It’s taken a few weeks to regain my wits after a particularly whirlwind-esque October and November. After what seems like an aeon, my first resto review in almost a month. Gasp!So, I’m back in the writing saddle, with a review of Kyloe, which may have appeared on your radar as the newest incarnation of The Restaurant at The Rutland. No-longer the go-to place for the micro-skirted and jacket-less before heading up to Century 2000 (yes, reader, I’m showing my age) The Rutland itself has come of age in the last few years. Still a landmark, now also a destination, having managed to blend its ‘pedigree’ with a bit of swish new style.
The re-launched restaurant has the specific aim of cornering the market as Edinburgh’s first gourmet steak restaurant. Big bovine-sized ambition. By my count there are at least half a dozen excellent steak-eries in the city, but it seems none have tailored their menu quite so specifically, nor taken the effort to source some truly excellent and alternative cuts of meat beyond the usual sirloins and rumps. Aberdeen Angus is the name of the beast, much of which is sourced from Hardiesmill farm in the borders.
A bit of a tweaking of the interior now combines Warhol-esque portraits of daisy and pals, some cowboy style with glitzy mirrored walls and booths. All very Rancho relaxo. Alonside the grilled meats, the menu also offers a great choice of seafood and à la carte dishes featuring Scottish ingredients a-go-go, so don’t fret if the coo just isn’t for you. With a busy eating schedule, it’s rare that I get a chance to revisit somewhere as quickly as I did Kyloe, First shot was a dinner with The Silver Fox a few weeks ago, and last week I took a few of my visiting friends along to check it out. Both times, very very impressed with the place.
Take one was a full à la carte tour of the menu. You might have read a couple of reviews of the restaurant already , so you might know of their knacky USP of bringing the ‘steak board’ over to the table to let you see all of the various cuts. Faintly reminiscent of that scene from Madagascar where the lion dude sees everything as steaks, this is both educational, and also guaranteed to separate the true meat-eater from the chaff. If you’re the kind of person who can look at an uncooked steak and feel ”the hunger’ , you’re gonna love Kyloe.
To start, we were brought over a loaf of fluffy warm bread, with butter and a dish with a slightly odd little hummous dip. We looked through the menu, and Mister opted for the game terrine with apple and beetroot chutney, and toast. Served on a board, this was a giant chunk of birdy num-num, with pressed pigeon, pheasant and partridge meat, well seasoned, and sweetened up with apricot. For me, I had the ‘dish of the moment’ the sea bream ceviche. A plate so fresh and pretty that I ordered it again on my second visit. Strips of cucumber, radish, combined with the fresh flavour from micro coriander and grapefruit, and the tender bites of white fish, it is love. I actually get a little smile when I think about how good this dish is.
On to the mains, and there’s no prizes for guessing which direction our menu choices took us. Graeme went for the sirloin, and I decided to get my chops around a nice plump and flavourful rib-eye. Side sauces and beef-dripping cooked chips were ordered, along with a side salad with cherry toms and basil. Woops, and just remembered we had onion rings too! I have to admit, some of the steak options are rather pricey (anything up to £35 for a whopping sirloin on the bone) but huge credit to the kitchen. The meat was cooked to perfection, resting time allowed the tasty juices to hit just as the dish is presented at the table by the slick service team. We teamed this up with a stunner of a Californian Zinfandel (the Silver Fox’s fave red, as it happens) .
The highlight of the side dishes might well have been the puffy big onion rings, but the chips were a close second. Or was it the grilled tomato? Not to be out-done, we gnashed our way through the main courses and headed in to the land of desserts. A little while back, Kyloe’s Head Chef, David Haetzman had tweeted me to say that they had a rather classy pastry chef ,Amanda Jordan. Although just about busting at the seams, we couldn’t resist taking a wander down sweetie alley.
Both puds were gorgeous in flavour and presentation, again showing that this is a restaurant whose cooking should be taken seriously. I had the orange and lemon tart, with a passionfruit and yoghurt ice cream. Perfect crisp pastry, the filling was a little under-set ,but the cirtus flavours the perfect end to my meal, especially the little bits of candied peel. Mister went for the white chocolate cheesecake, which was up there for me, as usually I find this such an over-worthy, heavy option for afters. Instead, a light texture, rich flavour , crumbly base and a juicy bramble jelly instead of the ubiquitous coulis. On this occasion, we dined as guests of Kyloe, the bill would have been around £40 ahead before wine, but we really did go to town.
Good things maybe happen in twos, as two weeks later, I found myself heading upstairs again to Kyloe. This time I’d brought a couple of friends along, and we were here to try out the ‘2 for Twenty’ offer which is currently available. Two courses, and a glass of house vino for a tiny £20.
Knowing the standards of the food, this already seemed like ridiculously good value, but this was particularly so when I found out how much of the menu was actually available on the ‘deal’. Pretty much everything, other than the umpteen types of steak, meaning only the rump steak is availble within the offer. Good enough for me, and my two friends as it turned out! To be begin, Kathy loved the half pint of prawns, Gill tucked into her crab linguine, and I savoured every mouthful of the ceviche again. Each of us impressed with our seafoody starters.
Three medium-rare rump steaks for main course later and we left pretty much convinced that this could be the best dinner deal in the city at the moment. And quite possibly the best steak too!
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