My Review of our Meal at The Table Edinburgh – Ten Seats, Two Chefs, One Table
I have had this review to write for more that a month and I have been really putting off doing it. I have thought about why I have been procrastinating and avoiding it and the reason I have determined is because I didn’t want to share and I wanted to keep it as my secret special place. I realise this is terribly selfish and The Table Edinburgh totally deserves to be spoken about and people should know about it and experience the best meal ever.
I found about The Table Edinburgh via Twitter, as I do with many new foodie places in Edinburgh, and Edinburgh Feasts – a great Edinburgh food blog (you can read their review here). After reading their review and having a nose about The Table Edinburgh website I had to go. The strap line is Ten Seats, Two Chefs, One Table and really you don’t need to say any more to describe the quirky place behind the unassuming door on Dundas Street.
We ended up with 8 of us in our group that wanted to go so booking was a little challenging since there are only 10 seats in total. We booked at the beginning of December and the first date that was available was the 11th February. Their online booking system is great and once you have put in the number in your party the calendar will highlight all dates available for the number of people you are looking for, much better than most places that you need to click through all the dates individually.
We arrived at 7pm and settled into our stools over the bar and swiftly had our bottle of wine decanting into a carafe which I thought was a lovely touch. I had imagined we would be in a horseshoe shaped bar overlooking the kitchen but it is a long bar rather than this. We were explained by Sean the chef how the evening would work and he checked that we were all happy to find out about the dishes as they were served rather than knowing the menu ahead of the meal.
View from my seat
Wine
The first of the food to be served was a trio of canapés consisting of a truffle arancini with chestnut puree and fontina cheese, a squid and orange pastry and a deep fried pasta canapé. Wow! The flavours and the textures were just out of this world with the arancini being the start for me.
Canapes
The starter, Mr Krabs, was a crab and mooli dish with a lime & honey sauce, roasted macadamia nut sauce and a persimmon puree. The dish was a work of art that did not disappoint on flavour at all. The lime and persimmon really brought out the flavour of the crab and then a beautiful richness from the macadamia.
Mr Krabs
The next course, Golden Wonder Cheese & Onion, was a delicate Isle of Mull cheddar raviolo with a sheet of gold leaf carefully applied in front of us. The raviolo was served with a beautiful onion broth, chives and caramelised onions and sour-dough bread with whey butter on the side. This was a really clever dish and the whole table oooh’d and ahhh’d at the delight.
Plating up the raviolo
Golden Wonder Cheese & Onion
Next up was the fish course, Diamond in the Rough, which was a halibut and leek dish. The leek part of the dish was split into many different flavours and textures from puree to burnt leek to crisps and pickled flowers. The halibut was cooked perfectly with a slight crispness on the top. The flavours were like nothing I have eaten before, absolutely stunning.
Diamond in the Rough
The meat course, Oh Deer, was a big piece of venison with a salami and toasted crumb crust served on a hay infused milk baked piece of celeriac, marrow sauce, a parsley and bone marrow sauce and a grape & hazelnut sauce.
Plating the venison
Oh Deer
The next dish, Mardi-Gras, was described as a link between the savoury dishes to the sweet dishes. It consisted of a spinach and apple purée, a pistachio cake, a chilled dehydrated fois gras and truffles. This is the most challenging thing I have ever eaten and I am still not sure if I loved it or hated it. It was very clever food and I have never eaten anything like it before with the elements of sweet and savoury co-joining together in a way like no other.
Mardi-Gras
The start of the sweets, Werther’s Not so Original, was a little spoonful of a blitzed caramel powder with pieces of salt which when popped into the mouth melted into a delicious salted caramel chew.
Werther’s Not so Original
The desert for the evening, You’re Bounty Like This, was a pineapple upside cake served with a coconut sorbet inside a dark chocolate shell and a yuzu infused dragon fruit. I am not a big pudding person but I loved the coconut and dark chocolate elements and I appreciate the pineapple upside down cake was lovely.
You’re Bounty Like This
Once all of the main events were finished we were offered coffee which was served with some lovely little sweet canapés to finish the meal.
Sweet Canapés
To finish off the experience we were given a little goodie bag each as we were leaving which had a piece of tablet, a little hot chocolate mix and a sealed copy of the evenings menu to take home.
All of the above came to a set price of £60 and no corkage fee for the fee.
Would I go again? Absolutely YES! This is the best place I have ever eaten and as you can see from the scores below, The Table Edinburgh are the first to achieve a full sweep of 10s all round.
Atmosphere 10/10
Service 10/10
Value 10/10
Food 10/10
