Aizle opened in Edinburgh earlier this year and is one of the newest additions to Edinburgh’s dining scene. The restaurant is located on St. Leonard’s Street and is owned by chef Stuart Ralston and mixologist Krystal Goff. According to their website, they have travelled the world cooking and making drinks for famous people. The restaurant is set right on the street but you don’t notice this once you are inside and you can also catch a glimpse of the Crags from some of the tables too. Inside it has a lovely calm and easy going atmosphere and very friendly staff.
So back to the Neo bistro concept which I think means no menus – awaiting correction here! We got an ingredients list when we sat down and asked if we had any allergies or dislikes. There were some really different ingredients on the list so we were sneekily trying to google what they were before the waiter spotted us and laughing put us out of our misery! One of our group was initially a little worried as she doesn’t eat meat and a few other things but they are really happy to amend the menu to any requirements and for example if you don’t eat meat add in another fish course in its place. While we were deciding on the drinks options we were served a big basket of freshly baked, warm bread with a small bowl of Labneh cheese. I hadn’t actually tasted this before and it was a lovely fresh tasting alternative to butter.
First of all we were served a couple of little bites as a taster so you actually get five courses in the end. The bites were topped with sweet onion and puffed pork crisps, a goats cheese and carrot puree and carrot paper (I think). We also had a little pot that had a lovely celeriac puree that was topped with little slivers of fresh apple and ash. It is really hard to remember what is in the courses you have as it’s not written down for you so I hope I managed to catch everything. Next we had a pasta dish of agnoletti filled with goats curd, fresh peas and pea shoots. They are just like ravioli but oblong shaped. Now I am a pasta fiend I have to admit but the this pasta was incredible and I could have eaten lots more! My friend pointed out that everyone was sneaking pictures on their phones!
For our fish course we had Hake which was beautifully cooked and served with pink fir potatoes, sea purslane and a cider butter sauce, this was my favourite plate and everyone loved it too. For the main or meat course we had a mini fillet of pork with a pork bon bon, with pickled kimchee and a sweet sauce and our non-meat eater had sea trout which looked just as good. I think I missed a fair few things on here as you can tell by the descriptions getting shorter – I was busy eating and didn’t write it down quickly enough… I will obviously have to return to ensure I can detail everything properly, such a good excuse!
Our dessert was the final course – a rich chocolate mousse, which came with candied peanuts and a praline biscuits plus a sweet miso sauce. We all agreed that the whole experience was great. I’ll certainly return soon as while you know that they will not be serving the same menu, it will still be fabulously exciting all over again! Our bill was £56 each with two bottles of an excellent Sauvignon blanc to accompany our food. Their Set menu is £35 with matching wines £20 which is very reasonable compared to many other options in the city so you should rush over to visit Aizle before they get booked up every night.
Aizle is at 107-109 St Leonard’s Street, Edinburgh EH8 9QY . Tel for bookings is :0131-662 9349, www.aizle.co.uk.
Submitted by Carol Wilkin
