Ben N.
Yelp
When we first knew we were going to visit Edinburgh, we started checking out restaurants and their menus online, and the Michelin-starred the Kitchin kept popping up. Sounded fantastic, but then saw that a prix fixe ran something like £80 or £90 per person. That's beyond our means--at least if we're being responsible--but par for the course for Michelin-starred restaurants, I reckon.
But I then discovered that Tom Kitchin is also the part-owner of the Scran and Scallie, which also appears in all the Edinburgh restaurant write-ups and which, while hardly cheap, is easily more economical than the chef's namesake place. And it was only about a seven-minute walk from where we were staying over near Dean Village. Visiting was a no-brainer.
The Scran and Scallie is basically an upscale, farm-to-table gastropub. By 2019, this isn't any kind of radical concept, but when it's only your second night in Scotland, it seemed like a great idea. The menu contains a bunch of Scottish and British classics, some reimagined or retrofitted for 21st century tastes.
Mackerel tartare as a starter wasn't any kind of particularly gastropub dish, but it was the best and most refined thing on the table on this night. Wonderfully put together--a sort of Mediterranean flavor profile--with beautiful, fresh fish. This wasn't any kind of "scran," to say the least--I cold have easily eaten about five more plates of it.
Haggis at the S & S is given an updated treatment--the haggis itself served in a kind of fritter form, the tatties rendered as very good house-made crisps, and the neeps a turnip reduction (if I recall correctly). Interesting, but was it more satisfying than some of the more traditional versions we tried while in Scotland? I can't really say that it was.
Seeking out fish--we live in landlocked Ohio in the U.S.--I went with the smoked haddock rarebit with spinach. Maybe not the best choice for me, as I'm generally not the biggest fan of cheese-lathered food, but very well executed, with the fish nicely cooked.
The wife ordered fish and chips, which was straightforwardly done and came in the typically monstrous portion for this dish. This was good, but not elevated in any way above the best fish and chips we could recall having. In fact, not as good as some we'd sampled elsewhere.
Overall, very good, and recommended, and maybe we didn't order the best mains on the menu. (I was envious of some plates at adjacent tables--steak pie, and I think some kind of gamebird special.)
I'm not sure what whisky flights usually go for in UK cities, but 20 pounds seemed reasonable for what I ordered (had never tried anything from the relatively local Glenkinchie, and it was very pleasant), at least by US standards.
Our server was attentive and friendly, and quite helpful with explanations of menu items. The atmosphere at the S & S is another reason to visit--it's cozy, convivial, and lively. I would say that having dogs hanging out in the restaurant is cool--we spent the whole trip missing own dogs back home--but this one Golden Retriever in my sightline spent about five minutes straight giving me the evil eye from about five tables away. Slightly unnerving!