Thanks to the ‘hate to mention them’ tramworks, Constitution Street in Leith has had a bit of a rough deal of things over the past few years. Despite that though, several pubs and bistros have bravely opened during that time. Across the whole city, there are hotspots where things are going well for restaurants. Leith Lynx opened a couple of years ago but ominously put the shutters up again so quickly that we hadn’t even had a chance to pop in.
Fast-forward to Summer 2011, and a ‘take-two’ shot was fired to get the bistro permanently on the map. At the helm as chef-patron is John Winnick, promising a fresh menu made with locally-sourced ingredients for local Leithers.
My wee sis Sarah is over from Bahrain on hols at the mo, so her, mum and I daundered along to check the bistro out. We had a lovely evening of cider, food and friendly (though seemingly inexperienced) service. The unavoidable point to note though, is that sadly as the only dining customers in this huge venue, the atmosphere was in negative equity.
We started, and thirstily continued with Thistly Cross’ ciders. It just seemed like the right thing to slurp down on this mid-week September night. We ordered from the table d’hôte menu , which at £16.95 for three courses is exceptionally good value. Dining out with mum can be a bit of a nerve-wracking experience for my sisters and I. This lady is a formidable home-cook, and pulls no punches in the review stakes!
Sarah ordered the seafood bisque, and this potage seriously impressed her and mum. The massive plate could have done as a main course for lunch, as it was packed with bites of mussels and fish. Mum and I had the cod and bacon croquettes which came with a little salad, some baby tomatoes. and a sweet dressing. These were equally yummy; fat crunchy torpedoes with a well seasoned filling that had loads of still defined chunks of white fish.
For the main course, the girls stuck with the marine theme (given that Sarah is a Marine Scientist, this is more than apt) and ordered the mussels. I asked if I could have a main course version of one of the starters, the crispy sesame beef salad, and this was organised without any trouble. Mum and Sarah are big, huge fans of moules and the giant plate each went down a storm. There was a slight niggle that the sauce was too creamy and didn’t feature enough (or indeed any) booze, but there was freshness and good flavours from spinach and a bit of parmesan.
My requested dish made a pleasing main course , with tender beef strips in a perfectly crunchy batter. The dressing of ‘out the bottle’ sweet chilli sauce could have benefited from some added creativity , but it was enjoyable nevertheless.
Desserts weren’t a particular highlight (sadly, I’ve found myself saying the same thing frequently of late – where are all the amazing pastry chefs in this city?) but presented a plentiful variety for sweetie lovers. Keeping on track with each other, the girls had the strawberry jelly with pannacotta. The verdict was a slightly bland fruit jelly, an over-set custard layer, some strawbs and a few chunks of slightly dry brownie.
I fared a well with an apple tarte that was great around the edges with a slightly burned sugary crust on the pastry. The apple to pastry ratio wasn’t quite right (too much fruit without enough crisp contrast of pastry base), but the cherry coulis drizzled all over was fantastic.
My primary ‘gripe’ regarding the evening really was due to the atmosphere of the place. It sports possibly the worst soundtrack I’ve heard in some time (instrumental versions of the Titanic theme to give an idea) and the vastness of an under-filled restaurant is always a tricky issue. Best of luck to them, and I hope that this lynx stays on its feet a little longer this time.
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