The number of times we have sailed past the door of Suburban Pantry on the number 43 bus heading into town for something to eat is really quite embarrassing. Each time we always look into the welcoming restaurant and remark that we really should pop in for dinner one night.
A few weeks ago we were looking for somewhere special to head for an anniversary meal so the Suburban Pantry came top of the list and highly recommended by friends.
The owners have managed to transform quite a utilitarian building into a really welcoming dining space with wooden beams and lots of candles adding to the comfortable surroundings. We were greeted by a friendly host who was looking after all of the tables for the evening in an efficient and unobtrusive manner.
It always concerns us when we arrive at a restaurant and the menu offers lots and lots of different choices but the menu here is neat, with a reasonable number of options all of which sounded delicious. This is a well considered menu with plenty of seasonality and everything is freshly cooked to order.
I started with haggis spring rolls which were a complete treat! Light, crisp and packed with perfectly spiced haggis the springs rolls were served on a good drizzle of sweet chilli sauce that gave an extra zing.
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| Haggis Spring Roll |
Raymond absolutely loves goats cheese so was delighted that twice baked goats cheese soufflé, pesto and smoked sun dried tomatoes appeared on the menu. The combination of flavours were wonderful together and the smokiness of the tomatoes worked well with the light tangy soufflé
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| Goats Cheese Souffle |
Next up I decided to go for wild mushroom and spinach risotto with Parmesan and herb oil. It’s not often that I go for the vegetarian option (that’s usually Raymond’s choice) but fancied risotto and hoped it would be special. It was! Deliciously creamy with lots of flavour, a wee bit bite to the rice and lots of mushrooms and spinach. The herb oil and generous sprinkle of Parmesan cheese really added to the depth of flavour and consistency, it tasted luxurious.
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| Wild Mushroom and Spinach Risotto |
Raymond opted for the seared salmon, chorizo & potato pave, steamed pak choi, tomato and caper dressing. This dish was a nice combination and the well cooked salmon held up well against the spicy chorizo & potato pave with the pak choi giving it all a really good crunch – delicious.
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| Salmon |
Since we were celebrating, dessert was firmly on the cards. I went for the bread and butter pudding with chantilly cream and Raymond opted for his old benchmark crème brûlée. Bread and butter pudding is such a comfort food, and this one was really packed with sultanas. The crème brûlée certainly held its own against the many that Raymond has tried at home and on holiday – creamy with a satisfying crack of caramelised sugar.
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| Bread and Butter Pudding |
The Suburban pantry also specialise in Private Functions and also outside Catering in Edinburgh and surrounding area. Full details are available on their website.
Apologies for the quality of the photographs. The restaurant is lit with lots of candles and sadly my phone camera had a bit of a wobbly.