Ondine — Edinburgh, Scotland
Ondine was our first meal in Edinburg, Scotland. It’s a well appointed seafood joint about a block off the Royal Mile near St Giles Cathedral. It makes for a super convenient location if you’re sightseeing… but that fact also makes getting a reservation challenging during the festival month of August (which is when I was there).
Side note — When you make your reservation what you’re looking for is the oyster bar option. This refers to where you’ll sit — not necessarily what you’ll eat. The restaurant tables are for suckers (more on that later).
The meal opened on a cheesy puff pastry amuse-gueule and cocktails. Bartenders are solid, the wine list extensive, and the beer list well-informed. We started out the evening on oysters — Loch Fyne, Carlingford, Lindisfarne, and Dorset. All four were excellent but the Loch Fyne was especially delightful. Super fresh and well balanced — definitely a top three oyster in my book.
Next up was the fish and shellfish soup.
Amazing dish… and totally not what I was expecting. It was smooth and creamy (so no chunks) with drowned croutons and a drizzle of gruyère cheese which perfectly complemented then flavor. That said — my choice of wine did not pair well with how peppery and savory the dish was. Luckily I still had some of my original negroni.
What came next was a happy accident — the waitress accidentally put us in for the grilled half shell scallops… there was no way I was letting them take it back. It’s a beautiful dish — and probably the best single item I ate in Scotland. The Charentaise sausage had just a subtle spicy heat that paired beautifully with the sweetness of the scallops themselves. It’s a combination I would have never thought up. I actually tried to order another serving but mine was the last for the evening.
Next was a wild Cornish Sea bass with orange, fennel, and tomato… a close second to the scallops but a much heartier affair.
That was followed by a brown crab risotto -flavorful but it probably did not deserve to be on the “Mains” portion of the menu. If you’re so inclined I’d get it to share as an appetizer or middle course.
So far as the family-style sides — I’d recommend skipping them. The thin cut chips would be passable in the states but I’d come to expect better the UK. Buttered spinach was a bit bland and stringy with the stems still on the leaf.
Dessert — my friends went with the Strawberry affair pictured here. I forget what it was — blame the wine. Whatever it was would have been almost too sweet but the salt of the wafer rounded it off well enough. I won the dessert round, however, with the chocolate and praline parfait paired with a tawny port.
They rolled me home after. I did not complain.
Now having said all that; a fair warning about the service. It was clear from the start that the dining room was not a priority for the staff. My glass was empty more than half the night. This was especially shocking considering how much food I ordered… I clearly intended to spend as much money as they could find reasons to charge me for.
The wait staff also assumed too much about our pallets based on appearance which… ok… is common enough. But the overall approach was rather more insulting than usual. (“You are a girl so you won’t like Scotch — how about a wine spritzer instead”-esque).
That said they did notice and apologize with a complimentary round was brought out. Maybe they were just short-staffed. Just the same — try to get a seat at the bar because while we got unintentionally sobered up it looked like a lot of fun over there.
Overall — I highly recommend the restaurant. Smart, creative, and delicious food.
