Date Night - Al Dente

It feels like an age since our last date night at Saiko Kitchen back in July! August as a crazy with trips to London and and Bristol and some crazy flat hunting. The good news is that we found a flat, its not far from our current rented flat so the move should be easy and it has a second bedroom so we'll have a bit more space to breath (and craft). So brace yourselves for more DIY tutorials for the new place. I've already starting new Pinterest boards you can check them by clicking the badge on the side bar.

The Rules of Date Night

Martyn and I started ‘Date Night’ over a year ago when we were still living in Tollcross, Edinburgh. 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 after 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.

It feels like an age since our last date night at Saiko Kitchen back in July! August was a crazy with trips to London and and Bristol and some crazy flat hunting, thank goodness its over now. It was September before we managed the next date night, we went back to local and headed towards Easter Road again for some Italian.

About Al Dente 

Al Dente is a tiny wee restaurant right on Easter Road it's after the first up on shops just before you go over the rail tracks going down the road. It's been there for a while but if you blinked you'd miss it. They pride themselves on 'Pure Italian food' and that means fresh made pasta and traditional Italian flavours. They have a wide ranging menu of the usual suspects; pasta, risotto salads etc but also a large specials board too. 

The Food and Drinks

So I've recently joined a slimming group so I was trying to make 'wise choices' on date night, by the main course that was out the window and a glass of the house red was en route to our table. FYI the house red was delicious and next time I'll be ordering the bottle. 

To start I had the Bruschetta Classica and Martyn ordered the Sformatino di patate e salumi. The bruschetta was beautifully, fresh bread topped with tasty tomato, basil and garlic. Martyn's starter was an oven baked potato tart with cured meat and topped with mozzarella. Our starteds disappeared into our faces so fast I didn't even get a chance to photograph them...

For our mains we went very traditional, Spaghetti alla Carbonara for Martyn and Pumkin stuffed Ravioli with Sage and Parmesan for me. 

The carbonara was served in a good sized portion of spaghetti with cheese, pancetta, and plenty of black  pepper, it was gone in no time! My ravioli was stuffed with smooth and sweet pumpkin, very seasonal and smothered in, not very slimming, sage butter and parmesan. 

By this point the wise choices were out of the window and the vino was in hand as well as the Desserts menu. As you'll know from the Origano review I'm a sucker for tiramisu so it was ordered along with a Gelati misti, Chocolate ice cream with hazelnut and chocolate sauce, for Martyn. 

Unfortunately the cream in my tiramisu had turned, I mentioned it to the waiter (the only waiter) as soon as I realised and he was very apologetic and took it straight away returning to apologise again and ask if there was anything I'd prefer. He also pointed out he'd forgotten to mention the dessert special which was an amaretti semifreddo. Boom! Done! I love anything amaretti and ordered it without seeing the menu again.

It was delicious, creamy, sweet and all I could have asked for. I finished it off with my glass of wine feeling satisfied and full.

Round up and Atmosphere

Well as I'm sure you can tell I was quite impressed by Al Dente, apart from one hiccup, they were amazing. They were short staffed but everyone was getting the attention they needed and the food was fresh and seasonal. 

We both thought it would be a great choice for a big family meal or a big bunch of friends catching up over great food and wine. 

They also do pre theatre and great deals. If you pop down and check it out let me know what you think of it

xxx

Al Dente -139 Easter Road Edinburgh EH7 5QA - Tel: 0131 - 6521 932

Date Night - Rivage

The Rules of Date Night

Martyn and I started ‘Date Night’ over a year ago when we were still living in Tollcross, Edinburgh. 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 after 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.

This month we headed along to Easter Road to check out Rivage. We had been recommended it by our friends The Knoxigans a couple weeks ago when we met up with them and their new pup Marvin, he's the cutest. 

I wore my Forever21 stripy skirt, Dorothy Perkins bardot top, red cardie, mary janes and it's hard to see but my tights have tiny wee hearts all over them! I'd been to Lipstick, Lashes and Locks after work to get my hair cut and the lovely Tina had curled it for me too. I did a quick roll at the front to keep my hair out of my face, some big flicks and red lips. I grabbed my bright red Cambridge Satchel push lock bag and we legged it along the road to dinner. 

About Rivage 

Rivage it at the top end of Easter Road and I must have walked past it 100 times, I used to spend a lot of time in The Mash Tun pub quizzing a couple years back, they do a great quiz and some pretty decent food too. Anyway I've walked past plenty of times and it's always smelt pretty tasty but it doesn't look like much from the outside but always seemed pretty busy. 

The contrast between the inside and outside is vast! All the table and chairs are quality chunky dark teak, well accessorised with carved partitions and features, you can see the tandoor oven in the corner from nearly every seat in the restaurant, it's great to see them preparing your naan bread and receiving it pipping hot. 

The Food and Drinks

Rivage is BYOB but they also have a small bar serving a selection of drinks. We weren't in the mood for a bottle of wine so just ordered drinks there, I had a bottle of Kingfisher and Martyn had a pint of diet coke, we also had water brought to the table as soon as we sat down which I really liked. 

We ordered popadoms to start us off and then I had the Aloo Tiki, two patties of pea and mashed potato flavoured with ginger and lightly fried, it came with a salad and riata dressing. Martyn opted for Murgh Tikka Trianga, chicken tikka with done with tree different sauces, mint and coriander, red spices and cashew and cheese. We both loved our starters, they were a very generous size and well presented. 

Once the starters were finished and cleared our mains were soon on their way. We had ordered Gucchi Muttar, Chicken Jalfrezie, Jeera Pilao rice and a Peshwari Naan. My Gucchi Mutar was rich and creamy with large bit of mushroom and plenty of peas and was seriously tasty, Martyn's Jalfrezie had great chunks of chicken in a sauce of crushed spices and stir-fried peppers. He loved his and eat the whole dish with the beautifully cooked rice. 

The Peshwari was a revelation to me, I never order it because I'm concerned it'll have meat or worse raisins (I hate raisins with a passion, especially when they are hidden in things like apple muffins and carrot cake). This naan was delicious, after Martyn convinced me to order it, stuffed with almond and cashew paste it was delicately sweet and really balanced the meal out. 

We didn't even look at the sweets menu as we were fit to burst after all of that food, we paid our very reasonable bill and rolled back along the road full and happy.

Round up and Atmosphere

Above is the moment we realised that I hadn't stopped to capture the meal when it arrived and we'd just dived into it! I would highly recommend Rivage for a night when only a good curry will do, the food was tasty and fresh, the service was unbelievably attentive but did not boarder on intrusive and it's BYOB.

It was noted in 6 of the best Indian Restaurants in Edinburgh but the Scotsman Food and Drink, of which we have been to 5 of now. We are considering an 'away game' date night to go the the last on the list Kalpna soon so keep your eyes peeled. 

If you head to Rivage then let me know what you think! 

xxx

Rivage - 126–130 Easter Road, Edinburgh, EH7 5RJ - 0131 661 6888

Date Night - The Compass

The Rules of Date Night

Martyn and I started ‘Date Night’ about a year 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 after 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.

About the Compass Bar and Restaurant

The Compass Bar is in the heart of Leith on the corner of Queen Charlotte Street and Constitution Street. It's recently had a refurb and they have extended the old bar to include a restaurant at the back. The new space is full of great lighting, exposed brick work and massive art work giving it an airy New York Loft feel.

The Compass Bar pride themselves on using locally sourced and seasonal ingredients so the menu is constantly changing, they have also recently expanded their selection of wines and craft ales behind the bar. All the food is made to order in the kitchen that you can see right into at the back of the restaurant.

I wore my new Dorothy Perkins black and white stripped Bardot style dress with my Denim jacket and now Resin Rainbow earings and matching brooch. I love this outfit, its so comfy and easy to dress up and down.

The Food and Drinks

Martyn and I arrived and were directed through to the restaurant from the cosy welcoming bar, we were met by our waitress and offered a selection of tables and I choose one near the kitchen where we could see the whole place. The menus that we were given were different to the one we'd looked at online*, we were a little disappointed we'd not get to try the Spiced Veterinarian Haggis and Cous Cous burger but there were still plenty of tasty options.

We ordered our drinks, I went for a pint of Innes & Gunn that they have on tap in the bar and Martyn had a blackcurrant and lemonade. After a fair bit of debating about the menu we finally decided on the Halloumi, Red Pepper and Pesto burger for me and Martyn went for the BBQ burger, they both came with chunky chips. My burger was amazing! It was total Halloumi karma after our last date night at Pera, there were 2 or 3 chunky slices of cheese with juicy, sweet grilled red peppers and delicious fresh basil pesto. The chunky chips were thick cut, fluffy in the middle and crispy on the outside. Maryn's burger was huge, larger than the brioche bun it was served in, dripping with BBQ sauce and Cheese and filled with Bacon. We were both very happy with our mains and decided to have a peek and the dessert menu.

After Dinner Delights

It doesn't take much to convince us to have dessert and looking at the menu we spied a couple of our favorites. I ordered the Apple Pie with Custard and Martyn chose the Lemon Cheese Cake that came with a Berry compote. The Apple Pie was lovely, lots of thing layers of sliced apple with a sweet cinnamon flavour and lattice pastry top, the custard came in a separate wee pot which meant Martyn got to try some pie before I smothered it in the custard. Mayrtn enjoyed his cheese cake and it was delicious and creamy and was a huge piece but it wasn't lemon. I think they must have run out or confused it with a vanilla one, either way it was delicious and had a buttery biscuit base. 

Once we had settled our bill we wondered through to the bar area and decided to stop for a last drink before heading up the road. They have a good selection of spirits behind the bar, we opted for a Gentleman Jack for Martyn and a Tia Maria for me, I'm going through a Tia Maria and Coke phase - I think its the cold snap were having and its nice and warming. We found bar stools and a table in the corner and enjoyed our drinks. 

Round up and Atmosphere

The Compass is a really nice bar and restaurant, it looked as though you can eat in the cosy bar as well as the more formal restaurant area which would be lovely in the evening by the fireplace. The atmosphere is relaxed and the staff were attentive and friendly, especially the bar lady. It won points with Martyn as they are also dog friendly too. 

We'd defiantly go back with friends for an afternoon pub lunch or even brunch, they do a fully veggie breakfast!  

They are very good at keeping their Facebook and Twitter up to date with their specials and daily deals so its worth checking them out too.

If you head down let me know what you think! 

xxx

*Looking now the link to the menu we looked at is out of order.

Date Night - Pera Turkish Mangal & Meze Bar

It's date night again! Mostly because I was so late in posting last month...

I thought as my first date night post was 8 months and 3 pages ago I thought I would do a reminder of the date night rules;

Once a month on or close to 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.

This month we went to went to Pera on Leith Walk, it's a Turkish Mangal and Meze Bar. We popped along last Thurday after a hard days work. I wore my black and floral dress that I picked up in the New Look sale at Christmas time with my purple cardie and my black Mary Janes from Primark (that you cant see in this photo very well but are super comfy and just a bit classier that a basic flat pump). I also had on one of my favorite necklaces that friends bought me for my 30th, it has 3 wee birds on a branch in silver.

Martyn had booked our table for 7pm, we left the flat at 10 minutes to and still had time to pop past Odbins on the walk and pick up a bottle of Casa Lluch Tempranillo 2012, which was recommended by the assistant in there. On arrival we were offered a choice of tables as it was only half full and given our menus, moments later the waitress was back with water for both of us and wine glasses which she pored the wine into for us.

Unsurprisingly being a Mangal (Turkish for Barbecue) there weren't a great selection of vegetarian dishes, there were 2 main courses and some salads that I'd love to try come summer and I think there were a few in the cold meze but there wasn't a menu of when they had. Martyn was in his element. For starters we ordered Sigara Boregi, filo pastry filled with cheese and parsley lightly fried, and  Halloumi and Sucuk, sucuk is a spicy Turkish Sausage. They both came in good time and were beautifully presented. The sucuk was thinly sliced and placed on top of the halloumi and Martyn loved them! My Sigara Boregi was delicious and light, I even shared them with Martyn.

He chose the Chicken Şiş (chicken kebab) and I went with the Vegetarian Kebab - Charcoal BBQ grilled marinated seasonal vegetables & halloumi with a yogurt sauce. It was beautiful! The aubergine melted, the couscous had the most amazing aromatic flavour and the yogurt dip was creamy and gralicky. The only thing that let it down was how little halloumi was on my plate, after the amount in the meaty starter I was a little disappointed to only have one piece on my plate. Martyn devoured his and also agreed that the couscous was delicious. We opted out on desert as we were both pretty full after all of that food!

Over all the place was charming, the waitress was attentive and made sure our wine glasses were never empty and the food was very tasty. I'm not sure I'll be rushing back but I would definitely recommend it to meat eating friends.

Date Night - Tapa

Martyn and I had our January date night a couple weeks ago now but with trips to see family up north and down south this month has flown by! We finally made it to Tapa down at the shore, I'd been recommended it by friends at work months ago and had a peek at the menu which is very vegetarian friendly.

Warm welcome at Tapa

It was nice to have it on a Sunday night as I had time to get ready instead of my usual after work rush. I wore my new (to me) vintage style navy with polka dot hearts dress on it, I picked it up in the Cancer Research shop in Tollcross on Friday on my way to Martyn's office. It from Tu at Sainsbury's originally and I nabbed it for £3.95! I paired it with a wee red belt and my red cardigan for our evening out.

We headed down to Tapa for 7pm, it's not too far from the flat and just of Henderson Street. We were welcomed into a quiet restaurant and asked where we would like to sit, we chose the corner near the window and a radiator. Tapa is tastefully decorated, very simple and clean with flowers and candles on the tables.

Our waitress came and took our drinks order and explained the menu to us. I ordered a lovely glass of a tempranillo and we settles on the suggested dinner set menu as which is £25 a head but includes most of the items we fancied and had been recommended. To start you get bread with pesto, hummus and oil and vinegar, a selection meats and cheeses. Followed by a green salad, crispy aubergine drizzled in honey, patatas bravas and two choices of tapas each. I chose the asparagus spears and the avocado and chickpea salad and Martyn picked the chorizo and the chicken skewers. It also included a trio of deserts each but we'll get to that later.

They were very vegetarian friendly at Tapa and served the meats and cheeses starter on separate platers for me, yes I did share some of the cheese with Martyn... The pesto was unbelievable, so fresh and bursting with flavor and I love oil and balsamic with fresh bread, although the bread did resemble a pair of boobs when it was presented to us!

Boob bread! 

It was at this point in the evening I was treated to a surprise guest! My boss! I work in a school and just as the plates from our started were being cleared my ears perked up as the recognisable tones of the school Principal wafted through the door. My instant thoughts where 'No it can't be...' and 'Quick! Look busy'. Then because I had smiled and waved the waitress seemed to think it was a good idea to seat him on the next table. He came over and I introduced him to Martyn, had a wee bit of chat and he joked that he hoped we had just finish because having your boss next to you can kill the romance, I pointed out that we had just finished our starters and at that point he asked the waitress if they could move tables. It was nice to see him and for Martyn to put a name to a face but I was also relieved he decided to sit elsewhere.

Not long after our that mains arrived, first the green salad and the aubergine, then the patatas and asparagus followed by the meats and avocado salad. The aubergine was delicious crisp and sweet, the patatas bravas were lovely and rich and the asparagus spears were perfectly cooked and complimented with roasted yellow pepper salsa and cherry tomato jam. My highlight was the avocado salad, the chickpeas were tasty and crunchy and the avocado was creamy and soft with crisp salad leaves and almond slices and topped with balsamic glaze and sesame seeds - I would go back for the salad alone! Martyn loved the chorizo and the chicken skewers too. Everything was tasty and fresh.

Delicious crispy aubergine 

Once we had consumed all that it was time for desert! The set menu included a trio of deserts that turned up on a saucer, there was lemon cheesecake in the espresso cup with a chocolate bonbon and pistachio macaroon on the side. The cheesecake was beautifully creamy and sharp in one spoonful, the chocolate bonbon was a dark shell filled with smooth ganache and the macaroon was perfect with a crisp shell and gooey chewy center. Martyn had never had a macaroon before and seemed to think he'd not like them, he tried to give it to me but I made him try it and he loved it (I was a little gutted because pistachio one are my favorite).

Our Tapa experience was amazing, I would totally recommend popping down to the shore to check it out. We're already trying to find excuses to go back! 

2015

Well that's it folks 2015 is drawing to an end, what a year it's been. I've been very lucky this year, I've seen some great friends get married, said 'see you later' to others who have moved away.

Traveled the UK visiting friends and family, had a visit from my bestie and her hubby and Martyn and I moved into the wee flat we now call home.

I think 2016 will have a lot to live up to. Martyn and I are planning on taking our first steps onto the property ladder. I'm going to put more effort into this blog and the work I have been doing with Time Out Edinburgh and we'll be saving all the pennies we can to go to Australia in summer 2017 to go and visit that bestie I mentioned.

My Instagram #2015bestnine

Keep your eyes peeled for a couple of tutorial squirreled away over the festive period and to the Date Night posts and Wish List Wednesday will be back in a monthly form rather than weekly. I've learnt a lot about blogging this year and I'm looking forward to learning even more in the next 12 months!

Have a great New Year everyone and I'll see you in 2016 xxx

Out of the Blue Flea Market

A couple weeks ago I popped along to the Out of the Blue Flea Market at the Drill Hall on Dalmeny Street in Leith. It’s an monthly event with different stall holder each time. It starts at 10am and carries on until 3pm on the last Saturday of the month, 28th of November this month.

Me channeling Lucy from Narnia

I’d been once before a couple years ago with my cousins and now that we are living in Leith I really wanted to go back for a nosy. We turned up at 11am and the Flea Market was in full swing. The Drill Hall was buzzing, the café was busy with folk drinking tea and chatting and we walked through into the main hall past the display cabinets full of local artists work for sale.

There were stalls selling all sorts, from home wares to haberdashery and, my favourite, vintage fashions. As usual I was drawn in by the shiny things and started riffling through boxes of old brooches and necklaces, swooning over the 50’s sewing boxes that we have no room for in our wee flat. Martyn was more interested in the records and petting the dogs that were there.

I like to have a plan with this kind of event, the rules were once around the hall looking but not buying and sussing out sellers, then second time around if it’s still there then it’s meant to be and then you buy, with possible haggling if required.

It took a while to get around the hall as we were chatting to the stall holders (one of them told me I looked like Lucy from Narnia) and having a good rake around the clothes rails. We pick a lovely set of 3 Pyrex dishes from the 70's that had never been used and were still in their original box for a tenner, I nabbed some clip on earrings that I plan making into collar clips and the Ladybird Book about Stamp Collecting for a friend. Martyn grabbed some music equipment and a Soul Jazz Records bag for under £25, he was very chuffed.

Over all it was a resounding success and I'm looking forward to heading back to Out of the Blue for the Vintage Kilo Sale held by Judy’s Affordable Vintage Fairs on the Saturday (21st November). 

Out of the Blue Flea Market - Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 36 Dalmeny St, Edinburgh, EH6 8RG 

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

Date Night - Bodega

Last week Martyn and I stopped by Bodega for this months date night. Bodega is a tiny Mexican taqueria on Leith Walk that you'd miss if you blinked walking pass, there are only a handful of tables so it's worth booking. Tacos are their game and damn they are good at it. The menu has a Mexican theme but don't be fooled into thinking that's all they do. Bodega will put all kinds of food in their gluten free soft tacos, we are talking Jamaican, Thai, super foods, what ever they like. There a standard menu but also a specials board in the restaurant with 3 to 4 extra tacos on it. Oh and did I mention its BYOB? I wore my big floral New Look midi skirt, pointed t-bar flats and black t-shirt, I didn't want to be too fancy for a Thursday in Leith. I added some big hair and my really old tv handbag that I bought with I was a teenager but still love, you can change the photo in the front so I popped the picture of my friend Kyle and I on an adventure in the Tardis.

I booked a table for 7:30 and we headed up the road via Oddbins of a bottle of vino. On arrival there were 3 other tables in and spotted our's quickly as it was the only 2 seater left. We were greeted by the owner/manager/waiter/glass cleaner who welcomed us and showed us to the table. We were handed our menus, shown the specials board and asked if we needed wine glassed. We eyed up the menu and specials, at this point it became obvious that Martyn has spent time perusing the menu earlier that day as he knew exactly what he wanted. 

We ordered the guacamole and the cheese and black bean dips to share as starters, they came with a mountain of tortilla chips on the side. The guacamole was smooth and creamy with a bit of a kick and the black bean dip came warm and topped with fresh chillies, red onion ad micro coriander, it was delicious and comforting at the same time. For mains they recommend you order 2 plates of tacos each. Martyn ordered the smokey maple and pineapple pulled pork tacos and carne asada steak which was slow cooked steak with a chipotle glaze, he said they were very tasty and there was hardly a crumb left on his plate. I had the avocado tempura with wasabi mayo and slaw as well as the charred broccoli, kohlrabi puree, pickled neeps, sunflower seeds and crispy kale tacos.  My tacos were amazing! The avocado tempura were soft in the middle and crispy on the outside the slaw was fresh and crunchy but the charred broccoli one was my favourite. The broccoli was beautifully charred, the pickled neeps were bursting with lime flavour and the crispy kale was so tasty that I even managed to get Martyn to try some. 

Avocado Tempura tacos

The atmosphere of the place was really nice and we were well looked after, checked on but not bothered, Martyn didn't want everything that came in one of his tacos and they were very accommodating. After we had been there a wee while the other tables disappeared and it end up just the two of us in the restaurant which actually quite nice. The music was really laid back and chilled and we were made to feel very welcome. 

We were offered desert after our plates were cleared and we knew we would be having the churros, I said we'll have one to share, Martyn said we'd have one each, once again I repeated my order and Martyn his in a joking way and we were appeased and offered 4 churros in the one cup which I agreed to and did not regret! They were the best churros we've had in Edinburgh, warm fluffy in the inside with a bit of crunch on the outside with a delicious warm chocolate sauce. 

Mmmm Churros

It was such a refreshing change to have Mexican food that was fresh and bright with an interesting twist, the atmosphere was chilled and friendly. Great for a date night or even an evening with friends. Also thanks to Bodega for letting me use there photos, the nice lighting in the place didn't make for nice photos. 

Bodega - 62 Elm Row, Edinburgh, EH7 4AQ - 0131 556 7930 - www.ilovebodega.com

Date Night - Origano

Last Thursday was our second Leith based date night and we headed down the walk to our local Italian restaurant Origano. The restaurant has recently move down and across the road from 277 to 236 to a larger premises. I’d been eyeing it up before they had moved as we had been out exploring Leith, the shutter had a really nice mural on it and was always pretty busy. It was quite quickly put on the date night list.

As date night rolled back around this month we decided it had to be Oregano, one of the ladies in the office had been with family and recommended it, she said the portions were large which is always a good selling point with us!

I got home after work and curled my hair and popped in some wee victory rolls, pulled out my H! by Henry Holland navy dress with red and white swirls on it (I love it because the swirls look like sweets), my red cardigan and my vintage satchel.

We headed down Leith Walk to Oregano for 8:15 (we booked earlier that day and it was all we could get) We were greeted at the door by a man who appeared to be one of the managers/owners who took my name and lead us to two tables and gave us the choice, obviously I chose the window seat. The restaurant was very busy and but the tables weren’t crammed in so we didn’t feel as though we were crushed in. The place was dimly light with large lamp shades and red candles in old bottles. The interior was warm and welcoming with the kitchen open for everyone to see the beautiful purple pizza oven in the far corner.

We ordered our drinks, a large glass of house red for me and an Appetizer for the fella. We settled on 4 cheese garlic bread to share as a starter, the bread was fluffy baguette style with gooey, melty, garlicky cheese on top, it was amazing and the house red tasted superb with it. For our mains we both ordered pizza’s (Martyn took a long time deciding between pizza and lasagne), I had the Origano with tomato, mozzarella, onion, mushroom, red pepper, black olives, santos tomatoes, garlic and parsley and he had Vesuvio  with tomato, mozzarella, diced pancetta, pepperoni, nduja, onion, jalapenos, chillies, garlic, grana padano and parsley. We both ordered the 14” pizzas as it was the middle size, I’d assumed that the couple next to us were having the same size by looking at them… I was wrong! Two massive pizzas turned up at our table pretty speedily, both oozing with cheese and smelling amazing. They were huge, big enough to share between two with a side salad and the 16” were big enough to feed a family of four! I managed 2/3 of the pizza in front of me and had to stop, mostly because I still wanted to leave room for dessert, Martyn managed ¾ so the lovely waitress boxed up our left overs for us and took our gluttonous pudding orders, I had the most moist and creamy tiramisu and Martyn ordered a great slab of lemon cheesecake with a scoop of raspberry sorbet, both were beautiful.

After we had finished our desserts our plates were cleared and we still had our second round of drinks to finish, Martyn was on the Jack and coke by then, we were left to enjoy our drinks. It must have been after 9pm and people were still arriving for dinner and the place was still buzzing with chatter and flickering candle light. We didn’t feel rushed to finish up and free up the table and the staff were lovely and charming, we paid up and grabbed out left overs box and slowly made our way back up the Walk.

Overall Origano was a relaxed and very tasty dining experience. Great atmosphere, friendly staff and good value for money. We’ll be back! 

Origano - 236 Leith Walk EH6 5EL - 0131 554 6539

Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair

This weekend Edinburgh was treated to a visit by Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair. I was particularly lucky as they set it up in Out of the Blue and Drill Hall Arts Café on Dalmeny Street, Leith, just a couple streets away from me! It's an amazing space with plenty of natural light and a great atmosphere. I've been to one of Judy's Kilo Sales there and one of their monthly flea markets before and they are great and you can stop for tea and cake at the café too!

 

The Drill Hall

The fair kicked off at 11am and my lovely friend Elaine had agreed to meet me at the hall then, I had spent the morning curly and pinning my hair, picking out one of my favourite dresses, vintage(ish) style but from Primark, I popped on my current favourite sandals of choice and grabbed my big vintage woven straw bag for all my goodies.

Me by the Kirsty Whiten mural.

It was £2 for entry, which I think was the first bargain of the day! We started wondering, and chatting, around the stalls. One of the first we came to had some amazing vintage and retro furniture, great lampshades, working record players, sewing boxes and melamine tables but my flat is already too full so we just admired them and kept going. We trawled through rails of vintage and customised clothes, there were 80's sparklers, lumberjack shirts, shell suits and some absolutely stunning dresses unfortunately nothing quite right for us. We came across a great stall of vintage jewellery, hats, gloves and bags and I fell totally in love with a Lucite clutch bag, it was white pearl with wee brass clasp the made the perfect click when you closed it, £75 was out of my budget but I'm seriously regretting leaving it behind. She had beautiful pillbox hats, cardigan clips and box purse hand bags too. Moving on we passed some amazing vintage inspired jewellery and some great head bands with toy soldiers attached to them.

My major weakness is scarves, any size, colour or shape and I nearly fell head first into a massive box of them trying to dig one out that I'd seen a glimpse of, it was huge and really colourful, I also found a wee pale blue chiffon head scarf with a rain drop pattern on it and bought the two of them for £5 **bargain alert**.

My last purchase of the day was a pair of vintage champagne glasses with Scottish landmarks painted on them. The first one, my one, has Balmoral Castle on one side and Edinburgh Castle on the other, I grew up in Aberdeen and now live in Edinburgh so it's quite fitting. The second one has the Forth Rail Bridge and Loch Lomond on it. I fell in love with them and braced myself while asking how much they were, the lovely stall holder said £6 and I didn't even haggle.

My scarves and champagne glasses.

Overall it was a fabulous fair, absolutely packed with treasures for everyone. I would recommend keeping an eye out for one of Judy's fairs coming to a town near you and if you're in or around Edinburgh then check out the Drill Hall and what’s going on there, the Flea Markets are on the last Saturday of the month 10am-3pm (but not August because of the festival).

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