Martyn and I started ‘date night’ about 6 months ago when
we were still living in Tollcross. There are so many lovely independent restaurants in Edinburgh we are completely spoilt! In a quest to work our way around some of
these places we declared ‘date night’.
The rules of date night;
Once a month on pay day.
Must be local (walking distance from the flat).
We take turns on who pays.
When he is paying I choose the location.
When I’m paying he chooses the location.
We never go to the same place twice for date night.
We visited some great places around Tollcross; Mezbaan, a
brilliant South Indian place which is superb value for money and fab for
vegetarians, Tuk Tuk, BYOB which I love and more modern ‘Indian street food’
style Menu and My Big Fat Greek Kitchen, traditional Greek food in a quaint wee
spot that had the most tantalising flavours just to name a few!
Our first Leith date night was at Serrano Manchego, a bright wee Spanish tapas bar on Leith
Walk, we’d walked past it a few times while doing food shopping or running
errands. I had said that I’d like to go there and Martyn had nodded
in agreement. On our way back from the weekly Lidl adventure I popped in to
book a table for the next date night, the place smelt amazing and the staff
were very friendly.
So Monday night came round, I got home from the gym,
showered, did my hair, my face, put on my pretty new H! by Henry Holland dress and grabbed my we red Push Lock Cambridge Satchel bag. Martyn got home from work
and changed his polo shirt (it’s so much easier to be a boy!)
We arrived at 7pm
and there were a handful of tables already in, it was that nice level where you
can have a conversation without having to shout across the table. We were asked
if we’d like to sit but the window, which I jumped at, and were handed a drinks
and food menus. I chose a lovely Rioja, Don Paulino Crianza, and Martyn ordered
a diet coke.
We had a look over the menu trying to decide what we wanted
to share, what meat to get him and what mushroom based dish I should get, I’m
veggie and he hates mushrooms! I would say we over ordered but our lovely,
authentically Spanish, waitress would probably have let us order the whole menu
without stopping us. We had bread with oil and vinegar, manchego cheese, quince
jelly, grapes and nuts, pimientos de padrón, garlic mushrooms, patatas bravas, chorizo
al vino, serrano & manchego croquettes and a last minute edition of chorizo
sausage & chicken skewers (which really were not needed). It was a lot of
food and it just seemed to keep coming! Martyn definitely didn’t need the
chorizo al vino and the skewers! Saying that it was all delicious, the pimientos
de padrón were a highlight for me as I’d had them on holiday last year and devoured
them, the mushrooms were so tasty and the manchego was buttery and smooth.
Martyn assures me that the meaty options were also to the same high standards
and you could tell by the clear plates and bowls.
After stuffing our faces we were offered dessert, we ordered
churros – we should have only ordered one to share… but we didn’t… They were
sweet and crisp with a pot of warm chocolate sauce and a scoop of ice cream –
dreamy! We took our time tidying them up, the feel of the place is very
relaxed, we never felt rushed but at the same time didn’t feel as though we
were waiting a long time for our food. As we over ordered the bill came to
slightly more than we would normally pay for date night but I think we learnt
our lesson and would still come back.
Over all we really enjoyed it, the food was fresh and tasty,
they obviously take a lot of pride in it and the atmosphere of the place and
the staff were friendly. I think it would be a great place to go with a
few friends and catch up, order a couple bottles of wine and relax in the
authentic Spanish feel of the place. I’d definitely recommend it to family and
friends.
Serrano Manchego - 297 Leith Walk, Edinburgh - Website
