What are you eating?

[Benji]

Couple of nights ago on an overnight trip to Charlotte, we dined at Blue Restaurant & Bar - our second time, and definitely a place that we will visit again - 

Check the link for the dinner menu, if interested - we both started 'light' w/ the Poached Pear and Baby Arugula Salad:  Italy -spiced walnuts, Gorgonzola dolce and a Chianti reduction - just delicious combination of flavors & textures.

Susan have the Lamb Tagine:  Morocco - slow cooked lamb shank simmered with Ras el Hanout and a blend of apricots, dates, carrots, beets and saffron potatoes.

I had the Whole Roasted Mediterranean Sea Bass:  Greece - whole roasted Bronzini with fresh herbs, artichokes, pear tomatoes and a lemon spinach orzo pasta; indeed a whole fish, filleted at your table - moist & succulent!  Next time, I'm ordering the Wild Boar!

For dessert, we shared the Pistachio and Roasted Pear Baklava w/ Cardamon and Saffron Mascarspone - quite a unique restaurant bringing in recipes and flavors from different parts of the world -    P.S. a couple of glasses of Italian Pinot Grigio for me - 

My mouth is watering! Your meals looks absolutely gorgeous.

I had a look at the website out of curiosity (it's just a bit out of my way of course, but you never know). Only had to look at the map once to know it was in America. 

[Benji]

I think I should get out to eat more often. Another nearby restaurant was recently awarded a Michelin star, making three within 5 minutes walk. It's just so expensive! 

[Jay F]

Couple of nights ago on an overnight trip to Charlotte, we dined at Blue Restaurant & Bar - our second time, and definitely a place that we will visit again - 

Check the link for the dinner menu, if interested - we both started 'light' w/ the Poached Pear and Baby Arugula Salad:  Italy -spiced walnuts, Gorgonzola dolce and a Chianti reduction - just delicious combination of flavors & textures.

Susan have the Lamb Tagine:  Morocco - slow cooked lamb shank simmered with Ras el Hanout and a blend of apricots, dates, carrots, beets and saffron potatoes.

I had the Whole Roasted Mediterranean Sea Bass:  Greece - whole roasted Bronzini with fresh herbs, artichokes, pear tomatoes and a lemon spinach orzo pasta; indeed a whole fish, filleted at your table - moist & succulent!  Next time, I'm ordering the Wild Boar!

For dessert, we shared the Pistachio and Roasted Pear Baklava w/ Cardamon and Saffron Mascarspone - quite a unique restaurant bringing in recipes and flavors from different parts of the world -    P.S. a couple of glasses of Italian Pinot Grigio for me - 

Sounds wonderful. Esp. the fish. Yum.

[Kullervo]

Bratwurst (and spicy mustard, of course), steamed spinach and pasta with a sour cream sauce.

[SonicMan46]

My mouth is watering! Your meals looks absolutely gorgeous.

I had a look at the website out of curiosity (it's just a bit out of my way of course, but you never know). Only had to look at the map once to know it was in America. 

Sorry, Benji - yes, Charlotte, North Carolina, i.e. the 'Queen City' - named after Queen Charlotte, wife of George III - just a 90 minute drive for us south from Winston-Salem, and near the South Carolina border -    Dave

[jlaurson]

Last night, and more than worthy of a picture (alas, none taken):

Smoked Salmon, Rye, and Greens

Venison Casserole with roast vegetables
(Pumpkin, parsnips, celery et al.) and
mashed potatoes with mustard- and fennel-
seeds.

Variation on Cranachan (with a
Merengue at the bottom & fresh local
Raspberries.

....all with a clear view onto Ben More.

[Sergeant Rock]

For lunch I ate Deutsch-Indo fusion: leftover lamb curry and Weißkrautsalat 

Drank a Wicküler Pilsener (from Dortmund).

Sarge

[SonicMan46]

Last night, and more than worthy of a picture (alas, none taken):

Smoked Salmon, Rye, and Greens & Venison Casserole with roast vegetables

Jens - boy, you're eating some of my favorites!  I'm a salmon NUT!  I'll take if anyway - smoked, sushi, poached, broiled, etc.! 

And, just had venison tenderloin, grilled at my local mountain bistro often mentioned by me in this thread - just delicious! 

[jlaurson]

Jens - boy, you're eating some of my favorites!  I'm a salmon NUT!  I'll take if anyway - smoked, sushi, poached, broiled, etc.! 
And, just had venison tenderloin, grilled at my local mountain bistro often mentioned by me in this thread - just delicious! 

Turns out that those dears and hides (the latter was in the casserole) are just running about here... ("here" being Pennyghael on Loch Scridain).
After full-out, completely edible mediocrity at the only Inn in Fionnphort it's back to home-cooked dinner tonight... I think a veggie soup (leaks, potatoes... sturdy stuff) will be followed by grilled salmon? I'm not sure and I don't care... it's bound to be very good. I can barely keep up with the walking to keep the calories gained off me. Breakfast with scrambled (local) eggs and smoked salmon, fresh fruit (anything fresh is a not-to-be-underrated food "accessory" in Scotland) and the like... difficult to get up again. 

[Novi]

I think I should get out to eat more often. Another nearby restaurant was recently awarded a Michelin star, making three within 5 minutes walk. It's just so expensive! 

Is this Edinburgh? I've not been to any of them , although I've been eyeing Martin Wishart's menu for some time now. Which would you recommend?

[Benji]

Is this Edinburgh? I've not been to any of them , although I've been eyeing Martin Wishart's menu for some time now. Which would you recommend?

Yes, down in Leith. You could choose from The Kitchin, Martin Wishart or The Plumed Horse, all of which are raved about. I wish I could recommend one of them, but i've never dined at them. Too expensive! For example, the vegetarian dish at The Kitchen, would set you back £24. The most expensive main, Dover Sole, would break the bank at £62. For just £16.50 you could have a rolled pig's head starter. Yum. All the deserts are under a tenner though, and they do look good. Pear and Earl Grey crumble sounds great and I am going to try making that myself come to think of it. Would it be awfully cheeky to go in and order 3 desserts? 

I will perhaps wait until a very special occasion, such as my family actually coming to visit instead of endlessly talking about it. 


Thankfully there are lots of great and reasonably priced places to eat out here, such as La Favorite on Leith Walk, which used to do the most amazing sea food soup i've ever had. I'm going to Khushi's Diner in a few weeks, which is famous for fish curry so i'm very excited about trying that.

[Novi]

Yes, down in Leith. You could choose from The Kitchin, Martin Wishart or The Plumed Horse, all of which are raved about. I wish I could recommend one of them, but i've never dined at them. Too expensive! For example, the vegetarian dish at The Kitchen, would set you back £24. The most expensive main, Dover Sole, would break the bank at £62. For just £16.50 you could have a rolled pig's head starter. Yum. All the deserts are under a tenner though, and they do look good. Pear and Earl Grey crumble sounds great and I am going to try making that myself come to think of it. Would it be awfully cheeky to go in and order 3 desserts? 

I will perhaps wait until a very special occasion, such as my family actually coming to visit instead of endlessly talking about it. 


Thankfully there are lots of great and reasonably priced places to eat out here, such as La Favorite on Leith Walk, which used to do the most amazing sea food soup i've ever had. I'm going to Khushi's Diner in a few weeks, which is famous for fish curry so i'm very excited about trying that.

Ouchies! So with three courses, a drop to drink, plus a tip, it would be practically a week's rent . Still, the vego tasting menu at Martin Wishart is very tempting indeed. Reads like food porn . Most places in Edinburgh are still at the token pasta stage ...

Khushi's is great value, although being a vego, I don't know about their fish curry . The only problem was that you'd smell of cooking fumes after eating there, although this was at their old place - I haven't been in quite a while. Another favourite is brunch at Urban Angel - great ingredients, simple preparation.

There's a lot to choose from up Leith way isn't there? Unfortunately, we don't make it up there very often.

[jlaurson]

Pictures from the salmon, last night... and I was a fool forgetting to take pictures today.

Fresh Prawns & [tiny] Squat Lobsters.

Fresh in the sense of: Out of the Water (South of the Ross of Mull) at 6.15PM.

Into my mouth at 8PM. With bread and mayo (not necessary, really) and a fresh salad.

before that: Sweet Potato & Squash Soup with Coconut Cream and Lime.

With that (perhaps boorishly): two locally brewed dark ales: "Tobermory Terror" and "McCaig's Folly".

[DavidRoss]

Pictures from the salmon, last night... and I was a fool forgetting to take pictures today.

Okay, now I'm salivating.  Maybe even drooling.  I thought all food from the British Isles was supposed to taste like cardboard swathed in rubber and swimming in fetid swamp runoff...?

[Benji]

Okay, now I'm salivating.  Maybe even drooling.  I thought all food from the British Isles was supposed to taste like cardboard swathed in rubber and swimming in fetid swamp runoff...?

Don't listen to everything the French tell you.

[DavidRoss]

Don't listen to everything the French tell you.

Not "Don't listen to anything the French tell you?"

[Benji]

 

Not "Don't listen to anything the French tell you?"

Let's just say it's not only British food that needs to be taken with a pinch of salt.

[SonicMan46]

Pictures from the salmon, last night... and I was a fool forgetting to take pictures today.

Fresh Prawns & [tiny] Squat Lobsters.

Jens - those meal pics look great - could see myself really enjoying that salmon dish! 

Love the link to the Squat Lobster - never had one!  Assume one just eats the tail?  Looks smaller, but reminds me of a Carribean Lobster - just concentrate on the tail - I've had plenty of those over the years on trips to various West Indies islands - yum! 

[ChamberNut]

Dark chocolate frozen yogurt, with a few Oreo cookies tossed into the bowl. 

[jlaurson]

Love the link to the Squat Lobster - never had one!  Assume one just eats the tail?  Looks smaller, but reminds me of a Carribean Lobster - just concentrate on the tail - I've had plenty of those over the years on trips to various West Indies islands - yum! 

Squat Lobster hasn't much--if anything--to do with Lobster, actually. It's distantly related to the crab.

They're tiny... they roll up to a ball roughly the size of a two pence piece (a fair deal bigger than a quarter, about the same size or minimally bigger than 2 Euro pieces). They have overlong, really thin arms that become utterly useless out of the water... and generally they fall off by the time the thing reaches your plate. You peal out the body from the little shell and eat it more like you would prawns. The meat is incredibly good... very sweet -- better than prawns, still.

But they are by-catch... a byproduct of fishing and there's no real market for them because they can only be had fresh and even then they'll be  bad within hours, turning gray or black after a little while. A shame, because they are absolutely delicious.

Once my trip is over I'll report a little on my food experiences (both delightful and horrid) -- but so far there is one far-and-away winner (not counting meals cooked at a private home which have been stunning, so far) and that's the Glasgow experience of "The Red Onion". Who would have thought that in that unassuming place (and at perfectly reasonable prices) one could eat quite so well. I've had far less satisfactory meals at "better" restaurants many, many times...
And what a creative menu (which is not large but incredibly varied).

The Roast chicken, smoked bacon and avocado salad with honey mustard dressingmight possibly have been a touch more... well... something (or I should have gone for the Chicken liver parfait with red onion marmalade and oatcakes...) but no matter... still yummy.

Then we had (can't find them on the menu online) the Chicken Tangine (delightful in its tasty understatement... with a light mint-yogurt touch) and I had the Grilled Sea Trout special on a little tower of garlic mashed potatoes... of which I remember the taste but not the ingredient details.

Any resident Glaswegians who know the place and can comment on it? Was this a fluke?