Edinburgh: Food for foodies

 

When we came to Europe with the kids (ours) in 2000, we had a lovely dinner at the Mussel Inn on our only evening in town.  Originally, the maître d' wasn't going to seat us in the empty restaurant because their reservations were already booked for the evening.  However, we convinced them that since we were Americans we could eat fast and nobody would ever know we had eaten at their table.  They believed us and we indeed proved that we could chow down quickly.  The meal was so delicious we went back for lunch the next day.

 



 

When Rob and Roberta visited Edinburgh, they, too, ate at this restaurant on our recommendation, and loved it.  It is on Rose Street should you find yourself in Edinburgh.

 

This trip was much like that of 2000 only we showed up for lunch one day, and managed on another to eat dinner (inside--our only chilly day in town) again without reservations.  This was my bowl of mussels.

 



 

On another evening we ate at Angels with Bagpipes on the Royal Mile.  Bill said the lamb below was the best he had ever eaten.  I had plaice (a fish) with purple potato salad and purple potato chips.  Mine was delicious.

 

 

For dessert I had a lime curd (almost a panna cotta) topped with lychee sorbet and surrounded with bits of pineapple and served with a coconut "salad" with chocolate bits (and a slender thread of candied or spun? sugar).

 



 

Bill ordered a Scotch whiskey that came with a side of water.  The waiter explained that the water helps enhance the flavors of the Scotch in two ways.  First, it cuts the level of alcohol which otherwise tends to anesthetize the palate.  Second, it opens the "pores" of the Scotch.  So we decided to run a little experiment of our own.  First, an undiluted sip.  Second, I added an eighth to a quarter teaspoon of water.  What a difference!  We tried a third version with more water, maybe a teaspoon, but that was too much.  Some students went on a Scotch whiskey tour while in Edinburgh and were told the same thing.  Several nights later, we each had a Scotch for dessert at The Rosehip on Rose Street.  Bill ordered a 15 year old Dalwhinnie and I had a 30 year old Glenlossie.  The waiter there took a straw, put it in about an inch of water and created a vacuum to transfer one inch of the straw's volume in water to the Scotch (that was a very complicated phrase to write, by the way).  Mine was a much more complex Scotch (Speyside, for those who know whiskies).

 

 

 

Breakfasts in the UK tend to be very heavy.  Here is my Scottish breakfast...well, part of it, anyway.  You see here starting from the top, sautéed mushrooms, sausage (I gave most of it to Bill), a spoonful of haggis, black pudding, an almost broiled tomato and a croissant.  I always skip the baked beans on toast because I just think that's weird, as well as the scrambled eggs, which tend to be overly scrambled and look like water has been added.  Following this course, I have a bowl of muesli.  A word about haggis and black pudding.  The idea of them is far worse than the flavor, and of the two, I prefer haggis.  If you like liver and pate, then you would probably like haggis.  It's just that it's loosely formed (at least this was) and consequently looks less appealing than a steak or even a slice of pate.  The black pudding tends to have a little less flavor compared with haggis, but it, too, is really OK.  As for the sausage, it just seems very fatty to me, so that's why I gave it to Bill (who will eat anything).