Date Night - V Deep

Date night rolled around a little late this month, there is just so much going on at the moment! V Deep was our venue of choice, it is Edinburgh’s first craft beer and curry bar. They have a wide selection of draft and bottled beers as well as a fully stocked bar and they serve there curry in a tapas style so you can have a little bit of everything. It all started when comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli met Ruairidh Skinner, who was the chef V Deeps former incarnation The Vintage in Leith. They came together to create an East meets West sensation that claims to have ‘the most exciting range of craft beer in Leith’.

We headed down towards the shore for our table booked for 7:30. I wore my seasonal red dress that I had totally forgotten about, with my cute new Primark pumps with wee gold bows on them, my bow necklace and the my small red Cambridge satchel. Martyn pushed the boat out and wore a shirt.

We arrived at V Deep not knowing what to expect, the façade looks quite small but as you go through the door it opens up in front of you, first the bar and then the tables and finally you spot the kitchen at the back. Even on a dark evening the place is vibrant with a real sense of fun, Bollywood style murals on the walls and bar tables made from old doors and a great sound track of songs you didn’t even realise you knew the words to.

We were greeted and asked where we would like to sit, it wasn’t too busy and rather than have my feet dangle from a bar stool we chose the small round booth, it had a own disco ball! We started looking over the food menu and then the drinks, Martyn ordered a Wild Turkey bourbon and I ordered a half pint of the Pilot Mochachino Stout, I’ve had it before and it’s a beautiful dark blend of chocolate and coffee, it’s also made in Leith.

The menu describes the food as tapas style and recommends you order 3 dished each. It’s is very handily broken into meat, fish and vegetarian with sides and starters around the edge. We decided on one meat dish and three vegetarian ones with a bunch of sides. In total we had potato pakora, popadoms with an apple chutney and tomato and ginger ketchup, butter chicken, baby aubergine and pea curry, dhal makani, paneer mutter, garlic naan and rice. This was the largest naan bread we have ever seen! The food was amazing, fresh and tasty, the aubergines melted in my mouth and the dhal as an aromatic delight. They were large portions and I’d say we over ordered, as usual, but it was all very good and what we didn’t manage to eat was boxed up for us for Martyn’s lunch the next day.

The atmosphere was very relaxed and chilled  The staff were friendly and wanted to share their knowledge of the food and the craft beers, our waiter noticed what I was drinking and offered me a taste of another that was similar stout that tasted like salted caramel, Chew Chew by Fallen Brewing Company, and it was delicious! A couple came in while we were there that were on holiday in Edinburgh and came back for a second night in a row to try more of the menu, they obviously liked the staff too.

I would totally recommend heading down there, it would be a great place to go with friends for a few drinks and food. We will definitely be back!

V Deep – 60 Henderson Street, Leith, Edinburgh, EH6 6DE – 0131 563 5293

Nutans Health Food, Coffee & Snacks - Review

It was a Thursday evening after work and we needed to grab food quickly and locally before a gig. Martyn, the bearded one, works near Tollcross and finishes at 6pm so near there was the ideal area. There are loads of great places to eat around there but Martyn had been to Nutans with his friend Ed before and recommended we try there.

Before the restaurant Nutans first incarnation was the Bollywood Coffee Box in Bruntsfield on the edge of the links. The police box was decorated and surrounded by planted flowers and as you passed it the most amazing aromas came out of it. I always meant to stop by and grab something but was never in the area when I was hankering for a curry. Everyone I had spoken to raved about the place and, Bala, the lady who ran it.

Luckily for me Bala has now opened a sit in restaurant in Tollcross, near the Cameo. She does a vegetarian and non-vegetarian curry a day and plenty of tasty sides, drinks and sweets. Oh and it’s BYOB! The restaurant of colourfully decorated with a quirky chandlers made from glass bottles and the warmest welcome you could imagine. She appeared to remember Martyn as she handed us our menus and told us to help ourselves to drinks from the display fridge. While we were sitting there two other customers came in, a gent who appeared to be a regular (she was asking after his wee son) and a woman who had been traveling and come back to Edinburgh before she traveled home and her first stop (she still had her case with her) was Nutans!

Martyn and I shared the paneer pakora to start, they were spicy with big chunks of paneer and came with two dips. I ordered the vegetarian curry of the day, mixed vegetable daal, it was beautiful, like a massive curry flavoured hug! It had obviously been cooked really slowly and the lentils and totally broken down and make it almost creamy, there were green beans, cauliflower and tomatoes through it and was served with rice. Martyn ordered the chicken korma and Bala asked if he wanted it mild like a traditional korma or spicy, he went for spicy and he loved it! As we had to rush of to Liquid Rooms there was no time to stop and savor the sweets but we'll have to next time. So both our curries, two drinks and a starter came to less than £20 which we though was fantastic, especially with the quality and atmosphere of this charming restaurant. I would highly recommend it and I'm already looking forward to going back.

Date Night – Serrano Manchego

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

Leith Market Adventure

Well its finally time for my first blog post. It’s taken me a while to get the guts to start writing and get organised. My first article is about our trip to the Leith Market.

A little background for you guys – Martyn (my bearded companion) and I have recently moved in together after going out for about a year. We have a fab wee place just of Leith Walk and we’ve decided to make the most of the local area but finding a free weekend if very nearly impossible. I’d found out about the market at Dock Place from one of my colleagues, it’s right by her flat. I already enjoy a trip to the Sunday Stockbridge Market but often forgot about it or was too wrapped up in Sunday Bruch to make it down the road.

Leith market only started on the 11^th of July and we were away then and by some miracle we found ourselves without plans his weekend. I proposed the plan during the week, which involved food so Martyn was in, and Saturday afternoon arrived and we headed down. It was a pretty sunny but windy day so I donned my vintage polka dot navy dress, new white sandals from Primark and my vintage woven straw bag, it’s nice and big for produce and off we went. The market is about a 20 minute walk from the flat, though Leith and to the shore.

The Market is at Dock Place by Customs House down at the shore, there were several stalls, not as many as it’s Stockbridge counterpart but I hopefully it’ll grow as it becomes more popular. We arrived just before 2pm so the hot food stalls and vans were busy with people eating amazing looking food around them, there was Mexican, African and the French creperie. The makers stalls were buzzing with prints, crafty trinkets and brick-a-brac, I saw some adorable vintage handbags. The show stoppers were the fruit and veg and bakery stalls, we bought some lovely nectarines,  eyed up some amazing looking brownies and bagged a couple of very tasty pastries from Au Gourmand. Perthshire Preserves were there with their award winning jams and chutneys, I’ve had their spiced plum and apple chutney before and their hot banana chutney has to be tasted, Delish! We also grabbed a jar of Chipotle Ketchup from Gusto Artisan Foods, it’s smoky, sweet with a little kick at the end.

All in all our trip was a great success! I would definitely recommend having a wonder down and checking it out. I’m already looking forward to heading back and sampling some of the food stalls, particularly the Mexican food and the brownies, possibly checking if the handbags are still there.

Leith Market - Saturdays from 10am until 5pm - Dock Place EH6 6LU -Website