REVIEW : Dine Spring menu, Edinburgh

With spring fast approaching, multi-award winning Edinburgh brasserie Dine has launched its new seasonal menus, designed by acclaimed Scottish chef Stuart Muir.

A mouth-watering new Market Menu, which focuses on local provenance and seasonality, offers the best of spring fayre. From the finest meats from the Borders to the freshest fish from Scotland’s shores, each and every dish has been specially designed and is freshly made to order with quality assured and sustainable local produce. The famously affordable Market Menu sits alongside a newly launched gourmet A La Carte menu.

Prices start at £15.50 for two courses on the midweek lunchtime Market Menu (inclusive of tea or coffee). For those who want to celebrate early or have a show to catch, the Early Dining or Pre-Theatre is sure to impress at £15.50 for two courses and £21.50 for three courses. Midweek Evenings (from 7pm) are £21.50 for two courses or £27.50 for three courses. And at the weekend every Saturday or Sunday lunchtime, diners can enjoy a lingering three-course meal plus a bottle of house wine to share for £47.50.

At Dine’s intimate cocktail lounge the team of mixologists have created an exclusive menu of seasonal cocktails with show stoppers including Martini & The Truffle, Aztek Old Fashioned and the Devil’s Negroni. Classic cocktails cost just £5 with the seasonal menu of complex serves, £10.50.

We sampled the Butterfly Jazz and the Bride’s Veil.

The Bride’s Veil is a pretty cocktail of Seawolf Scottish white rum, almond milk, roasted almonds, Jasmine syrup, fresh dill and lime juice served with Raffaello chocolate on the side. Instead of egg white they’ve used vegan egg substitute Aquafaba but you wont really taste the difference. Its an elegant cocktail with a good punch of rum.

The Butterfly Jazz with Italicus Bergamot Liqueur, Lavendar Syrup, Lemon Bitters, Devaux Grande reserve Champagne and Butterfly pea tea drops is served with lemon macaron. It looks like a pink-ish glass of champagne, slightly sweeter but it’s when you drop in some pea tea drops (which are purple), it transforms the drink. It’s a bubbly cocktail.

So what culinary delights can diners expect?

Perusing the menu we tucked into Harissa Hummus and sourdough. You’ll find some delicious dishes on the Market Menu (which changes monthly) include smoked mackerel with horseradish crème fraiche; chicken liver parfait with carrot marmalade; plaice with Cafe de Paris crumb; harissa roasted carrots with curried okra; lamb leg tagine with toasted almonds; elderflower panna cotta; and Tart au Citron, amongst other delights.

And in A la Carte be tempted with dishes including marinated prawn cocktail with Bloody Mary gel; roasted quail with spiced puy lentils; blackened kiln smoked salmon; roast butternut squash and harissa pithivier; Lyceum honey glazed duck; pan-fried John Dory with sea vegetables; dark chocolate tart with charred orange; buttermilk and vanilla panna cotta.

The Beetroot Carpaccio – whipped goats cheese, toasted pine nuts and wild garlic dressing (v) caught our eye.

A superb choice and we could easily both have ordered this dish. The whipped goats cheese was light but sharp against the sweet beetroot and the earthiness of the pine nuts. I really well balanced plate of food.

We also chose the Ox cheek Croquette with parsley mayonnaise and pickles. A decent portion of light and crispy coated ox cheek. The meat was tender but needed additional seasoning.

For mains – Lemon and Garlic BBQ Chicken breast with homemade spiced baked beans, roast red onion and sour cream. This dish looked and smelt amazing but I felt that the lemon and garlic were lost against the big bold flavours spicy beans. Loved the roasted red onions and each bite was lovely but it just delivered a different flavour profile to the one described.

The Braised Pork Daube with crushed roast potatoes, purple sprouting broccoli and wholegrain mustard jus was very hearty indeed and perfectly suited to our Spring weather in Scotland where you can be wearing hats and sunscreen one minute and huddled under a duvet the next. Broccoli was at its best.

Dessert is always a must and we went for the Yoghurt Panna Cotta with mango soup and marinated pineapple and mint. Superb! The panna cotta wobbled proudly in the sea of yellow tropical fruitiness.

And you just cannae go wrong with ice-cream. A trio selection of Stewart Tower dairy ice cream – chocolate, mint choc chip and strawberry.

Dine Edinburgh are a constant on the Edinburgh foodie scene providing great value for money menus where you get to eat local, seasonal, delicious dishes. Dine is always busy; its a hot spot for corporate lunches and dinners; ladies that lunch; large family parties or a boys night out.

Dine Edinburgh, Saltire Court, 10 (1F) Cambridge Street, Edinburgh, EH1 2ED.

Tel : 0131 218 18 18 www.dineedinburgh.co.uk

My Spoon Award : Silver 8/10