REVIEW : Ransack Black Oven

For me, Marshall street is student central. It is completely surrounded by University of Edinburgh buildings and student accommodation. The area has most certainly undergone a massive upgrade in the last couple of years and has become a rather attractive area for students, locals and tourists alike.

It’s also been nice to see that the building that now houses Ransacked Black Oven has found its purpose after having changed hands several times over the last ten years.

RANSACK BLACK OVEN EDINBURGH

Ransack Black Oven is middle eastern food inspired by the owners love of Persian Street food. They started off as a street food van and then took up permanent residence in what use to be a pizzeria complete with wood fired oven, which for them is a bonus as much of their menu is bread based; and in a wood fired oven bread does it’s thing tremendously well!

Their menu is simple. Two sheets of A4 paper and specials on a blackboard. They believe in making everything fresh and try to cut down on waste. A good food ethos to adopt!

There’s light bites such as Fatteh (baked sourdough nachos) with Labneh and Baba Ganoush; there’s salads like Cumin and Chilli roasted carrot and lentil; Tortilla Wraps with Halloumi Saganaki and a Feasting menu with dishes on it like Tear and Share breads and Falafels.

They cater for meat eaters, vegetarians, vegans and gluten freebies - so most of us are well covered.

Home Rolled Minted Lamb Koftas (£7.50) with tzatziki, pitta, cucumber and pomegranate.

Great spice usage and mix of flavours was spot on here. The koftas were soft and succulent, and juicy and there were some lovely gnarly bits of where the koftas had been charred. Plated up on a board with pitta breads served in a basket. The pittas were warm and I have to say that every part of this dish worked well.

Molasses Braised Pork Belly with kimchi (£6).

As a meat eater, this is when my soul rejoices. This was insanely good and my favourite dish of the meal. The pork belly was superbly cooked. The fattiness of the pork had been reduced and was sticky and gooey but sweet too from the molasses. It retained it’s juiciness and was unctuous. Keep feeding me this all night! I have to say I ignored the kimchi as my wee foodie mind was concentrating so much on the sticky goodness.

Chargrilled Lamb Steak with hot herb roasted potatoes, tamarind and date with apple and celeriac slaw (gf) (£16.50)

Holy moly my wee heart done a back flip and a high jump when I seen this descend to the table after my pork belly!

The lamb is cooked pink (they will tell you this - deal with it). It’s the best and only way to eat lamb. Cut like a hassleback potato and laid over another board alongside crispy and soft hot super herb potatoes. I loved the slaw as it brought a nice crunch and sourness to the dish.

Roast Salmon with lemongrass and ginger with hot roasted carrot and put lentils served with tzatziki (gf and se) £14.00

A stunning looking dish with the coral colour of the salmon contrasting against the blackened skin. Unfortunately, this was the dish that let them down. We were told that the salmon had been bought in from the local supermarket and you really couldn’t taste any of the ginger and lemongrass, two very strong pungent flavours that should have packed a punch.

That said, the salmon was cooked well; nice and flaky and the puy lentils added a nice touch of earthiness to the dish.

Ice Cream Bowl with Crollas Horchata ice cream, mango sorbet and chocolate orange blossom (gf and ve) (£4.50)

This was a new one for us - Horchata ice cream. Ever heard of it? Its a rice and cinnamon flavour and strangely more-ish. I loved the chocolate orange blossom too.

Spiced Pear Sticky Toffee Pudding with hot fudge sauce and vanilla soya yoghurt (gf and ve) (£5.50)

Yes, you know I’m gonna order anything with the words ‘sticky toffee pudding’ in it. The cake was quite dense and very datey, thick and gooey. It definitely made your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth. I didn’t like the soya yoghurt but the fudge sauce was lovely, just not enough of it.

Ransacked Black Oven is most certainly a place you go to with friends. It’s great for chatting and sharing platters and you could easily while away hours eating bread, dunking into dips, indulging on lamb and pork belly or being healthy and enjoying their falafels, oils, pestos and salads.

Would I return? Most definitely but maybe only for 1 or 2 courses. 3 courses is a bit much and I REALLY wanted to tuck into their breads and dips but couldn’t manage it.

My only gripe would be to get rid of the serving boards - good old fashioned plates wouldn’t go amiss.

Ransacked Black Oven, 27-29 Marshall Street, EH8 9BJ, Edinburgh. Tel : 0131 667 7001 www.ransackedblackoven.co.uk

My Spoon Award : Silver 8/10

I was invited by Ransacked Black Oven to review their menu. Food was complimentary but the views are very much my own.