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 - 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