L’Escargot Bleu a soupçon of France in our Scottish capital.
From the moment you walk through the door of L’Escargot Bleu you feel like you have been transported to a little bit of France. Deliciously fresh white baguettes are plentiful and a large table in the middle of the room marks the place where the classically French steak tartare is prepared.
Celia and I went along to L’Escargot Bleu on the first day of Lent – perhaps not a great time to indulge in the delights of French cooking, but within minutes we were ready to surrender to order the menu in its entirety!
Though mass ordering was an attractive option, we decided to settle for Beef Steak Tartare with all the trimmings and grilled Burgundy Snails – au francais! They were delicious and as French as you can get. The Steak Tartare is made to your requirements; mine was spicy with lots of delicious gherkins! The snails were cooked with fennel seeds and a ginger bread crust and were exceptional.
For mains we opted for the pan fillet of Arctic Charr (a delicate white fish) and locally sourced Beef Bourguignon. The mains were accompanied with buttered seasonal greens, new potatoes and cauliflower. The Arctic Charr came with a seaweed butter emulsion, razor clams and mussels. It looked spectacular and tasted as good. Meanwhile the Beef Bourguignon, cooked for 24 hours, was mouth wateringly delicious.
As always we opted for dessert and having heard about the fabulous macaroons my pudding was a no brainer. I chose a selection of melt in your mouth macaroons including ginger bread, chocolate and violet flavours. You can buy these from the French deli beneath the restaurant and I definitely encourage you to do so! Celia chose a cheese platter for pudding and wow, these were amazing cheeses! I can assure you I have not tasted such rich and strong cheeses in a long time. The cheeses were of varying types and came from goats, cows and sheep. They were brilliant and I can promise you our dreams that night can only be accredited to these magnificent cheeses!
In short L’Escargot Bleau is a wonderful and very traditional restaurant with exceptional French cuisine. Perfect for a quick supper or a super romantic treat.
L’Escargot Bleu 56 Broughton Street, EH1 3SA 0131 557 1600
The Reporter Food reviewer, Holly Jones, is a partner in The Lifestyle Company Scotland You can follow the company and their lifestyle tips on Twitter
