Food&Drink News&Reviews
Y H P A R G O T O H P E Z N E K C A M S R H C
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Best a clan can get In the unlikely setting of a West End basement, a new restaurant is bringing a bit of country-house class to Edinburgh’s dining scene, as Carol Main reports
SIDE DISHES NEWS TO NIBBLE ON
THE LATEST IN THE Arches Café Bar Makeover series sees the venue’s
restaurant transformed into a rustic French bistro complete with Tour de France memorabilia and silent movies. It ties in with a stage adaptation of Belleville Rendezvous on 11 February, but you can book in for other dates through this month and next. Details at thearches.co.uk
OTHER MAKEOVERS – intended to be rather more durable – around Glasgow include Akbar’s desi-style restaurant taking over Balbir’s Tiffin Rooms near Charing Cross and the Blind Pig on Byres Road shapeshifting into a West End version of Bar Soba.
EDINBURGH’S
HARVEY NICHOLS
celebrates its tenth birthday with a major
refurb for its Forth Floor Restaurant and Brasserie. Unveiled in time for Valentine’s Night are a contemporary new look for both sections, plus a new seafood bar, private dining area, Window Bar lounge and new menu from Stuart Muir.
The patron’s personally chosen wines Tricky stairs down to basement level
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N ot far from Spean Bridge, the Battle of Mulroy between the MacDonalds and the Mackintoshes took place in 1688. With fresh tête-à-tête daffodils on the tables blooming harmoniously with muted yellow walls, an Edinburgh restaurant bearing the name of the clan feud is far from turbulent. Indeed, the genuine courtesy and impeccably charming manners of the patron, Clemens Hoss-d’Estenfeld MacDonald, makes everything very smooth. The Scottish name is his wife’s, a descendant of the winning side, who has designed the interior for The Mulroy, creating a country house ambience with white linen, lots of silver candles, wooden display units and a long oak pew along one wall.
It’s eccentric, but the place has traditional, high quality values and the food is classy, interesting and fresh. Infamous for his horse tartare while at L’Escargot Bleu, chef Damien Rolain’s credentials go even further back to Abstract and Atrium, local kitchens with reputations for Scottish food with a French slant. In The Mulroy, Rolain has found new expression for his classic, French-style fine-dining. East coast Port Seton provides the baby langoustine for a salad with green apple, while the west’s Loch Creran supplies the oyster tartare to go with it. Scallops from the waters of Gigha are exquisite in texture, their natural sweetness blending with delicate orange caramel and confit cep jus. A velvety smooth 28 THE LIST 2 Feb–1 Mar 2012
cauliflower puree accompanies. Truffle oil and nuts are favourites of the kitchen. The former makes an appearance in an amuse-bouche of creamed leek and potato soup, then again in the vinaigrette served with smoked and roasted pigeon breast. Its finishing touch of hazelnuts is just one example of Rolain’s attention to detail in the stunning presentation of his dishes.
Fish is prominent throughout – in the two set price menus: the Petit Menu, the pre-theatre and the pricier main carte for evening – and mains include some meaty highlights, with neck fillet of Borders lamb served no-choice rare alongside a meatball of braised shoulder minced with cabbage in a startling combination of flavours. Fruit inspires the desserts, with gooseberry sorbet and dark chocolate pave making the most of an underused but classic pairing.
THE MULROY
11a–13a William Street, Edinburgh, EH3 7NG
0131 225 6061, facebook.com/themulroy Tue–Sat noon–2.30pm, 5.30pm–10pm.
Closed Sun/Mon. Ave. price two course meal: £13.50 (set lunch & pre-theatre) / £34.50 (set dinner)
BAR CRAWLER DUKES BAR 41 Old Dumbarton Road, West End, Glasgow
As commemorated by a shiny new plaque outside, this corner bar on a fairly sleepy street once rocked to the sound of The Clash on their 1985 Busking Tour. The new owners have done a stylish refit with big windows and a stripped- back industrial vibe, plus they’ve resurrected the old name from the bar’s very brief heyday. Occasional live gigs complete the rock‘n’roll theme.