I’m sitting writing this at around 9am on hogmanay morning, the usual unnecessarily early start for a saturday. I just have one of those body clocks that doesn’t quite get the concept of ‘weekend’. The christmas hols so far have been a riot of family, friends, food and fizz. Like many people, the world shrinks for me just a little bit at this time of year. Sisters, and buddies who now live abroad fly back to Edinburgh for a few weeks of home comforts .For those still across the oceans and seas, the internet brings us together for a shared cuppa tea , a grainy but welcome chance to see a loved-one, watched on a laptop via skype.
The annual ‘Christmas Lunch in town’ recently took place with wee sister Sarah (current country of residence: Bahrain) and my friends Kath & Sam, from Vancouver. Last year’s location was The Dogs on Hanover Street (blog post here…remember the snow?!) and this year I decided Café Marylayne on Thistle Street would be a good choice. Our 12noon sharp table was occupied with great enthusiasm, enhanced even more by the excitement of christmas crackers on the table. Party hats and duff jokes at the ready! The table was ours for precisely 90 minutes, so the following hour and a half of catching up went past in a rapid-fire of how’s your father, mother, sister and so on.
We ordered and ate our lunch in a similarly enthusiastic and voracious speed to our natterings. This French bistro is an appropriately bijou little room, quickly filling up to capacity with other December-happy lunchers.The menu is decidedly Gallic, and when I see boudin noir featuring in a dish, that’s a quickly made decision. Whilst not a fan of Scottish black pudding (something about the spices ) I love the gentler yet still meaty flavours of the French version.
Three of us chose this dish, softly-cooked boudin with crispy bacon, sauté potatoes, some sweetness from appplesauce, and tartness from the grainy mustard dressing. Simply assembled, big flavours, bascially the perfect French dish. Kath had a vat of soup, cream of leek and potato, a most hearty potage.
Main courses were similarly fantastic,Kath tucked in to the chicken supreme, tender with a tasty mushroom, bacon and white wine cream sauce. Sarah, appropriate for a marine scientist, went for the piscine choice of seatrout. A beautiful fillet, with buttery sauce featuring pine nuts and capers. Sam and I went for the geezer-order of rump steak. Mine cooked medium-rare, tasty and juicy. In the theme of sharing, we divied up the accompanying veggies, including carrots, broccoli, tatties and squeaky fine haricots verts.
With greediness, we soaked up each others’ stories, a wedding here, a holiday there. Finishing off with a shared cheese platter and a rather amazing chocolate and almond cake with white chocolate icing. The cheeses were appropriately stinky, the cake a comforting slice of home-baking.
Washed down with three bottles of house pink, the total bill came to £110, so around-about £15 a head sans vins. Great standard of bistro classics, a lively chattering of voices, just the perfect place for the annual catch-up.
Leave a Reply