Food on a Friday: Margot, Edinburgh
Murray Chalmers visits a popular neighbourhood café/wine bar and finds it has all the right ingredients; it just needs a sense of adventure.
I was quite excited by Margot the first time we had brunch there.
As a relative Edinburgh newbie, it seemed very much like my kind of place - a neighbourhood café/wine bar, casual enough to feel relaxed in, yet knowingly cool enough to get their bread from the Palmerston and their beer (organic Seaweed Gose, as it happens) from the wonderful Futtle in the East Neuk.
Our food was good. They take dogs and even two-legged walk-ins. The staff are lovely. Prices seemed reasonable.
As neighbourhood restaurants go, this seemed a bit of a find - my only initial disappointment was that it wasn’t actually in my neighbourhood, and parking in the surrounding streets is a bit of a bugger.
A second visit last weekend was equally pleasant but raised a few minor reservations after the initial quiet joy of that first meal – although, in fairness to the kitchen, both my visits have been during the day and so I haven’t yet experienced their more culinarily expansive evening menu.
Margot is situated amidst a charming row of shops in Bruntsfield – joy of joys, there’s even a record shop next door, whilst their sister restaurant LeftField sits handsomely on the corner.
Smart design, tight spaces
From the outside, then, all looks well but my slight issue is with the space inside.
Here, a narrow space has been cleverly carved into different sections and levels and how you feel about that will very much depend on your spatial awareness, your love of your fellow diners and – more prosaically – your girth.
The fact that tables and chairs have been engineered into the smallest of spaces is evidence of a smart designer, but it also means there’s an oddly disjointed feel about the place, not helped by the fact that the only place staff are physically able to congregate is right by the entrance.
The food is good although my abiding feeling is it all seems a bit safe, and I don’t think that’s because we made some basic choices from the small menu.
Hummus, toasted seeds and sumac (£5) was just that, the hummus a little gloopy, the flavour a little understated, but pleasant enough.
Palmerston focaccia and olive oil (£3.80) is as good as Palmerston bread is, which is to say they and Company Bakery make the best bread in Edinburgh.
Crispy new potatoes and garlicky yoghurt (£7) were good and as moreish as spuds and garlic can be.
The Turkish eggs thing
A more substantial brunch option was the Turkish eggs, garlicky Greek yoghurt, sumac, lemon, honey and coriander, served with bread (£13) and it was this that I felt somewhat missed the spot.
I first had Turkish eggs – now somewhat ubiquitous, but in 2001 still a novelty - in Peter Gordon’s innovative Marylebone restaurant The Providores & Tapa Room over 20 years ago.
The dish became a bit of a runaway hit there and rightly so. Based on the Turkish classic cilbir, I remember Peter Gordon’s version as being wonderfully, warmly aromatic, humming with garlic and the gentle kick of Aleppo pepper.
Here in Margot it tastes fine but lacks any defining punch, so it all feels a little bland on the palate - and this is a reservation I have about quite a few of the dishes on their daytime menu.
In an effort to combat this, on my second visit I wanted to order the pulled beef brisket, chimichurri, yoghurt, red pepper and coriander on focaccia (£13) but it was sold-out, so I had the pearl barley risotto with pumpkin, thyme and Manchego (£13).
This tasted delicious but again, I felt like I was eating something cosseting and ambrosial, as all the best risottos are, yet strangely bland and of one note.
Whilst enjoying the risotto I suddenly remembered a bon mot, one of many from my favourite ever restaurant reviewer, the wonderful Fay Maschler, who once said she rarely ordered soup as a starter because she felt her appetite would be drowned.
Here, the reliance on yoghurt, whipped cheeses, labneh, hummus etc means the appetite isn’t so much drowned as emulsified.
If all this sounds like I didn’t like Margot then that’s certainly not the case. Over the course of two visits there we had some very nice food, the muhammara with sumac and olive oil (£5) being a case in point.
Ramp up the flavours
It’s just I feel that if you’re going to serve food that is essentially quite basic then it has to have a sense of authenticity about it, it has to push the flavours to the max, and it has to offer a variety of textures.
During this second visit it all started to feel just a little too restrained and polite, a little – dare I say it – Waitrose Food magazine.
Nothing wrong with that, of course, and I’m sure the evening menu would appeal more, given the good wine list and more of a reliance on shellfish, cheeses from Mellis etc.
And whatever my reservations, Margot was packed both times we went – a very good sign for a restaurant that’s only been open for six months but already seems to be firmly embedded in the community.
Margot, 7-8 Barclay Terrace Edinburgh, Eh10 4hp, Tues - Wed 8.30am - 4pm, Thurs - Sat 9am - 10pm, Sun 9am - 4pm. E: hello@margotedinburgh.co.uk T: 0131 281 4170
All Scots Ink reviews are based on anonymous visits to restaurants/cafes and paid for by the reviewer.