REVIEW : DOC Mediterranean, Edinburgh

It’s a bright and happy space to suit the bright and happy demeanour of the staff. DOC Mediterranean makes you smile and the vibrant yellow and blue colours that runs throughout reminds you of sunshine and sea of the Mediterranean.

DOC is split into two sections; a more formal dining area and the more informal dining area where the authentic Neapolitan pizza oven. The outside also has a superb deck area which they hope to have as a beer garden over the Summer.

I love a good olive so we nibbled on these for a while whilst we made up our minds on what to choose from the decent sized menu.

The food is a mix of Italian and Spanish dishes with starters and tapas, A La Carte menu, Pizzas and an Early Bird set menu. It’s quite seafood focused but they do serve up some great vegetarian dishes and happy to accommodate gluten freebies .

Bruschetta with cherry tomatoes, garlic, basil and olive oil.

Three large thick cut slices well soaked with those gorgeous flavours of olive oil, garlic and the juice from ripe tomatoes. A little tricky to eat as the tomatoes kept falling off; not that this was a hardship. A light fresh way to start the meal.

You can also try out the Tapas like Patatas Bravas (potatoes), Chorizo Al a Sidra (chorizo sausage with apple cider sauce) or perhaps the Huevos Rotos con Pimientos Del Padron (fried egg with chips and ham).

There are very very few places that can cook Calamari well where the squid is nothing like a rubber band, lightly coasted and deep fried under tender.

These calamari rings were good; most certainly not chewy. They were lightly seasoned and if anything I would comment that they need to be thinner but that’s just a personal preference.

The Cozze (mussels) also caught my fancy as did the Antipasti platter.

However this is the dish that everyone should rush to try. This is the Gnocchi Gorgonzola with walnuts and smoked Italian ham. If there are food gods, they would be singing Hallelujah right now! The gnocchi was soft and pillowy and the sauce – ooo the sauce. If you love a blue cheese you will get excited by this dish. There just wasn’t enough on the plate (only cause I could have continued to eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner).

There are several dishes to choose from : pasta like Tagliatelle Ragu; risotto like Paella; and a meat dish like the Pollo Griglia (Chicken).

They produce two types of pizza here : a red one (tomato base) and a white one (mozzarella base). All the classics are available (Marina, Margherita, Calzone) as well as a long list of extra ingredients that you can add (Vegan Mozzarella, Mortadella and Fennel sausage).

We tried the Primavera white pizza with cherry tomatoes, parma ham, rocket and Parmesan. The base was thin and bubbled with sufficient toppings. A genuinely lovely pizza.

Mixed Seafood Grill with king prawns, seabass and calamari.

DOC Mediterranean purchase and cook everything fresh, from scratch. The seafood is delicious and its nice to see king prawns that are a decent size rather than small shrimp. Fish was soft and flaky whilst the squid was tender. All well seasoned and presented.

DOC Edinburgh is located in quite a tricky location, on the Drumbrae roundabout with a Chinese restaurant and a McD’s as their direct competition; however if they continue to serve food this good they will sail through the Summer with a full book of reservations.

D.O.C. Mediterranean, 1 Meadow Place Road, Corstorphine, Edinburgh

Tel : 0131 2857000 www.docbistro.co.uk

My Spoon Award : Silver Spoon 8/10

I was invited by DOC Edinburgh to review their menu. Food and drink were complimentary but the views are very much my own.