I tried the £49 lunch from Edinburgh's best chef and it was incredible


I felt a bit sheepish on my visit to The Little Chartroom.
This was my first time at its four-year-old location, on Edinburgh’s Bonnington Road, where it decamped after three years on Albert Place.
Although I’ve visited the owners’ - chef Roberta Hall McCarron and front-of-house whizz Shaun McCarron - other, newer places, Eleanore and Ardfern, I hadn’t returned to the mothership since it opened in its original spot, seven years ago.
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Hide AdThankfully, now my tiller has steered me in the right direction. Hooray for the old internal compass, which is located somewhere in my gastric region.
It feels like the right time. They’ve bagged a spot at number 79 of the top 100 venues in the National Restaurant Awards, and Hall McCarron has just launched a debut cookbook, The Changing Tides,
Also, there’s a new lunch menu, available Friday to Sunday, at three courses for £49, with matched wines for an additional £39. That’s a steal, as the usual five-course version is £95, with wines at £65.
This push to make it more accessible might explain the crew who were here on a Sunday afternoon. Young folk, families, oldies like us, and a real tombola of demographics.
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Hide AdThe three-course option has a few extras on the list, should you want to upgrade. You can add pre-prandial oysters, for example, at £8 for two.
However, we went straight in with the bread, which had obviously been hewn by carbohydrate-creating angels. This tearable and fluffy brioche loaf was varnished to a tan colour with Marmite, a bit like the gravy granule stockings of wartime, and topped with grated Spenwood cheese. There was a large quenelle of salted butter on the side.
Oh my goodness, they had me at hello.
Then there was the bewitching smoked mackerel course.


It consisted of fish petals, with that familiar mercury-hued silver darling skin, in a beautiful pool of honeyed liquid, with dots of rapeseed oil marbling the surface. There were little pieces of tart gooseberry and fennel in there, but also gossamer thin slices of cucumber, vibrant green sea aster and nobbly halves of toasted almonds.
The dish was so complex, with sweet and sour elements, but delicate, too. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything like it.
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Hide AdWe’d gone for the wine pairing, and this fishy option was teamed with a lovely rounded Sauvignon Blanc that didn’t compete with the starter’s gentle acidity.
Since there are two to choose from, we went for both mains, and shared, though he was rather possessive over his velvety and nori-powder-dusted North Sea cod. Fair enough, it was draped in THE pashmina of sauces, with a colourful polka dot of peas and tobiko, and an elderflower spiked beurre blanc sauce.


To drink alongside, our sommelier had given us a beautiful minerally Lebanese white wine, with a raisin-y muscat edge. SO good.
I loved my duck, too, with a beautiful pink breast and radicchio leaves and a chunky sunshine-y hued pickled apricot chutney on the side. The best element on the plate was the crispy bronzed pastilla, which had gamey confit duck and harissa in the centre. There was a glass of Australian natural red that came with this guy, and it synced perfectly.
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Hide AdThe menu comes with two side dishes to share. We took delivery of barbecued green beans with Szechuan pepper on top, and a green parsley dressing, as well as gobstopper-sized garlic, mustard and truffle potato dauphine balls, with more of that Spenwood grated cheese.
To paraphrase Annie Lennox, another carb angel was playing with my heart.
At this point, you can add stilton and crackers for £15, but we stuck to dessert only, which came with a frothy and juicy glass of pink Savoie-region pet nat.
This option was a lemon posset, but no ordinary version of this classic. Instead, the creamy and bright yellow citrus mixture was at the bottom of the bowl, then there were nibbly caramelised almond pieces and sliced Blacketyside Farm strawberries in a strawberry and balsamic-y consomme. On the very top, like the haar hovering over Leith, was a cloud of sabayon-style yoghurt fluff and a dehydrated strawberry powder. It was a lovely light pud, but I’d also want to have it for breakfast.
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Hide AdAs we packed up, feeling a bit sad that it was all over, we were presented with two rectangles of fudge, each dusted with blackcurrant powder.
Well, my internal compass might need a bit of recalibration, but it didn’t fail me.
It got me here in the end, and I know where I’m spending my next spare £49.
The Little Chartroom, 14 Bonnington Road, Edinburgh (0131 556 6600, www.thelittlechartroom.com)
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