Restaurant review: Old Chain Pier, Edinburgh

Old Chain Pier

32 Trinity Crescent, Newhaven, Edinburgh, EH5 3ED (0131-552 4960, www.oldchainpier.com)

Bill please

Starters £3.50-£7.95

Main courses £9.95-£16.95

Puddings £2.50-£4.95 (cheeseboard £8.95)

Rating

8/10

It’s where the events of the week get sifted over, where there’s usually time to stop and smell the roses, to regroup after the hectic activity of the week.

It’s not necessarily a quick meal to prepare – one of my kids once unwisely suggested that it should only take ten minutes to knock together a roast as it isn’t “real” cooking; he should be out of hospital soon – but it is one of the most satisfying to consume.

Nor is it necessarily about slogging over a hot stove on the home range; indeed, some of my happiest gastronomic moments have come when we as a family have decided to go out to honest, down to earth venues whose Sabbath fare restores one’s faith in the joys of family life.

Just such a place is the Old Chain Pier in Newhaven, a recent chance find which is in severe danger of forcing its way to the top of my list. The first thing that grabs your attention when you arrive is actually nothing to do with the food: it’s the remarkable view. Save for perhaps the Seafood restaurant in St Andrews, nowhere has better sea views. Indeed, when the tide is in and you’re sitting in one of the seats by the huge picture windows, you’re actually right above the water and can look down and see the waves passing underneath you on their way to the shore.

But there’s more to the Old Chain Pier – a historic wood-panelled building which was the ticket office for pleasure cruises on the Firth of Forth between 1821-1838 – than simply its proximity to Newhaven Harbour. This small pub-cum-restaurant was refurbished two years ago and is now one of the most welcoming and engaging waterfront venues in Scotland. It’s also one of the most deceptive, and despite appearing to be about the size of your average public convenience, it can seat a Tardis-like 80 diners, plus a few drinkers supping at the bar from its collection of real ales.

The whole ambience is welcoming and inclusive, that of a real local institution. The staff are unfailingly cheery and engaging, there’s folk music a couple of times each week, the sourcing policy emphasises local produce (the fruit and vegetables, for instance, come from Edinburgh Community Food, which tackles health inequalities in local communities through a raft of initiatives) and you’re warned in advance of the slow food policy – all food gets made to order and so takes a little longer than you might expect.

Although the Old Chain Pier is open in the evenings for more highfalutin fare built around a seafood menu including dishes such as smoked haddock mornay and hake with mussels, I like it best during the day when you can follow the lunchtime chat, idly flick through Sunday papers and watch the world go by. The food is more utilitarian at this time, and although there is no roast on the menu, there are plenty of other classic comfort foods.

On the day I visited with my brother-in-law and a posse of four kids, we took the edge off their hunger with a huge platter of nachos lathered in steak mince, molten cheddar, jalapeños, guacamole and sour cream. This was nothing like the rip-off plates of dry nacho crisps with minimal extras you so often get in pubs. Instead it was as tasty as it was messy.

That set the tone for a meal which was never trying to ascend to the culinary heights but which was exactly what was required on a gloriously autumnal Sunday afternoon. It was immediately apparent from son No 2 Lochie’s huge helping of his favourite dish of eggs benedict (his verdict: as good as any I’ve had) that size would not be an issue, and so it proved.

Meanwhile, Deane’s beef with caramelised onion and black pepper burger was not only deliciously crimson in the centre, it was so extensive that he almost needed a carving knife to dispatch it. I shudder to think how big the Scotsman Burger (served with Stornoway black pudding, haggis and bacon) would be, given that we were warned that people often fail to finish it.

For once, unfinished food was not a problem, and if clean teenagers’ plates are the barometer of a meal’s merit then this one was a roaring success. Uber-fussy daughter Ailsa polished off her smoked haddock, salmon and prawn fishcakes, served with nutmeg-wilted spinach and a lime and coriander dip, in double quick time, while son No 1 Ollie and niece Taisie’s beer battered haddock was so good that it stands comparison with that served at Ratho’s Bridge Inn, which has long been my gold standard for fish and chips.

For me, however, the standout was my chimichurri chicken, a simple dish in which strips of chicken fillet are cooked in herbs and breadcrumbs and then served alongside warm sweet potatoes, toasted cashews, a feta cheese salad and a spicy chutney. Simple, fresh and surprisingly nuanced, this was that rarest and most treasured of things: a dish that I’ve never seen before but which worked perfectly.

The whole experience was one I’d happily repeat at any stage – in fact, I almost certainly will have done so by the time this makes it into print. Apart from the tremendous atmosphere, friendly and informative staff, solid food and wonderful sea views, the Old Chain Pier provides truly impressive value for money, with a meal for two adults and four hungry teenagers, complete with a couple of pints, coming in at less than a hundred pounds.