The Kitchin

Once we got back from Vienna on Tuesday lunchtime, we enjoyed our afternoon then got ready to go and eat at The Kitchin. Since we were both off the day after we took the opportunity to book a table and use the voucher we got from my parents at Christmas.

I was really excited about going, having never eaten in a Michelin star restaurant before, and I really hoped we would get a glimpse of Tom Kitchin. Imagine our surprise when we arrived early for a change to see him going over the list of diners for the evening. While we enjoyed a drink and waited for them to finish setting up the restaurant, Tom came over to speak to us which was a little like meeting a celebrity and not really knowing what to say! Graham mentioned that we had just been celebrating our first anniversary in Vienna so we were delighted to find a hand written card on our table, wishing us a good night and a happy anniversary. The restaurant is lovely inside and has a viewing window into the working kitchen where we could see Tom and his chefs at work.

(Image from here)

The Kitchin prides itself on using seasonal local produce: From Nature to Plate so as well as the main a' la carte menu, there is always a celebration of the season menu and the surprise tasting menu. While we chose our dishes, which took a while to decide, we were served bread from the bread trolley, cut in front of you. Once we had chosen, Graham ordering from the main menu while I chose dishes from the seasonal menu, we were served an amuse bouche, a consume of roe deer with chives.

I knew before I even arrived that I was going to have scallops if possible so I started with the seared hand-dived Orkney scallops served with first of the season French asparagus and rosebay willowherb. Graham tried the first of the season French asparagus served with a soft boiled duck egg from Burnside Farm. The scallops didn't disappoint and were beautifully cooked. I wasn't sure what the willowherb would be like but it went really well with the asparagus.

Carrying on with seafood, I had the fillet of wild turbot from Scrabster poached in a saffron stock, served with diced vegetables and squid ink pasta while Graham had the wild sea bass from Scrabster served with a ragout of Swiss chard, lemon and basil. Mine was delicious and the fish was so tender having been poached rather than fried. I also loved the pasta when it had been infused with the stock. Grahams had been fried which gave it a lovely crispy skin but the fish was also delicious. Obviously I had to try his as well for research purposes!

To complete our meal I went for the British pear poached in chocolate and served with vanilla ice cream while Graham had another souffle, this time a mini chocolate souffle served with chocolate ice cream and a blood orange marmalade. The pear was gorgeous with a rich chocolate sauce and I'm told the souffle was just as good as the one Graham had at our anniversary meal.

The plates weren't too small like I thought they might have been and we were both given a large portion of fish. We were able to enjoy and finish all of our plates so we were definitely full at the end of the meal, without being stuffed. We had a voucher for our meal which paid for most it but we did have to pay some of the bill; while its not cheap it was definitely worth the money.

While we were the majority of the other diners were having Tom's land and sea surprise tasting menu, which looked wonderful. Most of them had also taken the matched wine package where a different glass of wine is served to compliment each course. Graham wasn't keen to try the tasting menu since you have no idea what you will get {he doesn't like any shellfish} but after seeing it being served I would love to go back and try it. I'm considering it as an option for my 30th in December, a perfect excuse for a treat, preferably from someone else!

The Kitchin also has a sister restaurant, Castle Terrace, which has just been awarded a Michelin rising star and possibly next on our list to try. I have also heard good things about 21212, another of Edinburgh's Michelin starred establishments, if only we could afford to eat there more often!