ITALIAN
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EDINBURGH
ITALIAN In association with
Dente being somewhat off the culinary beaten track. + Perfect pesto - Blackboard specials sometimes run out
Amarone 13 St Andrew Square, New Town (Map 1B: A6, 55) 0131 523 1171, amaronerestaurant.co.uk | £14.95 (set lunch) / £21 (dinner)
From ice-cream to fish and chip shops, Italians have made an indelible imprint on our local eating culture for generations. That continues today with variety aplenty. And the great thing is you don’t have to have pizza with everything either (though there’s plenty of that, and it’s not bad either). Truly Italian dining can be enjoyed in the kind of cosy, casual places that your Nonna would love, right up to something chic and sophisticated enough to seduce even the most demanding Prada wearer. Reviewers: Tom Bruce-Gardyne, John Cooke, Sylvie Docherty, Nick Dunne
Al Dente 139 Easter Road, Leith (Map 5B: C4, 38) 0131 652 1932, al-dente-restaurant. co.uk | Closed Sun | £10.50 (set lunch) / £18 (dinner)
It’s clear that chef Davide Schalmana has a real passion for the regional delicacies of his homeland, and loves to bring a taste of Lake Garda and its surrounds to this elegant room off the rather more rough and ready end of Easter Road. This is a cut above your usual Scotia-Italiano hybrid, with a menu that’s clearly looking to balance a measure of authenticity with the expectations of the market. A dish of freshly made linguine with pesto and green beans stands out as a finely crafted example of treading the right side of this fine line. It’s a fresh burst of flavour, extremely satisfying. Daily meat and fish specials keep the menu ticking over. A slightly sweet venison stew wrapped in cabbage leaf is rustic without being rough. Salmon flavoured with rosemary and lemon steamed in foil suffers from a too-thin piece of fish, and too long in the steam. Tiramisu for dessert might seem an Italian cliché, but this is the real thing. As with most of what Schalmana and his team create, it’s well worth seeking out, despite Al
Amarone’s vast interior eschews subtlety for the glitz and glamour you might expect from a 1930s Chicago jazz club – a capacious horseshoe of ostentatious lighting, vertiginous ceilings, marbled pillars, private booths and more tables than you can shake a breadstick at. This is a venue that impresses – the clientele of tourists and suits from local businesses attests to that – and such engaging surroundings deserve food to match. However, stale bread on the signature dish of antipasti and mains cooked in butter rather than olive oil could be signs of indifference in the kitchen, compounded by a lack of attention sometimes resulting in undercooked pasta, gritty shellfish and over-oily mash. The desserts are a strength, however – a decadent chocolate semi-freddo and a velvety honey and ginger mascarpone cheesecake are both enticingly sweet. Amarone has all the ingredients required to be a destination restaurant – it just needs to know what to do with them. + Beautiful venue - Underwhelming food
La Bruschetta 13 Clifton Terrace, Haymarket, West End (Map 4: A3, 64) 0131 467 7464, labruschetta.co.uk | Closed Sun/Mon | £14.95 (set lunch) / £22 (dinner)
It’s always good to return to a restaurant after some years and find it as good as your memories. Chef/ owner Giovanni Cariello’s tiny maroonhued place remains a classic of calm and professionalism just across from the bustle of Haymarket Station. It epitomises a brand of Italian restaurant that hasn’t had its head turned by trend, but keeps faith in classic dishes (and good wine) done exceptionally well. It’s grown-up but, thanks to its warm heart, never stuck-up. Antipasti like a slice of
potato cake on a spicy tomato sauce or simply grilled calamari are a prelude to well-proportioned primi and secondi courses. Pastas aren’t smothered in sauce, and risotto has just enough bite. A generously proportioned, thinly pounded veal cutlet needs little accompaniment beyond a squeeze of lemon. Fish plays a major role, from herb-crusted Scottish salmon to shallow-fried fritto misto. Every day, the blackboard adds market options to a very comprehensive à la carte menu, and a decently priced threecourse lunch. Ciao, La Bruschetta, it’s very good to meet again. + Old-school still rules - Your gran will love it
4 Café Domenico 30 Sandport Street, Leith (Map 5A: C2, 7) 0131 467 7266, cafedomenico.co.uk | Closed Sun | £9.50 (lunch) / £15.50 (dinner)
Café Domenico’s look is delightfully retro. Mirrors on every wall – check. Sixties crooning from the sound system –check. Limoncello bottles hither and thither – check. Red and white checked tablecloths – literally, check. This diminutive restaurant an olive stone’s throw from the Shore in Leith may seem caught in a time warp, but thankfully not so the kitchen itself. At lunch there are queues out the door for pasta and panini made to order, but it’s in the evenings that the kitchen comes into its own and produces some seriously good Italian food. The specials are particularly enticing and many incorporate seafood. Lobster and ricotta ravioli comprise perfectly cooked wafer-thin pasta and a light and flavourful lobster mousse filling. Linguine marinara, loaded with mussels, clams and squid, tastes as if it’s been prepared straight off the boat, the ribbons of pasta shining in a simple tomato and white wine sauce. Steaks are excellent too and if you really crave some 80s food to match the 80s décor, there’s always the tiramisu. + Very fresh seafood - The website could do with an overhaul
Circle by Di Giorgio 1 Brandon Terrace, Canonmills, New Town See Cafés
Civerinos Italian Street Food & Pizza Slice Bar 5 Hunter Square, Old Town (Map 2A: D3, 88) 0131 220 0851, civerinos.com | £14.50 (lunch) / £16 (dinner)
A cunning reverse on the low-quality, high-cost tourist-fodder outlets that tend to prevail on the Royal Mile, the focus of Michele and Olivia Civiera’s venture is on a fusion of age-old family recipes and the simple, tasty fare found in the markets of Florence, Venice and Naples. The achingly cool canteen-style wooden benches wouldn’t be out of place among the thriving market stalls of a Neapolitan piazza, and nor would the cibo de strada (‘street food’) on the menu. Served unpretentiously on paper plates by the super-chilled yet efficient band of waiting staff, zucchini tempura seems especially popular – light but crispy batter the perfect foil for the soft courgette within. Sourdough pizza slices and small bites, such as crispy (if slightly under-seasoned) arancini or beef meatballs in porcini gravy, are popular at lunchtimes but in the evening it’s the pizzas, served in full 360-degree glory, alongside steaming bowls of mix-andmatch pasta, that gratify the buzzing swarm of locals delighted to have discovered somewhere fresh and vibrant in tourist land. + Cool, casual ambience - Only two desserts on the menu, one of which is . . . pizza
4 Cucina G&V Royal Mile Hotel, 1 George IV Bridge, Old Town (Map 2A: C3, 20) 0131 240 1666, quorvuscollection.com/ gandv-hotel-edinburgh | £15.95 (set lunch) / £24 (dinner)
If you like your clothes more Prada than Primark, Cucina will suit you perfectly. What’s more, this spacious fi rst-floor restaurant in the ultra-chic G&V Royal Mile (formerly Missoni) Hotel is not all style over substance. In fact, this is as good an Italian meal as you’ll find this side of Milan. There are plenty of distinctive regional ingredients that give the menu a proper Italian accent, like the spicy Calabrian njura in a tomato and black olive rigatoni dish. Or the passatelli pasta served simply in a chicken broth. This style of la dolce
ONLINE LISTINGS For full opening hours, further details on facilities, individual location maps and links, go to
food.list.co.uk Vittoria (page 85): the original branch of this family-friendly Edinburgh institution is 45 this year 80 The List Eating & Drinking Guide