Restaurant review: Atrium Restaurant, Edinburgh

How much?

Dinner for two, excluding drinks 87

There had been a butchery demonstration only a few hours before I visited The Atrium. It had involved a newly-dispatched pig from Gorgie City Farm being disassembled and then cooked up for lunch, with similar events planned for the future. So, yours truly decided to visit for dinner instead as, when it comes to the bare bones of the matter, I'm a wuss.

Still, the concept, from Slow Food Edinburgh and Neil Forbes, executive chef of Edinburgh's Atrium, Blue and Caf St Honore, doesn't surprise me. I've chatted to Forbes before and he is passionate (indeed, pernickety) about local ingredients. So much so, he refuses to use French terms on the menu – crme brle is usurped by baked custard and, one supposes, hors d'oeuvres by pony's blanket (or whatever the literal translation is).

It has, however, been aeons since I last visited this place, which was established in 1993 and shares a building with the Traverse Theatre. Since it's rather pricey, I tend to think of it as the sort of venue you go to on the eve of your engagement, bat mitzvah or graduation. Which is why I sported my finery, when my sister, Louisa and I visited. And then felt a bit daft, as all the other diners were dressed down, including my post-office sibling who was in jeans.

It soon became apparent, too, that the service is unexpectedly low-key. There was no faffing around us, as we ordered our starters of Campbeltown scallops (13.50) and wild wood pigeon (11.50), which turned out to consist of portions that were more truck-stop than fine-dining. I mean that as a compliment.

My entre (sorry Neil, starter) consisted of chunks of pink game, accompanied by wedges of earthy beetroot and dollops of stewed rhubarb. I especially loved the imaginative undergrowth of a wild herb salad simply dressed with black pepper, and tasting mainly of lemony sorrel.

"Mine is the best starter I've ever had," was the surprise comment from my sister, who is usually the queen of faint praise. She reported that her sweet scallops, with corals still intact, contrasted beautifully with shredded Stornoway black pudding, plus zingy pickled kale and a smudge of onion cream.

For our choice of main course, my sibling and I clashed antlers over the Perthshire roe deer (24.50). Unusually, for the runt of the herd, I won.

My dish consisted of a brick of potato dauphinoise, topped by a metallic venison kidney. Beside this iron-rich offering were five slices of gamey meat, which had been fanned over some purple sprouting broccoli. This made for a chest-beatingly blokey dish; I felt as if I was sprouting stubble as I ate. Just to reinforce the testosterone theme, my plate also featured a ruggedly dense venison sausage.

Louisa received a stag, too. Except hers was a piggy version, to go with her dish of free-range pork belly (22.50). As well as an unctuously fatty disc of braised meat, this offering also consisted of a pile of creamy mash and some more of the magenta-tipped broccoli. Despite the fact that the dish seemed pricey, she thought it was worth every penny.

After lingering over five tempting confections on the Atrium's pudding menu, my fickle finger hovered above the orange posset with chocolate and cobnut biscuit (7.50), before settling on Highland crowdie and ginger cheesecake (7.50). This was a wise choice, as its silky topping had a tinge of milky freshness and its dark biscuity base was buttery and crumbly.

My little sister was just as pleased with her enormous dark chocolate pudding (7.50), which was the size of a small moggy. As soon as she punctured it with a spoon, the smell of hot cocoa wafted across our table.

So, after six big fat portions of non-pretentious yet inventive grub (with bangers on the side), we had to admit that we'd acted like a pair of Gorgie hogs – a fitting tribute to the earlier post-mortem.

Three to try

The Arches Caf Bar and Restaurant

253 Argyle Street, Glasgow (0141-565 1000, www.thearches.co.uk)

Visit for a bite before the theatre and save with the Ticket and Meal offers.

The Byre Theatre

Abbey Street, St Andrews, Fife (01334 475 000, www.byretheatre.com

Grab something light to eat at this five-star bistro which is open from 10am-9:30pm, for post-culture snack-attacks.

Foyer Restaurant and Gallery

82a Crown Street, Aberdeen (01224 582 277, www.foyerrestaurant.com)

Any profit made here supports Aberdeen Foyer, a charity fighting homelessness.

This article was first published in The Scotsman on 22 May.