Buffalo Grill, Edinburgh

Mr Lovable and me have a long list of places that we want to try for food and one of them is Buffalo Grill. There is two of these steak restaurants in Edinburgh, one in Newington and another one in Stockbridge.

On a cold Friday night we went to the one in Newington's Chapel Street for dinner. It was, as it always has looked like when I have passed by, very busy and inviting.

I could have spent ages going through their menu but eventually managed to make up my mind and started off with 'Crispy chili beef with tomato and mint salsa'. Spicy hot bits of beef with a bowl of refreshing salsa. So far so very good.

'Blue Mountain burger' with melted blue and white cheese, served with chips, salad and relish tray was exactly what I was wanting for my main. In fact, it was so enjoyable that I did not say a word when I was working my way through it. It reminded me of Bells Diner. Mr Lovable had a T-bone steak and was happily tucking into his portion as well.

We both had 'Toffee Dime bar cake' for dessert and I squealed with delight when I realized that I used to get slices of this same cake from Peckham's, it's heavenly!

Buffalo Grill does it for me. With their friendly and fast service, not pretentious and very tempting menu full of honest food, big portions and affordable pricing I will be going back for sure.

lots of buffalo/Indian themed pictures on the walls

looks very inviting and warm from the outside

open kitchen, always a good thing

12-14 Chapel Street, EH8 9AY - 0131 667 7427 

Scottish Food Word Sunday - 'Glister Pudding'

'Glister Pudding'

"A steamed pudding made from a Victoria sponge mixture flavoured with ginger, marmalade and lemon juice. Served with custard or wine sauce."

From 'Dictionary of food' by Charles Sinclair

 Street sign in Comrie, Scotland

Tusitala, Edinburgh

There is this restaurant called Tusitala in Edinburgh between Morningside and the city bypass that always looks busy, yet I have never heard anyone talking about it. On a Friday night I couldn't get a table for two of us from anywhere else and we decided to finally try this Tusitala for dinner. It must be nice if it's busy, right?

The decor is very bright and modern and majority of the clientele is on the older side. There's an open kitchen with a big wood burning oven. Their menu has everything you can think of in it, a strange mixture of Mediterranean and Scottish. Pizzas, pastas, steaks, burgers, fish, salads and even a 'special senior menu'.

'Tower of black pudding and haggis with pear and sultana compote', a starter we shared was ok, sweet pears and sultanas sitting on a bed of rich, spicy haggis, topped with black pudding.

 'Blackened Cajun supreme of Scottish salmon, with buttered noodles and citrus yogurt' was my choice for a main course. The two enormous bits of my salmon were well seasoned and perfectly cooked and but the rest of the dish was so-so. As was Mr Lovable's burger and chips. Everything apart from the salmon on my plate tasted like out-of-the-packet-meal and slightly out of date... even the noodles. Yuck.

I just wonder who would come here? And more importantly: why? Why would anyone come here for a meal? There's many, many restaurants in Edinburgh where you can get much better value for your money and more enthusiastic&friendlier service. I think this place is bullshit and so overpriced it's not even funny.

Just out of curiosity and being polite I asked to see the dessert menu but unfortunately it never arrived. The waiting staff was too busy either yawning, standing around or being bored. So we paid our bill, left and on the way home stopped at S.Luca for some comfort ice cream. At least we got a nice dessert that night.

 great views

airy, modern deco

big car park

47 Buckstone Terrace, Edinburgh, EH10 6QJ - 0131 445 2233 

Scottish Food Word Sunday - 'Ashet'

'Ashet'

"A dish in which meat is roasted or cooked."

From 'Dictionary of food' by Charles Sinclair

Mysterious Mr Fox at the Taste of Scotland in 2009 

Assembly, Edinburgh

We came here for our first date to have few drinks almost three years ago and ever since then have found ourselves coming back whenever fancying a relaxed, quick meal.

Assembly's menu consist of everybody's favourites: there's burgers, fajitas, salads, nachos, sandwiches, pizzas and sides. And a very funky cocktail menu, all at very affordable prices.

This time I had 'Assembly house salad with chicken and chili and lime dressing', freshly made green salad with hot and spicy pieces of juicy chicken. Another nice meal that I have had here.

And a slice of 'Banoffee pie', me insisting to have dessert once again...

 Food here has always been good, their service friendly and fast, atmosphere chilled and welcoming. What more can one ask for?

 'no fuss' menu

no need to book a table

open late

41 Lothian Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1HB - 0131 220 4288