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 - 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