Darren, our waiter at The Honours in Edinburgh, was charming, super passionate about the food he served and all his recommended booze pairings were on the mark. He elevated what was already a brilliant meal into a truly memorable meal.
The Honours is the more casual restaurant of the double Michelin-starred chef Martin Wishart. The whole gaff oozes modern art deco sophistication. Wishart brings his bags of classical technique to bear on French brasserie food. This is brasserie lux.
Pre-dinner drinks saw a textbook strawberry daiquiri (£10) made with berries that had been macerated in booze for 10 days. I had a highly drinkable Paolozzi lager (£5.50) from Edinburgh Beer Factory.
A snack of haggis bon bons (£3.75) were golden crumbed morsels of well-seasoned meat. We quickly inhaled them.
Sea bream tartare (£11.95) let its main ingredient speak for itself. Supremely fresh cubes of clean tasting fish were bathed in a light creme fraiche dressing with a subtle warmth of horseradish. It was punctuated by pieces of lightly pickled cucumber.
Crab cappuccino (£9.50) sounded a bit naff but in reality was as cool as the Fonz. A light foam and creamy soup were the pure essence of crab. A mound of sweet white crab meat, a dollop of smooth saffron rouille and dainty gruyere topped croutons were the classic accompaniments dialled up a notch.
A rump of Dornoch lamb (£24) was one of the best bits of sheep I’ve ever eaten. Ridiculously tender with buttery fat, it was bathed in a meaty, fragrant thyme jus. Accompaniments included painstakingly turned golden potatoes and precisely grilled courgettes and skinless tomatoes. A fine dice of sweet tomato, black olive and potent garlic brought a distinctly rustic feel to the whole plate.
Across the table, a golden and juicy piece of guinea fowl (£24) was served with squidgy goats cheese gnocchi and a light fricassee of garden peas, artichokes and crisp pancetta. Another first rate sauce brought the whole dish together.
A cracker of a cheese plate (£12.50) combined a nice mix of socky, tangy and savour numbers joined by a brick of quince jelly and pieces of warm and crisp fruit bread.
An apricot souffle (£9.50) was unlike any I’ve eaten before. A light and sweet puck of plain souffle was bathed in a summery apricot sauce and joined by a super smooth apricot sorbet, candied pecans, honeycomb and apricot coulis. It was delicious but I think I prefer the theatre and burnished edges of a potted souffle.
Dinner at The Honours was exquisite from the food to the service and setting. If you want relaxed French luxury then I can’t recommend it highly enough.
The Details:
Address - The Honours Brasserie, 58A North Castle Street, Edinburgh EH2 3LU
Web - https://www.thehonours.co.uk/
Web - https://www.thehonours.co.uk/
Telephone - 0131 220 2513
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