{"id":956,"date":"2013-08-16T08:48:21","date_gmt":"2013-08-16T08:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.leilappetit.com\/blog\/?p=956"},"modified":"2013-08-16T08:57:40","modified_gmt":"2013-08-16T08:57:40","slug":"review-of-mal-on-sunday-mid-festival-lunch-at-malmaison-in-leith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/?p=956","title":{"rendered":"Review of Mal on Sunday – mid-festival lunch at Malmaison in Leith"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, how\u2019s everyone\u2019s festival going? Entertained? Slightly hung-over, sleep and nutrition deprived? Well, the weekend\u2019s here once more, so the madness is unlikely to abate. I predict that by Sunday you\u2019ll need a serious pick-me-up, and a leisurely brunch or lunch will be in order. Well, I can recommend a step outside of the eye of the storm by way of Malmaison in Leith<\/a><\/strong>. My friend Em and I headed down there last Sunday to check out their Mal on Sunday Lunch.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_3816\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As a Leith resident , afternoons by the shore are a way of life, but for those visiting Edinburgh or even local \u2018burghers , this waterside edge of the city is always worth a hop on the no 22 bus for some exploring.<\/p>\n

Back to lunch, and when we sat down in the smart but relaxed brasserie, we were presented with the menu which is a great visual gag. The headline \u2018Biggest Sunday Lunch in Town\u2019 was emblazoned across the top, a behemoth of a piece of card that takes up precisely one half of the table. If your weary eyes are trying to seek out the words \u2018Bloody Mary\u2019, this is ideal.<\/p>\n

What lies ahead really is a BIG lunch. You could probably eat enough to keep you going through \u2018til Tuesday without trying too hard. Not that this is some sleazy pile-em-high, sell-em-low kind of offering. Far from it, as for \u00a319.95 you\u2019re offered a tour of the Chef\u2019s table, with an enticingly laid out buffet table with soup du jour (I think it was mushroom and spinach), an omelette station, viennoiserie, crusty breads, a selection of charcuterie, smoked fish, cheeses and salads. This is just the starters, folks.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_3813\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Turns out everything looked quite tempting, in fact, as I returned back to our table with an amply filled plate. Salami, cold ballotine of chicken stuffed with haggis, a couple of chunks of cheese (something old, something blue\u2026!) hot-smoked salmon and a lovely apple and parmesan salad all offered fresh bites. This was a nice way to do an inside summer picnic, nibbling here and there, lots of tasty things to try.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_3818\"<\/a><\/p>\n

To contrast the healthy-sounding starters, our main courses were a little more low-brow. The \u2018mains\u2019 section of the menu offers a nice choice of traditional (roast beef, eggs Benny, steak frites) and more casual. I chose the Mal burger with bacon and gruyere, and Em chose a Southern \u2018comfort food\u2019-inspired dish of buttermilk fried chicken, waffles and maple syrup. She chose well, it was an impressively indulgent dish in flavour, if a little aesthetically pedestrian in its colour scheme of beige on beige. I loved the chicken, crispy outside, loads of great seasoning and super succulent in the middle. Add some waffles doused in maple syrup to each bite and we\u2019re talking winner. I know, not everyone\u2019s cup of tea, but I\u2019ve always liked the whole sweet\/savoury thing.\u00a0 My burger was pretty good, the bun a little too cake-y, but good beef and notably lovely bacon. The audibly crisp fries were a bit yummy too, just that perfect crunch.<\/p>\n

Desserts? Really? Ah, go on then, for research purposes of course. Emily outdid herself with the \u2018Mal hot chocolate\u2019 which was a tea cup full of vanilla ice cream, doused in liquid pouring chocolate and covered in marshmallows. \u00a0Sweet stuff indeed. I made a stab at a rich sticky toffee pudding with ice cream and pecans, but I have to confess, my belly capacity was beat by this point. Ooft!<\/p>\n

What can I say about the Mal Sunday lunch other than if you like good quality food, a relaxed vibe and satisfying your hunger (possibly even your hangover) then you\u2019re going to have a great time here.<\/p>\n

Whilst I\u2019m here, a couple of recommendations for Fringe things:<\/p>\n

BLAM! The Show<\/a><\/strong> at The Pleasance Grand- High-octane physical theatre performance, great laughs and awesome characterisation.<\/p>\n

Graham Clark \u2013 Assembly Roxy<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 A properly funny fuzzy-faced Vancouverite stand-up, fresh material and \u00a0reassuringly lacking that \u201820th<\/sup> year on the fringe\u2019 haunted look of some of the stalwarts.<\/p>\n

PS. Five years of food writing and I still question myself when writing the word \u2018cheeses\u2019.<\/p>\n

We dined as guests of Malmaison, and paid for our drinks. Thanks to Kate at Purple PR for organising the review.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

\"Malmaison<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, how\u2019s everyone\u2019s festival going? Entertained? Slightly hung-over, sleep and nutrition deprived? Well, the weekend\u2019s here once more, so the madness is unlikely to abate. […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=956"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":958,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956\/revisions\/958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}