The Haven cafe, Edinburgh

On our latest trip to Edinburgh we decided to find somewhere for breakfast near where we were staying in Leith. A quick ask of Twitter and Brew and Brownie had found The Haven Cafe for us. It’s a great little place, full of quirky vintage items and lots of locals. Always a good sign.

Mr Frivolitea had the full breakfast and I had sausage, tattie scone ( which is very similar to potato bread back home) and mushrooms.

This is a really friendly local cafe that does simple food really well.

I very much had food envy when Mr Frivolitea’s breakfast arrived. He gratiously let me try some of the haggis and wow! It was wonderful!

I’d definitely recommend this place, particularly if you are staying at the Premier Inn at Leith as it is only round the corner. We didn’t try the cakes but they looked fabulous.

Brew and Brownie

I love this place. Everything about it. Right down to the hipster lighting ( light bulbs in jam jars )

You should go. Really you should. You might have to queue but that’s ok, it’s worth it.

We went for breakfast today and boy was it good.

I had the pancake stack with fruit compote, yoghurt and honey. Other options include salted caramel and banana. The pancakes are light and fluffy, the compote thick and not too sweet and the honey they use is beautiful.

Mr Frivolitea had the black pudding and smoked bacon stack with fried egg and the most wonderful vinaigrette.

It came with a side of haxby baker toast and butter. How can you go wrong with that!

Rounded off with a really good flat white ( ok, ok we had two )

I don’t need to persuade you any more do I.

The Palomar

You know the way I’ve mentioned before what Mr Frivolitea says about pink neon signs…….

Well this was, yet again, a sign of really really good things. I mean, I knew it was going to be good, Our friend JB has been telling us for months that we need to go and it has just won the people’s choice in the Observer Food Monthly awards. However it exceeded my expectations. I loved everything about it. It’s elegant, it’s vibrant. We were given a seat at a table in the back corner. It was away from the heart of the restaurant which at first I thought might mean I was disappointed but actually our little corner was great. The Palomar is all about sharing dishes, something I particularly love, and it’s my kind of food. Described by the restaurant as the food of modern day Jerusalem, the only problem with the menu is that it makes it really difficult to choose! At least the great thing about a menu of lots of sharing dishes is that you can try more things.

We started with Kubaneh. A Yemeni pot baked bread served with tahini and velvet tomatoes. The bread had a rich brioche quality about it and the tahini, well, I’d buy it by the litre. It was rich and intense and absolutely delicious.

We choose to have beetroot carpaccio from the raw bar. The beetroot came with burnt goats cheese, hazelnut brittle, lentil tuille and pomegranate molasses vinaigrette. My favourite dish of the night I think. A dish that looked simple but was packed full of little bursts of flavour and texture.

We chose a Mackerel fricassee from the specials menu. It was served with a Tunisian fried bun, potato, cured lemon, capers and quails egg. I liked this dish but it was my least favourite of the night. I didn’t feel it had the same excitement of flavour and texture that the other dishes had.

We chose 2 dishes from the josper menu. Cauliflower steak ‘josperized’ with cured lemon butter, homemade labneh and toasted almonds. This dish came close to the beetroot dish for me as favourite of the night. I love cauliflower and this dish was a revelation. The flames of the oven really intensified the cauliflower flavour and the accompaniments, particularly the chopped tomato, made for a really interesting dish.

Finally Shakshukit ( deconstructed kebab with minced meat, yoghurt, tahini and pita). You can’t really go wrong with minced lamb can you? No, good, we agree.

After a bit of a breather, and another glass of prosecco…. The prosecco glasses were so beautiful, we just had to….. We shared a dessert. Jerusalem mess – Labneh mousse, almond crumble, strawberries, lemon cream, elderflower and apple jelly and fresh sorrel. This was my kind of dessert. The sharpness of the lemon cream and the intense bursts of flavour in the elderflower and apple jelly cubes were a delight. It was a perfect end to the evening.

I want to visit The Palomar again. There is so much on the menu that intrigues me and that I want to eat. Next time I’m going to book to sit at the bar. I can’t think of anything better than the buzz of eating food that has been prepared right in front of me.

Blanchette, Soho

I really wanted to try somewhere new on this visit to London and so decided to ask Twitter where we should try. Well Twitter came up trumps, thanks to our friend Tom’s contacts.

What a great place! Tucked away in Soho, a small place with big personality.

We sat at the bar enjoyed a glass of wine and a selection of small plates of fantastic French food.

I loved the relaxed, yet vibrant feel of this place. The food was in many ways simple but packed a punch. Classic flavours in smaller dishes enabling us to try more. We will certainly be back. I mean who can resist a glass of wine with frites and bearnaise sauce!

Our dishes:

Pork, duck and fig terrine

Sautéed tiger prawns with glazed shallots, parsley, garlic and Pernod. Warm marinated rare breed beef with charred peppers and aioli. Frites with bearnaise sauce.

Poached pear with blackcurrant, champagne mousse

Pairings

Some might think that in early January, not long after Christmas excess, we might have had enough cheese and cured meats and we’d avoid them for a while…..what foolish people. You can NEVER have enough cheese and cured meats and when you see that Pairings have a January offer of a bottle of wine and a platter for two for £25 how could you refuse? Exactly.

This was our first trip to Pairings and it’s a great way to spend an evening if you don’t want a full meal. I was really impressed with the quality of the platter and the choice available in meats and cheeses. The platter came with bread, honey, chutney, pickles and pork pie as well as our chosen meats and cheeses and it was great to see British cheese and cured meats in the selection.

We also ordered some harissa almonds, make sure you get some harissa almonds.

This is a great addition to the York food scene, an independent venture that’s well worth supporting.

Coppi

I’ve been wanting to try out Coppi for a while. We have been to Bartali, its little sister on the North Coast, and I spend most days jealous of the executive chef Jonny Phillips’ Instagram feed! I am pleased to say that Coppi did not disappoint.
What I love about Coppi (and Bartali for that matter) is the flexibility of the menu. If you want a big meal, 3 courses, then you can have them, but the cichetti and pizzetta allow for flexible eating and an opportunity to try lots of things. That’s important when you are indecisive like me.
We chose the crispy artichokes and chilli Mayo from the cichetti specials and five other cichetti dishes: Sicilian lamb and pistachio polpettina, feta fritters with truffle honey, goats cheese and smoked tomato pesto arrancini, crispy pork belly and pickled radicchio and duck ravioli fritti and truffled porcini aioli.

We also couldn’t resist the portavogie prawns, lemon and garlic butter, grilled focaccia and rocket from the starters section and the duck, hazelnut and truffled honey Pizzetta.

Everything had bags of flavour, simple yet brilliantly executed and the portavogie prawns were so delicious that I to restrain Mr Frivolitea from licking the plate! My only comment is that all our cichetti were deep fried and that wasn’t clear from the description. That isn’t a criticism as it tasted fantastic and it certainly wasn’t greasy or oily but I might have chosen differently to ensure variety had I realised.

We rounded the meal off with a perfectly boozy and light tiramisu and I had a glass of prosecco. The bill – £40 for two people. You can’t go wrong with that. We will certainly return and Bartali is definitely on the list for a revisit in the summer!

Haptik (again)

If you’ve read my previous blog about Haptik then you will know that I love this place. I really admire the commitment of Johnny and Rachel to bring quality coffee and a local art space to Newtownards. I love the feel of the place and I love the fact that lots of local people of all ages have embraced it and go regularly.

On previous visits, Haptik had not yet served a breakfast or lunch menu so our visit this time was a great excuse to try some food.

We had Mike’s fancy cheese on toast with mushrooms and spinach. Mike’s Fancy Cheese Co. is an artisan cheese maker local to Newtownards and the main reason for choosing the dish.

Oh my! It was delicious, the cheese was complimented by the mushrooms, onions and spinach in a creamy tarragon sauce and a sprinkling of nuts and seeds.

The menu at Haptik is small, creative and seasonal and as you already know the coffee is spot on.

We will keep going as often as we can!

Blacksmith Arms, Westow

We love pie, really, really, love pie, so when we saw pie on the menu on a meal out with friends it was inevitable. (I should point out however that we only eat pie if it’s proper pie. Stew with a hat on does not constitute a pie in Mr Frivolitea’s world).

We’d never visited the Blacksmith Arms before despite it being not too far from where we live. Our friends suggested it for a meal out and I am so glad they did, and three of the four of us had pie.

I chose the chicken and ham pie from the specials board:

Mr Frivolitea chose the steak and ale pie:

The pastry was superb, the pie did not skimp on fillings and the meat was top quality. The vegetables and chips were cooked to perfection.

My only slight criticism, which would not be a criticism for many, would be that the pie was too big, I simply couldn’t finish it and desperately wanted to!

I couldn’t manage pudding after all that pie but the others did. Mr Frivolitea opted for the dark chocolate fondant despite its 15 minute wait time. He confirmed that it was definitely worth the wait, rich and delightfuly squidgy.

Our friends had the specials board pudding, vanilla panacotta with an apple crumble topping and apple sorbet. The apple sorbet was a particular hit.

I did hesitate before writing this blog. The food here was so good that I wanted to keep it to myself!

I can’t recommend this place enough. The food was of top quality, the pub cosy and inviting, and the staff really helpful and friendly. It’s clear that the Blacksmith Arms take huge pride in what they do.

We will definitely be back. A lot.

Timberyard

Last night we went to one of the most interesting places we’ve eaten in for a long time. Timberyard is tucked in a side street behind Edinburgh Castle and the entrance does not fully prepare you for the wonder inside. The name I guess should give a big clue but as we walked in to the building and saw the big open space of the main dining area my sense of excitement grew. This place is different. Different in style, different in feel and different in quality from anywhere else we’ve eaten recently.

The sense of space at Timberyard is something I particularly liked. This place has stayed true to the building but also in doing so has created an ‘urban’ feel. Its history is on show, it’s not ‘prettied’ up. Timberyard is creative and it’s clever. Everywhere you look there are jars of foraged homegrown fruit, leaves, herbs, preserved in interesting ways.

We arrived a bit early and had a drink at the bar. We knew we were in for a great evening when we needed the soft drinks menu to be explained to us!

Mr Frivolitea opted for the pickled elderflower. A long drink using pickled elderflower syrup topped up with sparkling mineral water. I opted for sourdough and bramble, a short drink served over a chunk of ice. It was literally a chunk of ice and fascinating to be sitting at the bar watching the drinks being prepped and the use of a miniature axe bing used to chip ice to fit the glass. The barman described my drink as like drinking jam and toast, really good jam and toast, and I can’t think of a better description. It is nothing like anything I’ve tasted before. The pickled elderflower was also really interesting and refreshing. Never have soft drinks been so appealing. Oh and they had Nyetimber on the menu and you know we always approve of this. So after soft drinks a glass of Nyetimber each ensured an excellent evening.

We decided to opt for the daily menu rather than the tasting menu. This menu is made of bites, small, large and pudding course.

Before our food arrived we were given some malted sourdough bread with some whipped chicken liver and whipped crowdie, juniper pepper and lovage salt.

We both had bites. I had Mackerel, horseradish, buttermilk, apple. This dish was really creative. It messed with my head a bit and I’m in awe of the processes and precision they used to present the mackerel and the horseradish and buttermilk that felt like snow. It was a really light and fresh start to the meal. Mr Frivolitea had pea, curd, spelt, lovage, shoots. This was a wonderfully light dish, delicate flavour with occasional surprises of sweetness or curd flavour.

I passed on the small dish but Mr F had the mallard, cauliflower, kolhrabi, elderberry, shallot, black garlic, chard.

Another exciting and creative dish with the black garlic being a particular highlight. For large, we both opted for the venison. Well you would, wouldn’t you! The dish was titled venison, squash, onion, mushroom, beetroot, juniper, kale. The crust on the venison loin added an extra dimension to the dish and the slow cooked venison was deliciously tender.

Finally Mr F had pudding (though I did try a bit of course!) pudding was honey, nut, lemon thyme, oatmeal, milk. Every mouthful revealed something new. It was one of those puddings were if you had one of the elements on its own you might be underwhelmed but put all together it was incredible. The honeycomb was the best we’ve had and the lemon thyme really lifted the dish.

This place is exciting. It’s a place you want to return to, and we will.

Sesame

Want to be able to get creative, fresh and interesting food on the run? Well go to Sesame. Sesame sits on Garrick Street a few steps from Leicester Square tube station. The layout reminds me a little of Pret but that’s where the similarities end (for those of you who were worried!)

The interior is vibrant and exciting.

Sesame is the latest venture by Yotam Ottolenghi. I’m a huge fan of his food. I’ve got the cookbooks, I’ve eaten in his restaurants and Sesame is a great next step. Why? Because it means that people like me who don’t live in London but who pass through for work can grab some tasty food at a good price.

I decided to try a couple of skewers from the flame grill in the shop. I chose the spiced lamb and the paprika and cardomom chicken.

Not the best photo of them! I loved the flavour the flames gave the meat. Though I didn’t get much cardomom flavour off the chicken.

I then bought a salad and dip to eat on the train home.

I love cauliflower and anytime I have eaten a cauliflower dish that Ottolenghi has created it really impresses me. So I chose the cauliflower, tahini and pomegranate salad. It was really delicious.

I also chose an aivar pepper, goats cheese and nigella seeds dip. It packed a punch and was lovely and creamy.

The great thing about Sesame is that they also have a small selection of sweets and snacks you can buy too. So Mr Frivolitea hasn’t missed out as some Soffle’s chilli and garlic pitta crisps, some sesame brittle and sweets are in the bag winding their way back to York.