Everything We Ate in Edinburgh
4 days of eating as much Scottish food as possible
Last weekend Axel and I flew to Edinburgh, Scotland for a long weekend. We were celebrating our two year anniversary and honestly the only thing we cared about was the food. We made almost no other plans, but we booked several restaurants. That’s what happens when restaurant industry people get together; they eat. And eat. And eat.
(Axel is my boyfriend and a cook here in Stockholm. Just for context)
Below is almost everywhere we ate over the four days of our trip. I am sure we missed some places we really should’ve gone to but we loved the city so much we have already decided we will be back. If we missed anywhere, write a comment and let me know!
DAY 1
Pub
We landed in the middle of the afternoon on thursday and after checking into our hotel (Eden Locke, very nice, not too expensive, millennial core in a cute way) we went right out in search of a pub. We asked the girls at the front desk and they suggested The Queen’s Arms as it was a couple blocks away. They don't really seem to be pub people (the front desk girls) and I think they just suggested it because it was close. But it suited our needs. The staff was friendly, the interior dark and moody, a lot of leather and books and old photos. It looked exactly like every British Pub I’ve been to but I guess that makes sense, we were in Britain after all. The beer they poured was brewed in Edinburgh, Cold Town Beer, and while I am not a beer connoisseur by any means I do love a good lager and this one hit the spot.
Restaurant
For dinner we went to the Stockbridge Eating House in the (you guessed it) Stockbridge neighborhood. The restaurant is fairly new, just a couple months old I believe, but exactly the type of restaurant Axel and I like. Small, intimate, with staff who obviously care very much about dining and service but not in a stuffy or pretentious way. There was one chalkboard for food and another for wine. We got a bottle of red, I don't remember any more of it other than that it was like a pinot noir, but wasn't, and that I liked it. Though I try to be a wine person I really am not. I have no memory for it.
We started with the bone marrow and fried cheeks of some sort of fish that I have now forgotten the name of (as you can see I am both a light-weight and not a professional food reviewer). Both were very good though I wish we had gotten more bone marrow. This is not the fault of the restaurant. I always wish that.
For the main we took the pork chop for two. It can with house made chips (that’s fries to you Americans) and sweated kale. The pork chop was delicious but the skin a touch burned. Like just the skin, not the fat or the meat itself. The chips were also fried very very dark, right on the edge. Maybe this is what they are going for and we ate it all, it was good, but I would've taken both two shades lighter. This is nitpicking and why I don't like to talk about food with people outside the industry. Any civilian would not notice the things I am harping on and we did enjoy the meal. Dessert was tart tatin which I, shockingly, had never had before. I am not sure it is for me though. In their version the caramel was taken quite dark and which I felt gave a bitter edge to the apples. But then again if the caramel had been sweeter there would have been very little nuance to the dish so maybe tarte tatin just isn't my thing.
Service was absolutely lovely and they even let Axel look into the kitchen. He wants to open a restaurant one day and so we are almost constantly talking about what a restaurant is or could be.
All in all it was a lovely meal and if we lived in the city we would definitely be back!
DAY 2
Bakery
Oh my god where do I even begin. First of all I have been following Lannan’s Darcie Maher for years. Like way before she opened the bakery. A good 80% of why we went to Edinburgh was to go to Lannan. And boy oh boy was it worth it. Now before I start talking about pastries here’s the thing. The line is long. Like really long. And they sell out a lot. Because the line is so long. So if standing in line for an hour for a croissant isn't your thing or you think to yourself “god, no croissant is worth an hour in line” then this bakery isn't for you. Which, like, good. Don't go there. More for the rest of us haha.
Anyway the pastries were so good. Aesthetically, technically, taste-wise. Usually a bakery only hits one, maybe too, but Lannan is truly one of the best bakeries I have ever been and I don't say that lightly. I hate almost everything and everyone in the pastry world haha. I genuinely think most are shit. So if I tell you a place is good I promise it's really good.
Ok NOW let’s talk about the pastries. We got 5:
Pain Suisse with Malted Custard and Blond Chocolate
Amazing. Delicious. Stunning.
I am a fan of pain suisse in general but the malt and the blond chocolate?? Inspired! Like what a combo. Those flavors go together so well. And the technique used?? So well done. Just a beautiful pastry. My only teeny tiny critique is that I think the pastry itself could've been a bit smaller. This thing was huge, which I love from a bang for your buck perspective, but I wish it wasn't as wide so I wouldn't have had to take 3 bites to get across it. But again that is just me nitpicking for what would've worked best for me.
Cinnamon Bun
Loved it! This was a Swedish Style cinnamon bun (or at least I think it was) with a dot of custard in the middle. Wonderful dough, wonderful filling, beautiful twisting technique, loved the glaze over the top which I don't usually but I really liked it here. There was a dot of custard in the middle which was good. I love custard, but I didn't feel it was necessary. All in all a very very good cinnamon bun.
Mushroom and Cheese Croissant
Another very tasty pastry. I know that both the mushrooms and cheese were not your run of the mill mushrooms and cheese, both were very very good but I can't remember what they were actually called. Anyway I really liked this. The flavors were really good, the whole thing was well seasoned, it was beautiful and the croissant on the outside hadn't gotten soggy, which can be a problem with filled croissants (foreshadowing below). I wish I had been able to eat it just slightly heated up. We ate it after having walked 20 minutes from the bakery as we sat on a bench in the park and it was quite cold out so the middle had gotten cold. I think it would've been better just above room temp, like slightly warm, but that’s a me problem not a Lannan problem.
Rhubarb and Pistachio Croissant
While visually stunning and with amazing technique, this was my least favorite of all 5. I think my biggest problem was that I am just not a fan of filled croissants. And when I say that I don't mean like ham and cheese or pain au chocolat or pain aux raisins, where the filling is baked in. I mean croissants that have a cream or custard of some sort piped in. I like a croissant that is a bit crispy and there is a structure to it. When filled everything kind of moisturizes? It gets soft and bready but not in a way that I like. The rhubarb filling was good, if a touch sour and I found the pistachio filling to be a touch bland. Or well not bland, as the salt level was quite good, but more I wanted it to be more pistachio-y than it was.
Custard Slice
I was very excited to try this as I have never had a custard slice before but it turned out to not be my favorite thing. Everything was very well done, beautifully cut, jiggly vanilla speckled custard, crispy puff pastry and a lovely glaze over the top that added just the right amount of acid to cut through the sweetness of the custard. But here's the thing. I found it hard to eat. And also like it was a lot of just like…custard. Which I get is the point and I do love custard but I realized as I was eating the custard slice that maybe I don't love custard as much as I think I do? And I can tell this is a perfectly executed custard slice so if I don't like it from Lannan, I’m pretty sure I wouldn't like it from anywhere.
If in reading this you think hey Cecilia that’s a lot of critique for a place you claim to love and think is one of the best in the world. Here is the thing, if I didn’t make it clear enough in the beginning of this Lannan-pastry-breakdown, I truly do hate like everything. Well hate is a strong word. Maybe more like dislike/dissatisfaction. I spent a long time in 3 Michelin star pastry sections and oh my god those places will teach you to hate everything. Everything could also be better. Tighter technique, more flavor, prettier presentation, there is always, always, something that could be just a liiiiiitle bit better.
So I am always critiquing, always finding that thing that could make the pastry just a bit better, taking it to the next level. And if you think I do it to others, it’s nothing compared to the critique I give myself. Yes it is exhausting in my head and yes I have learned to let go a LOT. But I can turn that pastry chef brain on real quick when it’s called for. And writing a review (kinda) is when I can't help myself.
These are my opinions about the pastries and I am sure if Darcie (who I actually got to meet and is LOVELY btw) ever had one of my pastries she would do the same deep dive critique. Because that’s what pastry chefs do.
Tl:dr Lannan is one of the best bakeries in the world and you should go to Edinburgh just to eat there. Like I did!
Restaurant
Did we eat here? Yes. Was it good? I mean yeah. Writing this two weeks after having been there, do I really remember what we ate? No.
But that might be more from the fact that we were pretty hungover and tired when we had lunch, as opposed to any fault on the restaurant’s side.
Restaurant
The vibe of this place was so great. There is just so much life in a restaurant like this. Axel had some champagne waiting for us as we arrived and we split a small plate of olives and salami. We had the pie for two as our main dish and it was rustic and delicious. I also loved the butter cabbage side it came with. Simple really is best sometimes. For dessert I had the chocolate guinness cake and Axel had a caramel/pear tart of some sort. We both liked our own desserts the best.
DAY 3
The Register Club at The Edinburgh Grand
Hotel/Restaurant
When Axel and I woke up nursing yet another hungover (day 2 also started hungover) we knew exactly what we needed. A full English. Or, in this case, a full Scottish. A quick google search directed us to The Register Club and it was… good? Like there was nothing wrong with it and it served its purpose but it was just a hotel breakfast. Could’ve been better, could’ve been worse but we got what we came for.
Pie Shop
In the afternoon we walked around the neighborhood of Stockbridge and stumbled upon Harkness Pies, a pie shop specializing in savory pies. Why savory pies aren't more of a thing everywhere I will never know because they are SO GOOD and then ones from Harkness were great! I had a sausage roll as a snack and then we bought two pies to take back to the hotel room for dinner. Both were excellent!
DAY 4
Restaurant
For our last day Axel had booked us a table at Ardfern so we could have a proper Sunday roast (it was Sunday after all). The restaurant was quite cute with friendly staff. The roast was very good, very pink which I love and came with potatoes, roast veg, gravy and a popover filled with braised beef. The only thing I was a little disappointed in was the popover. I popovers the way they are and felt like the braised beef was just getting in the way. But otherwise a lovely last meal in Scotland.
All in all, the food, the people, the architecture, we just loved everything about Edinburgh and had such a wonderful time! We will definitely be back!
Xoxo,
Cecilia
P.s. We got engaged! On the first day of the trip! So the whole trip was a celebration of love and us and good food and that made everything all the more lovely ❤️
