The Palmerston
Edinburgh, Lothians
Entry
In a retooled bank building in Edinburgh's Haymarket district, the Palmerston makes a virtue of the decorative style of yesteryear. Lots of dark wood, an uncovered floor and bentwood café chairs create an atmosphere of old-world civility rather than anything too severe, while tall windows provide the daylight. The place opens at 9am for coffee and pastries, to encourage a little constructive dawdling on the way to work, but full services introduce a neat, seasonal menu of up-to-the-minute, Med-oriented bistro dishes with a strong backbone of pedigree regional supplies. Dishes often pack several punches in one concentrated package: brandade and puntarelle are dressed in chilli, capers and dill, while duck rillettes are sharpened to a fine point with pickled clementine. A reporter's spring dinner that took in a rabbit sausage, as well as ox heart and chips, spoke for many in its admiration for the kitchen's respectful approach to meats, but there was praise too for pollack with clams in creamy cider sauce. Fans have also enthused about the pasta dishes. Lamb comes from Shetland, and could be served 'en crépinette' with mashed swede, while a canonical rendition of coq au vin for two (rich with ceps and bacon) is accompanied by mustard greens. To conclude, the kitchen's bakery skills are spotlit for the likes of chocolate, almond and pear cake, and the heavenly rhubarb sorbet is also mentioned in dispatches. Free bread is the kind of touch that gets everybody onside. The enterprising cosmopolitan wine list is a closely printed miscellany of thoroughbred bottles, opening with a Soave Classico and Dão red at £27, and there is a clutch of quality fortified libations.
