Iris

Iris - Eating out in Edinburgh

For the last week we were in Edinburgh, my lovely boyfriend treated me to dinner. I had the task of picking where to go, and thought I would search what Thistle Street had to offer. Thistle Street is a road running between George Street and Victoria Street and is packed with lots of lovely restaurants.

Eyeing up the menu, this definitely seemed like the best choice.  If you want to go there I would definitely recommend making reservations. We watched couple after couple walk in and ask for a table, and told to come back two hours later if they wanted a seat. Very popular!

For starters I opted for Pork Belly. The pork itself was in strips, lying on a small bed of salad. I think I received a fairly generous helping. It had a honey glaze, and looked lovely. The boyfriend had a smoked duck salad starter. He wasn’t particularly impressed with it, as there was very little duck on the dish.

The main meals were a lot better. I had roasted duck with raspberries and drambule. And oh my! It was so good. The duck was perfect. Very pink, and I was impressed with just how well duck and raspberries go together. The perfect combo. The boyfriend had a rack of lamb, rare again and cooked to perfection. We were very happy with the meat, the side however were a total let down, and I feel they kind of ruined the meal. Normally you would expect to be served a bowl of extra vegetables or something in addition of the meal. Not at Iris though. You have to buy sides as you literally only receive the meat. This wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if the sides actually go with the dished, but they weren’t brilliant options. We decided that the sweet potato fries would be best, they did the trick, but I’m sure that Iris could come up with a lot more flattering sides.

After some deliciously tender meat it was time to fill the sweet pocket. I opted for Chocolate Key lime Pie. It was so good! I’m always a sucker for key lime pie, and the addition of chocolate made it too tough to refuse. It was wonderful. A raspberry sauce and icing sugar decorated the plate to make the whole thing look even better.

What I think:

The food was really, really good. The mains cost about £13 for the Duck, £17 for the lamb (bill totalled at £68 with drinks), which is what you expect to pay on Thistle Street. Desserts were good and pretty cheap.  When the waiting staff deliver the bill you are also given an envelope that goes to an Edinburgh charity for the homeless, which I think is a very nice touch. They could probably do with having more than two staff serving, as sometimes we were left for a while longer than we should have been to be asked about desserts/ serve desserts, but they were both very pleasant. I would recommend this place, but I would be tempted to check it out on lunchtime as you can get a three-course meal for 14.99. Barry bargain! Like I said at the very start, you need to make a reservation too. It’s so busy. Would recommend and give a 7.5/10 

Holyrood 9A

Eating out in Edinburgh

The Holyrood 9A

It’s August which means Edinburgh has sprung into Fringe life! Woooo! The biggest Arts festival in the world is on my doorstep (for the next two weeks, as I am soon to be moving!).

The boyfriend and I went on a date night on the 1^st Of Aug, which was the opening of the preview shows. We went to see David O’Doherty which was a laugh a minute. The show was at pleasance, situated around a step hilly corner from HolyRood 9A, a place you must check out if you like super brilliant quality burgers. They also have a large list of beer and ales.

After a good bit of pondering I decided that the “Pioneer” would be my burger of choice. A 6oz burger, sautéed rosemary scented wild mushrooms, crispy

bacon, Swiss cheese & Garlic mayo. It sounded dreamy, tasted dreamy, and was very messy to eat! The burgers are presented on a wooden block, with a cup of chips (very good size serving) and a small side dish of red cabbage coleslaw. The burger itself was so juicy and full of flavor, especially with long stems of rosemary running throughout for a big hit of flavor. The only thing I think could do with improving would be better chips, perhaps some big chunky wedges with lots of tasty herbs all over them.  The staff were great, very attentive, quick to serve us, and take our orders. The restaurant was clean, nicely presented with interesting artwork over the walls. It’s safe to say it’s not the cheapest burger place in Edinburgh, but I’m pretty certain few would do it better! 8/10 for sure!