Having opened just before Christmas, I was eager to check out one of our neighbourhood’s newest pub-eateries, The Lioness of Leith. Taking up an expansive corner of Duke Street, it arrives as a welcome addition amongst the area’s impressive variety of independents.
The place is well laid out with a mix of seating to ensure a comfy daytime spot for coffee or a quiet pint after work. A few nicely oddball design touches such as mounted former wildlife , eclectic lighting and a great playlist allow it to easily shift guise as cocktail seekers arrive later into the evening.
Food-wise, the evening menu offers plenty of choice whether you want a quick bite or a full three-course dinner. The Silver Fox and I popped in for dinner one Monday, and to start I had the cream of mushroom soup (£3.50), an expertly seasoned bowl of deeply flavoured potage, with a sprinkling of bright micro herbs and served with chunks of soft bread. Mr Fox, whose eyes scan prospective menus for the words Stornoway Black Pudding (£6.50) was happily rewarded with a dish featuring two generous chunks of this meaty delicacy, with a leafy salad sporting roasted walnut halves.
The option of a proper veal Wiener schnitzel (£11.50) was a shoe-in for my choice of main course. This was a fun version of the retro classic, as the breadcrumb coating the tender meat was liberally peppered with chili-flakes. Accompanying rosemary roast spuds had a satisfying outer crunch, and the dill-spiked carrot and apple slaw kept things fresh. The Silver Fox’s main, to me, lacked coherence. Chef’s Italian sausage (£9) was smokily well-seasoned and sat atop braised fennel, artichoke and a lip-smackingly tasty tomato ragu. It was just crying out for some linguine to roll around in that sauce!
To finish, my fella had a truly decadent chocolate delice (£7) with very artful tuiles, showing off some of chef’s pastry skills. My finalé of cardamom poached pears (£6) with hazelnut praline and deep-fried panko-crusted custard bonbons tasted fine as a collection of individual things, but didn’t really come together as a whole.
Rather than follow the well-trodden route of familiar gastro-pub fare, The Lioness bravely treads a different path. The food is packed to the pub’s Victorian rafters with big flavours, and with a little bit of a tinker I’m sure the few kinks in the menu will be ironed out.
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