Bloggers like to try new places for obvious reasons. When a blogger returns to a restaurant to eat, you can be sure they're big fans of the place. On our recent trip to Edinburgh, and this is without precedent, we visited Ondine every night of our stay. We were about to say the reason behind that is simple, because Ondine serves up the best seafood there is, but that is in fact only part of the reason. More roundly, Ondine is a lovely restaurant to spend time in, to have a drink, an oyster and a chat with the staff who are, without exception, all so warm. In short, it is simply a place that you want to be. The combination of food, place and people, all sprinkled with a little X factor of its own, completely won us over, and as we left Edinburgh to return home, we were both a little sad that Ondine was no longer a short walk from our front door, knowing we would miss our nightly visit (we have!).
Even on this trip, it wasn't our first time eating at Ondine, we were there on our previous visit and you can read that post here. We wont therefore return to the ethos of the restaurant (sustainable, local, fresh etc) which is covered extensively in the last post, but a few more words on the food are required.
Since starting this blog, we cannot remember having better seafood, and since time didn't exist before the blog, we cannot therefore remember having better seafood period. There is seafood and seafood of course. We love what Restaurant Nathan Outlaw does with the South West's finest ingredients for example, but with its two Michelin stars, it's not a place to get moules marinieres or a fruit de mer; that however is what we craved at Ondine, though here it's a no nonsense Mussel Mariniere and Shellfish Platter/Fruits of the Sea. It's seafood to get involved with and our favourite (if you pushed us on it) was the hot Roast Shellfish Platter, where surf clams would pop with juice and flavour simply on biting into them. And razor clams and mussels, further brilliance, none of that chewiness that sometimes leaves you wondering why you ordered razor clam. And the langoustine, well, they're simply awesome, see for yourself in the pictures below. Likewise the oysters. And the lobster thermidor? No surprise, it's the best of its kind. It was a nightly problem, what to order, which treasure amongst treasures?
The pictures below represent meals from several visits then. Worth noting, the quality over those days never varied, it was always consistently brilliant.
Even on this trip, it wasn't our first time eating at Ondine, we were there on our previous visit and you can read that post here. We wont therefore return to the ethos of the restaurant (sustainable, local, fresh etc) which is covered extensively in the last post, but a few more words on the food are required.
Since starting this blog, we cannot remember having better seafood, and since time didn't exist before the blog, we cannot therefore remember having better seafood period. There is seafood and seafood of course. We love what Restaurant Nathan Outlaw does with the South West's finest ingredients for example, but with its two Michelin stars, it's not a place to get moules marinieres or a fruit de mer; that however is what we craved at Ondine, though here it's a no nonsense Mussel Mariniere and Shellfish Platter/Fruits of the Sea. It's seafood to get involved with and our favourite (if you pushed us on it) was the hot Roast Shellfish Platter, where surf clams would pop with juice and flavour simply on biting into them. And razor clams and mussels, further brilliance, none of that chewiness that sometimes leaves you wondering why you ordered razor clam. And the langoustine, well, they're simply awesome, see for yourself in the pictures below. Likewise the oysters. And the lobster thermidor? No surprise, it's the best of its kind. It was a nightly problem, what to order, which treasure amongst treasures?
The pictures below represent meals from several visits then. Worth noting, the quality over those days never varied, it was always consistently brilliant.
a dozen mixed oysters
langoustine
lobster thermidor
There is a fair range of non fish items on the menu including for the mains Orkney Fillet on the Bone, which we too found to be very good. As with the fish, only quality ingredients find their way into (or out of) Ondine's kitchen.
Orkney fillet on the bone
hot langoustines
Rhubarb pavlova
treacle tart
Burns Supper returns
Having just missed out on Burns Night, the restaurant most kindly laid on cullen skink and haggis for us one night as a treat, complete with a piper welcome, an address to the haggis and a dram of Glenfarclas 105. To finish, a Glengoyne whisky tart with Glengoyne cream. It was a superb and memorable meal and our thanks to Roy and the team, and especially our piper Chris, for going to so much effort.
Cullen skink
haggis
cut haggis (neeps and tatties in background)
Glengoyne whisky tart
Good food in a restaurant is of course an essential, but it's the people who can lift it that little bit further to make the place itself special and that's the story at Ondine. Chef-patron Roy Brett is simply a great guy, amongst the best we've met since starting the blog, dedicated to his kitchen, always there, and super serious about the quality of what's on every plate, a master of his craft. And always with a smile.
But with a huge appreciation that the fish he serves in the restaurant is only possible because of others, that is, real people, families and communities working hard every day often in difficult conditions, Ondine is also an award winner for their support of the Fishermen's Mission. In a nutshell (or should that be lobster pot), that's the kind of place Ondine is, a place that cares about its suppliers as much as it does about its customers.
But with a huge appreciation that the fish he serves in the restaurant is only possible because of others, that is, real people, families and communities working hard every day often in difficult conditions, Ondine is also an award winner for their support of the Fishermen's Mission. In a nutshell (or should that be lobster pot), that's the kind of place Ondine is, a place that cares about its suppliers as much as it does about its customers.
chef patron Roy Brett
kitchen crucial: Raj
(some of) the kitchen team: Francois, Jamie, Lee and Raj
Peter, Sophia, Daniello and Chris
(so Rob doesn't feel left out)
piped in for a Burns Night sequel
The Twitter account for Ondine is @OndineEdin where they often sign off tweets with #happyfish. It's a fitting sentiment and our visits to Ondine made us very happy indeed. We try to get to Edinburgh as much as we can, we adore it there, and now we can't imagine visiting Edinburgh without stopping by Ondine for some #happyfish. #happycriticalcouple.
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Disclosure: we sought to pay for everything but Ondine kindly comped some items.
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