Restaurant review: The Stockbridge Restaurant, Edinburgh

By GABY SOUTAR
Published on Monday 13 February 2012 00:00

WHEN it comes to romance this Valentine’s Day, just follow your heart. Actually, don’t bother.

Instead, type “romantic restaurant Edinburgh” into Google. Scroll down a little and you’ll find the Stockbridge Restaurant.

Book a table for dinner, dust off your pulling pants, collar your intended. Sorted.

When my partner Rolf and I visited this place – which is owned by head chef Jason Gallagher and his other half, Jane Walker – it seemed that other couples had followed this pragmatic “cyber lurve recipe”.

Almost every sitting was pour deux, with a yellow rose (a Victorian symbol of jealousy, apparently) in a crystal vase on each white linen-clad table.

The atmosphere is, indeed, conducive to amour. Perfectly twinkly. The basement venue, painted black, feels cossetting, rather than cellar-like, with a vaulted ceiling and walls that feature oversized mirrors and primary coloured prints of Cadell paintings.

Usually, the dishes on the a la carte are around the £20 mark. However, they offer a Sunday night menu (two courses for £19.95 and three for £23.95) and, on that particular weekday, you can also BYOB (£4 for regular vino, £5 for champers), which keeps costs down.

Beware, however, as there are quite a few price supplements.

From the choice of five starters, which included crab beignet, soup or a venison terrine (all no additional charge), we went for the tea-smoked duck breast (£2 supplement) and the seared monkfish (£3 extra).

I could smell the former before it landed, as there was a waft of smoky lapsang souchong. This essence had been absorbed by four pink petals of duck and was offset by the sweetness of a dollop of a pickled red cabbage and fig chutney.

Beside this offering, and alongside a puck of rustic confit quacker, was a nougatine of melty foie gras, which had been rolled in a nutty, sea-salty topping and was melting onto a disc of toasted brioche.

Rolf’s option featured juicy nuggets of monkfish tail alongside hunks of pork belly, which were accessorised by black pudding buttons. The earthy and burly depth of this dish was lifted by a smudge of sweet parsnip purée and a dribble of absinthe-coloured cider vinegar syrup.

If our starters were marriage material, our mains were hot dates with GSOHs.

My seared seabass (£3 supplement) consisted of two crispy skinned fillets of soft fish. These were surrounded by a comedic collection of tall and prehistoric looking potatoes (pink fir apples, a heritage variety), which were upended on the plate, their knobbly heads topped with dinky tempura squid halos.

They looked funny (I am easily amused), but tasted as potatoey as Mr Potato himself, with a waxy yellow interior. Perfect alongside slices of a rather spicy chorizo, angular wedges of beetroot, and a couple of 5p sized dots of aioli (more of that please).

Our other main – roast crown of partridge – starred the Iggy Pop of game, as he was a rather sinewy fellow, with rubbery skin. Rolf felt in need of a steak knife. However, he did point out that the meat tasted great, and was soft enough, once it’d been properly disassembled. It came with a rich red wine casserole containing mushrooms and carrots, plus a couple of confit partridge legs.

There were also breezeblocks of a buttery “potato terrine”, with tightly packed tattie strata. Gorgeous.

Next up, and the trio of chocolate had my name on it. An isosceles of “chocolate treacle tart” was a malty treat, with a beautifully crisp yellow pastry. There was also a steamy and liquid-hearted mini chocolate fondant, not to mention a ball of not too sickly “white chocolate ice-cream”, dappled with biscuit crumbs.

While I tackled this, my other half shovelled in his plum and nut crumble, which was lovely, if a little too wet (and not particularly nutty). It came with a mini jug full of vanilla-flecked “sauce” and a scoop of not entirely unpleasantly medicinal-tasting pistachio ice-cream.

Still, this place is almost perfect and its chef understands how to create elegant, crowd-pleasing dishes that show as much restraint as they do skill.

There’s never any excessive seasoning or showing-off, so ingredients are allowed to shine. Sometimes he even lets a humble potato be the star of the show.

I think Rolf and I might be a little bit in love with Jason Gallagher.

• The Stockbridge Restaurant 54 St Stephen Street Edinburgh 0131 226 6766

Dinner for two, excl. drinks: £55.90

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