The Skyline Restaurant at Tynecastle Park, home of Heart of Midlothian Football Club, is highly rated by Trip Advisor. In fact, it’s No 1 in Edinburgh according to the restaurant website. So, does it live up to the billing?
Well, the minute you walk out of the lift onto the third floor you at hit by a view of the rooftops of central Edinburgh, and you can’t miss the view as the well-appointed restaurant has floor to ceiling windows.
The grey walls and clever lighting add to the atmosphere. So do the pictures of Edinburgh around the walls. This maybe the epicentre of Jamboland, but pleasingly the designers sidestepped football and concentrated on sights of the city.
So, this well-appointed restaurant was impressive on first sight. Could it continue to deliver?
Our table was at one end of the large room which can host over 100 covers but, because of COVID-19, those numbers are currently restricted.
The small menu should satisfy most. The price at £24 for two courses and £30 for three is value.
There were four starters on the night we visited. Chef’s soup of the day (lentil) or smoked trout rillette, toasted sourdough, lilliput capers and endive, or ham hock terrine with piccalilli gel and oatcakes or Heirloom tomato salad, balsamic dressing and crostini.
Mains were fillet of beef on herb crouton, topped with mushroom duxelles (a slowly cooked combination of finely chopped mushrooms, shallots and fresh herbs like thyme or parsley), seasonal greens and fondant potato, or pan fried breast of corn fed chicken, parmesan mash, fricassee of wild mushrooms and pea, or salmon fillet with tempura mussels, carrot and star anise puree and wilted lime spinach or tasting of squash (a vegetarian option).
Desserts were salted chocolate tart with chocolate soil, black cherry gel and vanilla cream, summer berry meringue, warm toffee and date sponge with butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream and Scottish cheese and biscuits.
The food is beautifully presented on stylish plates to tables with spotless linen cloths. Impressive.
So was the service, slick but not oppressive and the wine list should satisfy.
What of the food? We were at a table of six. My pick was the trout rillette which worked wonderfully well with the capers and endive, both of which gave the fish a pleasing cutting edge on the palate.
My fillet of beef came cooked to perfection however I felt the mushroom duxelles were a little tart for the remainder of the dish.
Summer berry meringue came, as requested, minus cream. It was mouth-watering to the eye and some of the colours resembled those of kit of the squad which will represent this famous club in Scotland’s top league next season. The taste exploded in the mouth, a pleasing mix of sweet from the meringue and sour from the fruit.
The remainder of the party enjoyed a selection from the menu. Thankfully, the noise level in the room was such that conversation could be had with the entire table, a positive plus when enjoying a night out with friends.
So did Skyline hit the spot? Well, in a word, yes, and I am not writing this through maroon coloured glasses.
The restaurant also hit the heights for location – you can park in the street only yards from the venue and it is only 1.4 miles from the centre of Scotland’s Capital city – for atmosphere, for value and quality. It is open Thursday to Sunday offering lunch and dinner menus along with a traditional Sunday lunch.
There is a bonus for Heart of Midlothian season ticket holders and over 65s who are entitled to a 10 per cent discount on Thursday to Saturday and season ticket holders receive one loyalty point every time they dine at the venue. There is also a children’s menu.
To book use the online booking box or call 07736 917 841 and calls will be answered Monday to Friday between 12pm and 3pm. Go on, give them a call. We will be as we enjoyed this location so much.
ADDRESS: Skyline Restaurant, Tynecastle Park, McLeod Street, Edinburgh EH11 2NL
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