Beautifully presented jam and cream.

Anteaques is a really simple, elegant concept. I think that's why I love it. From the selection of jams (raspberry, apricot, lavendar or jasmine), to the silver brush that our waitress cleaned the table with as we sat down, everything has been thought through and it really works. The trend for mismatching crockery and wobbling furniture in cafes seems to be staying - usually I'm not a fan - but in Anteaques it doesn't feel forced for effect or fashion, it feels completely natural. 

Our homemade scones were delicious, generously filled with sultanas and served with huge portions of jam and proper clotted cream. My Devonian friend was impressed! The jams (we went for the florals) were incredible too, and the teas were lovely. We opted for a chilli chai and a cherry almond black tea. 

Despite being tight for time, it was a marvellous break from the rain outside, and I thought it was particularly nice that the owner apologised for our not being able to take time over our tea as we paid. I get the impression that this cafe really cares about its customers and its tea - I love it.

Pots of tea and scones for two: £10.20

Anteaques

17 Clerk Street

EH8 9JH

0131 6678466

tea@anteaques.co.uk

Review: The Gardener's Cottage

There is something incredibly romantic about the story of The Gardener's Cottage. The B-listed single story house was designed by William Playfair, and came into being in 1836 as the residence of the man responsible for the upkeep of Royal Terrace Gardens. It is a beautiful double fronted single story structure - neoclassical in design, but understated compared to most of Playfair's Edinburgh and hidden away from the road by a high hedge. Perhaps that's why it lay empty for a number of years, neglected and unloved, until it caught the eye of two chefs, looking for a unique venue for their first restaurant.

Unique is definitely the right word.

I have been desperate for an excuse to try The Gardener's Cottage ever since we moved into the area a couple of months ago. Walking past it every day, hearing the buzz that's been building, looking at the menu on the way past - it was firmly on the list.  We'd attempted a few times to book a table but left it too late, so getting a 2 at 7.30 on a Friday in the festival for Mr F's birthday was nothing short of a miracle.

The menu changes daily - any dietary requirements are asked for on booking. A lady to our left was veggie and that wasn't a problem at all - she had a variation on the set menu which looked every bit as interesting as the meaty version. 

Communal tables, set simply. 

A sharing appetiser of pickled mackerel, broad bean pate and nasturtiums with homemade sourdough. The pate was really unusual - fresh, minted and lovely with the mackerel. 

Confit duck leg with fresh beans. The duck was incredible, delicately flavoured with fresh herbs and melt-in-the-mouth soft without being greasy. The beans were crunchy and set the duck off perfectly.

Tomato, red pepper and courgette soup with mint yoghurt. The photo doesn't do the colour justice. It was velvety soft and the perfect temperature to bring out the freshness without having to wait for it to cool to eat it (not too hot, but warmer than room temperature - lovely)

BBQ duck with chanterelles, roasters, jelly and hazelnuts. The duck breast was still pink but not too rare for me, and the small portion of soft game meat that came with it was worked really well with chargrilled broccoli to stop it being too rich. The roasters were phenomenal - more of a confit potato than a Sunday effort. I could have happily eaten a dozen. 

Gooseberry jelly, yoghurt granita, Hyssop ice-cream. The gooseberry jelly was lovely and sharp, and the small bits of mueringue that were scattered over the top added a crunch. I wasn't convinced about the hyssop though, I thought that it slightly overwhelmed everything else. 

Caerphilly cheese with oatmeal crackers and pickled cucumber. The strong cheese was lovely but the crackers were the highlight, strangely enough. 

Brioche, with sweet cicily ice-cream, chocolate cream, and berry compote. The chocolate cream was incredibly rich, so the berries stopped it being too much. Lovely. 

Candles and soft lighting at the end of the evening. 

The food was lovely - really unusual, and it was great to be served things that we knew were fresh, in season, and sustainable. 

The service could have done with a bit of an improvement (our waitress tended to plonk the food down and announce what it was without waiting for us to finish our sentences) and the prices of the after dinner tea and coffee (£2.20 and £3.30 respectively) stung, particularly when we had approximately 5 minutes in which to drink them before our waitress told us that it was 10pm and our seats had been booked. It's a shame that she didn't mention that when we sat down. Luckily for us, the other guests didn't show, so we took our time. If you go, it's worth checking how long you've got.

The highlight though? The company. This isn't a restaurant to go to if you're shy and retiring, or if you want to have a quiet catch up with a friend. For us, the highlight was getting to know the couples on the end of the table next to us. The first couple introduced themselves when we joined them. They were about 3 courses (and 3 glasses of matched wine) into their dinner and chatted away about being up from Kent on holiday for the festival, about shows they'd seen, and about the city. He was the chatty one, she was quieter. The highlight of the conversation included the marvellous line "Yes, we've ben coming to the Festival for about 5 years. We are married, but just not to each other." Cue slightly awkward stuttering about anything going during the festival, and an incredibly well timed duck dish (I take it back about the hit and miss service). After they ran off to watch a show, they were replaced by a second couple, Londoners who were up to watch their son. Their easygoing chat while we were finishing our coffee was lovely. It was this chatter that made the dinner so unusual and enjoyable. It was something that both of our table-sharing neighbours commented on as making it unlike any other restaurant they've been to, and certainly a very "Edinburgh" experience.  

Unusual food in a unique setting - I'm looking forward to finding another reason to go back.

Set menu: £30 per person.

Matched wines: £35 per person.

Wines by the bottle from around £14.

The Gardener's Cottage

Royal Terrace Gardens

London Road

EH7 6DX

Review: The Lobster Shack, North Berwick

I live right in the heart of Edinburgh, which is a beautiful city, but during August it can be overwhelming. The tourist season is in full swing and the hustle and bustle of the festival is constant. I am certainly not one of those locals who does everything they can to escape the city. I enjoy being reminded how lovely Edinburgh is, it stops me becoming complacent - but it is nice to get away and have some peace and quiet for a few hours.

North Berwick is a small but affluent seaside town about 40 minutes drive from Edinburgh. It's also home to The Lobster Shack. The Shack is a really simple concept: a shed nestles in the harbour walls, and sells a range of freshly cooked seafood. There's half a dozen wooden tables and chairs off to the side, and plenty of benches around the harbour walls. You place your order and wait for your number to be yelled, which took about 10 minutes. Compared to your average fish and chip shop it's not cheap, but there is something rather special about it. Let's face it, not many places serve lobster (even fewer places kill them to order) and at less than half of the cost of an Edinburgh restaurant you can't really go wrong for a special treat. For me though, the thing that makes it special, the main reason I loved it, was the sheer joy of eating my first lobster using my fingers and a plastic fork while rainclouds threatened us overhead.

The Lobster Shack
North Berwick Harbour, East Lothian
Lobster and Chips with soft drinks, for two: £26.30

Review: The Skylark, Portobello

Ah, Sunday. Day of rest. Day of extra time in bed. Day of tea. Day when I make myself drive somewhere because of that embarrassing time when the AA man wrote "flat battery, advised customer to get over nerves and drive more" on the callout paperwork. It's a good day, all things considered, and therefore it deserves to be started well.

I don't usually see the point in going out for brunch, largely because it involves getting dressed, but also because I object to spending disproportionate amounts of money being served badly cooked and overpriced food by people who are more hungover than me. Yesterday though, the combination of a booze free night out the evening before, an extra hour in bed, and payday changed that, and we decided to take a trip down to Portobello for brunch.

The Skylark is a new spot on the high street, having only opened in July. It's operated by the same folk as have the Word of Mouth cafe in Leith, and is charmingly named after a much loved pleasureboat from yesteryear. We were surprised at how quiet it was to begin with (it opens at 11, we were there about 11.30), but I was glad to see it steadily fill up towards lunch time. The crowd was mixed- young couples with little ones were welcome, and added to the relaxed atmosphere. I love the interior... clean, fresh and eclectic, without being over done.

We sat ourselves down after a barely-there welcome, and were fairly quickly presented with food menus and asked if we'd like a drink. We ordered an orange juice, a coffee, and a pot of tea- safe options, due to a lack of drinks menu. The juice was good, tangy, freshly squeezed. Food wise, we both opted for the Eggs Benedict with bacon (£5). Considering at the time we were one of only two tables in, I was surprised it took 20 minutes to arrive. The kitchen is at the back, and we could hear the chef teaching another person how to make a hollandaise - points for freshness. It would have been nice, though, to have had a warning that it would take a wee while as we were starting to raise eyebrows before it arrived.

When the food came, it was good. Very good. The free-range eggs were perfectly cooked (only 1 of our 4 had a touch of opaque white), the hollandaise rich and buttery, the bacon nice and crisp. We were happy.

We were also impressed at the enormity of the Croque Madame that the gent at the table next to us enjoyed. He gave it a thumbs up when he caught me ogling. I was particularly intrigued by the cakes on offer, displayed behind the kitchen separator. They looked good, as did the huge danish style pastries. This place does not skimp on portions.

The menu for The Skylark isn't big, but then neither is their kitchen. Beside, it's always better to do a few things well than a lot of things badly. We have already decided that we'll go back sans car to try their dinner options and to sample the interesting range of Edinburgh Gins and fruit wines on offer. If the brunch is anything to go by then the dinner will be worth a bus ride. My only hope for improvement is that next time, service may come with a smile.

Brunch(eggs benedict with bacon for two, a pot of tea, an orange juice & a black coffee): £14.70

The Skylark Portobello
241-243 Portobello High Street, Edinburgh.
0131 629 3037
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