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Really great breakfast in Urban Angel this morning - a surprisingly light basement cafe at the bottom of Hanover Street.

Homemade organic meusli with greek yoghurt and fresh berries.
Crunchy, tangy, fruity. Mmm.

French toast with bacon, fairtrade banana and maple syrup.
Brilliant bread - sort of light wheaten, really tasty bacon (presumably from a happy pig) and caramelised banana. Yum.

Oh, and nice website design too…

Hat tip: Peter Irvine in Scotland the Best - Best for Sunday Breakfast.

After eating at Martin Wishart last September, we were keen to try out his near neighbour Tom Kitchin in Leith. So we bridged the East-West divide and went over to Edinburgh, wandered round Harvey Nicks and made our way to The Kitchin.

The restaurant is in an old quayside building in the old port of Leith, overlooking the new administrative offices of the Scottish Government. Calm and contemporary interior with dark wood and sage paint inside, warm and welcoming. Service friendly, knowledgeable and attentive (although at times too attentive).

Nibbles: Pissaladiere (Provencal pizza) & choux pastry stuffed with beetroot relish.

Amuse bouche: Parsnip soup, fresh apple, parsnip crisps.

Scallops: Pan-fried Orkney scallops with fregola pasta.
Pork and Langoustine: Roasted langoustine tails from Anstruther with boned and rolled pig’s head served with a crispy ear salad.

Hare: Hare with foie gras, cabbage & bacon farcie, butternut squash puree, celeriac puree, chestnuts and shallots.
Venison: Roast saddle of venison from Invercauld estate, with roasted apples from Moira’s garden and chestnuts,
served with a beetroot and celeriac gratin and a juniper berry sauce.

Cheese: Scottish and French cheeses.

Rhubarb and Yoghurt: stewed rhubarb, citrus yoghurt sorbet, cheesecake mousse, chocolate sauce, pecan crumble.

Coffee and petit fours.

All washed down with a nice D’Arenberg Laughing Magpie shiraz/viognier.

Unlike in Martin Wishart, the whole meal was coherent and worked well together. The starters were the highlight of the meal providing the best complement of flavours and textures. The venison was tender and worked well with the rich sauce. The hare was really dark and tasty, and came with a fairly powerful and concentrated reduction that could have been a touch lighter. But that’s the only minor criticism of an excellent meal.

Definitely a place to go back to, particularly as it’s only an hour or so away. I wonder how their Summer menu differs from their Winter menu. Planning already…

Despite rumours that he was no longer the owner of this country pub/restaurant, his moniker still appears on the gable wall. So this is more properly known as Marco Pierre White’s Yew Tree Inn.

We went here last year on Lisa and Gav’s joint birthday, and repeated the party this year. Once again, the food was great, the service warm, friendly and efficient, and the company brilliant.

Potted shrimp with melba toast (could have been improved by warming the potted shrimp, but maybe that’s not the idea?)
Asparagus with vinaigrette dressing

Roast partridge with all the trimmings (chipolatas, game chips, bacon, brussels sprouts, chestnuts, bread sauce, breadcrumbs, cooking juices)
Steak with snail sauce and chips
Smoked haddock with crushed potatoes, poached egg and mustard sauce

Upside-down apple tart with cream
Rice pudding with red fruit compote
Creme brulee

Despite a heavily French wine list, the antipodean waitress recommended a nice and good value Aussie shiraz when I asked for a recommendation of “something like a New World shiraz”).

We were at a really enjoyable wedding in Callander this weekend. After a couple of moderately strenuous walks from Balquhidder and Strathyre and before going to the evening reception, we popped into the Ben Ledi Cafe in Callander, now part of the growing Mhor empire - owned by the enterprising Lewis family who also run the Monachyle Mhor hotel* in nearby Balquhidder.

Ben Ledi Cafe is a traditional “posh fish and chips” restaurant, and has a takeaway fish and chip bar attached to it. It serves the usual chip shop staples alongside other stuff like scallops, fish cakes and meat from the Monachyle Mhor farm. Their speciality is that you can select a fish from the wet fish counter and get it cooked any way you like. On Saturday, there wasn’t much choice (cod, skate or plaice) as the staff explained it had been a busy day.

J had a pan-fried skate wing, I had grilled plaice fillet, along with chips and salad. They don’t have a licence, but there is a Victoria Wine next door and we had a nicely chilled NZ Sauvignon Blanc.

The quality was good (although I think we get better quality fish from Fencebay at Glasgow Farmers’ Market), but the fish portions were small and, in my opinion over-priced (£11-12 for fish, chips and salad). Service was friendly and good. The best bit of the meal were the really well-cooked chips, freshly made for us. I think they were fried in beef fat which gave them a lovely chippy flavour.

I’d certainly go back, but I think for best value I’d stick with a haddock supper.

* See my commenst on Monachyle Mhor in 2004 and 2005 - I believe from friends that it has since regained some of it’s lost magic, although reviews on TripAdvisor are still mixed.

The food highlights of 2007 were:

Best Restaurants

These are the best places we’ve eaten this year:

1. Hibiscus, London. Relocated from Ludlow to Mayfair, Claude and Clare Bosi’s Hibiscus still retains its essential characteristics and superlative food. Although we thought that it wasn’t quite as good as when in Ludlow, I’m sure that will improve as they settle into an urban context; they should certainly retain their two Michelin stars.
2. Fins, Fencebay. The fish restaurant that is run by the people who sell fish at the Glasgow Farmers Market. Superbly fresh, simply cooked, the fish that normally gets exported to France and Spain.
3. Driftwood, Cornwall. Consistently good food in a stunning setting on the south Cornwall coast.

Best Hotels

Places we have enjoyed staying in this year.

1. The Samling, Ambleside. Superbly comfortable small hotel overlooking Windermere. The breakfasts, served in the bedrooms, is particularly luxurious. The goats cheese ice cream was also excellent!
2. Driftwood, Cornwall. Really welcoming and comfortable hotel with a New England feel, sited on the south Cornwall cliffs.
3. Trigony House Hotel, Thornhill. An autumn highlight is this small Edwardian country house in the Dumfriesshire countryside, with comfortable rooms, good food and resident dog.

Best Breakfasts

1. The Samling. Nothing can beat a Samling breakfast, chosen from an extensive menu the night before (only marginally resisting the urge to tick all the menu items), served in the bedroom and eaten while looking out over Lake Windermere.
2. Tom’s Kitchen, London. Eggs benedict, say no more.