Toast sunday brunchin'

For me, the perfect Sunday always involves a good brunch. You can never go wrong with a lazy start to your day followed by an almighty feast of breakfast and lunch. However, as a die hard brunch lover it pains me to admit that I have always thought that Edinburgh lacks top notch brunch spots. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of places that do it, but nowhere that really breaks boundaries and brings home the bacon...(I couldn’t resist)

I have decided to take on the mission of finding the best brunch that Edinburgh has to offer, so this morning we headed to Toast in Marchmont to put their brunching skills to the test. It's hugely popular, and at the weekend you can forget strolling in and getting seated straight away. You gotta be prepared to queue.  

It's pretty small, but as its always packed its got a great cosy atmosphere and a real buzz about it.

  

I went for an americano while i pondered over the menu. For me there's no way to drink coffee other than black and only black. None of that sugar nonsense! I must say that Toast served up a good coffee. It was seriously strong, and just what i needed to get my day started. 

Their menu is pretty good to be fair to them. It has plenty of your standard things on it but a good few game changers in there as well. You'll probably have gathered by now that I love to share so we obviously decided to go half and half. My choice was the croissant filled with black pudding, goats cheese, sun dried tomatoes and rocket. This was one of the more adventurous options on the menu, and it was definitely a great choice! It was seriously good.  

We also went down the mainstream route and opted for pancakes with bacon and maple syrup. I must say that we were a little disappointed with these. As you can see from the picture you get a pretty measly little portion with only 2 rashers of bacon, and that's not too mention the lack of maple syrup. When I think of pancakes i think of nothing but a big stack of american style pancakes and enough maple syrup to sink a battle ship. Obviously that wasn’t what they were going for, but for me this just wasn’t cutting it.  

However having said this, it was great to start with something savory and finish with something sweet. Moreover, they certainly tasted good. The only problem was just that they were a little underwhelming. 

Toast is certainly a good little brunch spot, but for now I don't think it will be taking the gong. I would definitely recommend it, and i will most certainly be going back. After all, you cant make such a big decision without giving somewhere a second chance hey...? ;)

If you fancy a slice of Toast then you will find this little spot at 146 Marchmont Road.

Maison Bleue

Maison Bleue is a restaurant in Edinburgh that I have been meaning to try for months now. I have heard nothing but good things about it, and last night I finally got the chance to see what all the fuss is about. Unfortunately I had forgotten my camera so I only had my iphone to play blogger with. Annoyingly I don’t think it does the food justice.

 

We started our evening with drinks in the Missoni Hotel, the first of the Missoni hotels worldwide. The interior is quirky, colourful and chic, and it really is a great place to stop in for a drink. It's super stylish, and of course, with this comes an expensive drinks list. You can expect to pay the best part of £10 for a cocktail, £5 for a pint and £6 for a teeny tiny glass of Prosecco.  It is however all part of the Missoni experience. If you want to experience a little bit of designer chic, you have to be prepared to put your hand in your pocket. 

After a couple of drinks it was time to head for dinner. Maison Bleue is nestled just round the corner from Missoni on Victoria Street, right in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town. The restaurant is bright blue and has the prettiest handing baskets decorating the building. It’s nothing but welcoming, and you really can’t miss it. 

Split over two floors, the restaurant was a lot bigger than I had originally thought. The place was packed, and we had even struggled to get a booking; always a great sign. The interior is traditional, shabby chic, with big stone arches, low burning candles and rustic old wooden tables. The place has a real buzz about it and you can’t help but just relax.

We peeled our eyes over the menu whilst enjoying a glass of wine. Maison Bleue serves up a combination of French, Scottish and North African dishes, so from haggis to tagines, there really is something to please everyone. We both ate off their set menu which costs £27 for three courses. It has plenty of tasty options on it, so much so that I really struggled to choose.

We opted for the Haggis balls and the Special Calamari to start and shared them both. The calamari was really delicious, and I believe that I am right in saying that it is one of Maison Bleues signature dishes. The squid was served with a helping of crispy stir fried vegetables which I can only presume had been cooked in some sort of honey and soy sauce. It really was a bit of a surprise but it was something that I would definitely have again.

The Haggis Balls were deep fried in beer batter and served up with clapshot tatties and a whisky sauce. I’m a big Haggis fan so this kind of starter is right up my street. It was utterly delicious.

  

For the main course I went for the brochettes mix which consisted of marinated chicken skewers and merguez sausages served with saffron couscous and a mint yoghurt dressing. It was really delicious but it was a lot of food. I couldn’t even finish what was on my plate let alone the side of pommes château that came with it! I couldn't believe that one person was meant to knock back all of this food, but for anyone that is seriously hungry; this is the dish for you. 

My partner in crime went for the fish of the day which was sea bream served on a bed of risotto. I had a wee taste and it really was delicious. The fish was perfectly cooked, and the flavours in the risotto complimented the fish really well. We shared the potatoes which had come with my meal which worked well as the fish probably could have done with something a little bit extra. 

For dessert I went for my favourite, Sticky Toffee Pudding. I’ve had my fair share of sticky toffee puddings in my time so I really can be a bit of a harsh critic when it comes to mastering this creation. I must say that Maison Bleue did a great job! It was delicious! The cake was moist, the sauce was perfect and there was just the right amount of it. I hate when the poor sponge is drowning, and on an equal level I hate when I'm scraping the plate for every last remnant of the stuff.  Top marks for this bad boy.

On the other hand I wouldn't rave so much about the Panna cotta. To be fair, I am not much of a Panna cotta fan in general, so I guess this review is a little biased. As Panna cotta goes it was fine, but it would always come seriously low in my pudding rankings. It was however beautifully presented, and I'm sure that if this is your kind of thing, you would like this. The only thing I will say though is that the menu stated that this was a creamy Panna cotta served with a homemade digestive. I don’t know about you but I'm not too sure that you can call a biscuit with 'Mcvities' stamped across it a homemade digestive, but we won't hold it against them...

We finished up our wine and let our food go down before asking for the bill. For three courses and a bottle of nice white wine the bill came to £75. For great food and a lovely atmosphere we felt that this was pretty reasonable. I will definately be returning to Maison Bleue, and I can't wait to try all the other treats on their menu that I didn't this time. 

You can find this little gem at 36 Victoria Street, Edinburgh, or take a look at their full menu here.  http://www.maisonbleuerestaurant.com/menus.php