Restaurant review: The Scottish Restaurant and Café

Meandering through Princes Street Gardens, the weather was unusually bright and sunny, with a slightly sharp, crisp edge to the air – perfect conditions for a visit to the Scottish Restaurant and Café at the National Gallery.

It’s doubtful whether there is anywhere else in central Edinburgh where you can relax so fully and take in the world from such a serene vantage point. Virtually every seat in this 120-cover lunchtime-only café-cum-restaurant looks out on to Princes Street Gardens, and on a glorious day like this one, watching the world amble by was a thing of joy.

The view isn’t the only thing that has contributed to the enduring popularity of this café, on the basement floor of the National Gallery. The area itself, which is split in two by a central walkway and is fashioned almost entirely from light, ash-coloured wood, somehow manages to be both practical and informal. The appeal is certainly wide: suits from the Mound mix with young families taking a break from trudging around town, while a gaggle of lunching ladies chatter conspiratorially behind us.

There’s also another reason for visiting the Scottish Restaurant, as it shall henceforth be known for reasons of brevity, and that’s Victor and Carina Contini. Members of the extended Valvona & Crolla family, the famously affable husband-and-wife team run the successful Italian restaurant Centotre on George Street, although they recently closed Zanzero in Stockbridge. Three years ago they beat off a host of other applicants to run the space that now contains the Scottish Restaurant.

They immediately set about putting their own mark on proceedings, with a big John Bellany painting of Carina’s grandfather’s ice-cream parlour in Cockenzie hanging on the wall in a deliberate attempt to mesh art and food. Most of all, however, they won the tender by outlining a vision of their Italian eye for the finest fresh produce being complemented by the best of Scotland’s larder. Now that emphasis on fresh local produce is so commonplace, it scarcely seems worth mentioning, but even three years ago it was still fairly novel, especially to the degree practised by the Continis: at the restaurant’s entrance and on the back of the menu is a map of Scotland annotated by lengthy descriptions of the half-dozen leading produce suppliers, while each dish has an unusually detailed list of its ingredients’ provenance.

The bulk of the menu is taken up by the restaurant dishes (five starters, five mains and five pub-style comfort dishes) but there are also sharing platters, sandwiches, patés and butteries (which had come highly recommended by various friends). It’s fair to say, however, that freshness and provenance appear to come at a hefty price – the butteries started at £7, while a bowl of Cullen skink costs £13, haggis and neeps £12.50 and haddock and chips £14.

Our quest to see whether the price tag was justified started with a glass of prosecco each, courtesy of our hosts to toast the Queen’s diamond jubilee, and proceeded with Colin’s rustic-looking grilled Loch Arthur cheddar and pickled local beetroot on home-made walnut bread, while I ordered the Burnside Farm woodcock with apple, East Lothian pear and local watercress salad. If Colin’s starter just about lived up to expectations, with the moisture of the cheese and beetroot combo combining to make up for the dryness of the bread, my woodcock was a puzzler.

Firstly, I was informed they had run out of woodcock, so would pigeon be OK? Then I was brought a dish that contained the breast of a fowl that wasn’t pigeon or woodcock. After pointing this out, I was told it was partridge. Strangely, the pears had also somehow become rocket. But it was still a success, largely thanks to a nicely moist slice of partridge.

Colin’s main course of three hand-dived Orkney king scallops with roast East Lothian squash and carrot, potato fondant and crispy leeks was the high point of his meal, and it wasn’t difficult to see why. Scallops have become ubiquitous but this was a novel combination, served in a scallop shell, with the sweetness of the squash making a perfect counterpoint for the subtle flavours of the shellfish.

In its own understated fashion, my main course of Burnside Farm roe deer with a warm apple and sultana chutney was equally enjoyable. Surprisingly, given that the menu gave us virtually every detail of each ingredient, it didn’t say which bit of the deer I was eating. Going by the dark meat and slightly gamey taste, it was probably the haunch, and not only was it cooked perfectly, it went well with the chutney.

Our two very different puddings – my gloriously gaudy Happy Days knickerbocker glory, which was stuffed full of fruit and creamy Italian ice-cream, and Colin’s beautifully moist slab of carrot cake – were two more highlights of a meal that had been consistently innovative and interesting.

Was it worth it? The answer is a simple one, provided by the many regulars – in this economic environment, the customer is always right, and these ones keep coming back for more.

• The Scottish Restaurant and Café, National Gallery, The Mound, Edinburgh (0131-226 6524, www.centotre.com/thescottishcafe) Bill please

Starters: £4.50-£5.95

Main courses: £9.95-£16.95

Puddings: £3.95-£6.50 Rating: *******