Looking for somewhere to go out of the city centre this weekend? Look no further!
We were invited to go to dinner at Charwood the newly opened pizzeria and grill on Comiston Road. The restaurant is set on the top of a bank with the terrace overlooking the Pentland Hills, easily accessible by regular buses from the city centre. We pulled up to see lots of people relaxing with their food and drink in the sunshine.
We decided to sit inside and were taken to a table by the huge floor to ceiling windows overlooking the terrace and the water feature. It’s clearly a popular neighbourhood restaurant with lots of people wandering in and it was really busy considering it was a Monday night. The restaurant is big with an outdoor terrace area, split level main restaurant and a function room at the back, but despite this still retains an intimate yet friendly atmosphere.
Wines are served by the glass and bottle with a small glass starting around £5, draft beers, ciders and a selection of soft drinks gives plenty of choice. I plumped for a Pinot Noir as I had already spotted the steak menu! With an extensive menu you can be assured that there is something to suit all tastes. The main focus is handmade pizzas,using locally sourced ingredients from Edinburgh favourites including cheese from IJ Mellis, and the Grill selection supplied by a local butcher J Gilmour. All the meat and fish dishes are cooked on their Josper Grill which, the manager informed me, is Spanish style hybrid grill and oven perfect for grilling meat, fish and vegetables swiftly, with an utterly distinctive oaky taste. Apparently the Josper Grill has taken the international culinary world by storm, with admired chefs such as Heston Blumenthal, Gordon Ramsay and Jason Atherton creating Josper-inspired menus in their current establishments.
Being seafood lovers we chose scallops with black pudding, pea puree and grilled celeriac – the scallops were well cooked and peas are a great accompaniment to their sweet succulent texture. The boy wasn’t so keen on celeriac it turns out but I am sure he can just ask not to have that in future! Grilled tiger prawns were lovely too: you can’t beat prawns and a mayo dip
I had decided to try out the steaks and settled on the Flat iron, while this is a ‘cheap’ cut of meat (£15 on their menu as opposed to sirloin at £19), I often find it is the best for both taste and value. Plus knowing that it was locally sourced from a butcher, I didn’t think twice about it despite my partner’s doubts! All the steaks are rubbed with their secret steak rub and come with a baste of either butter, lemon and garlic or chimichurri, and served with proper wedges, Portobello mushroom, cherry tomatoes and a rocket salad (sauces are optional extras).The steak truly was wonderful and I felt incredible good value plus the lovely smoky flavour from the Josper made it just perfect!
Our pizza was a Rusticana which is a larger option with a thinner crispier base and fired in the wood oven. It was precisely what you would hope for and there were plenty of toppings – for me I would have liked chilli oil or some black pepper (or chorizo?!) as the chicken and mushroom pizza could have perhaps packed a bit more flavour but for the boy it was perfect. I have learned there are some people who don’t like spice with every meal!
By this point we were both so full we decided to share a dessert. Dessert was a difficult choice, we ummed and ahhh’d between a Chocolate ice cream sundae, (Di Rollo’s ice cream!) pannacotta or Sticky toffee pudding. We opted for the Charwood sticky toffee pudding and I was overjoyed to see that they were generous with the sauce which is my favourite part – there was loads of it. The boy had a big spoon, the waiting staff had no problem in getting me a smaller spoon…there is a wedding dress I need to fit in to!
An enthusiastic and talented kitchen team, it was great to see them at work from the restaurant – they were also really happy to take five minutes to demonstrate the grill and the waiting staff were also attentive and fun.
I really enjoyed our meal and was hugely impressed by the food, while not local this restaurant is still easily accessible, boasts a lovely sun terrace and offers fantastic value.
On this occasion I was invited to Charwood to try their food, however was not asked to give a positive review purely to write about my experience. I regularly visit restaurants both incognito and as a guest in order to write reviews and share fabulous experiences, insider tips and discover new places but the views and opinions written are all mine!
Carol loves writing about food, drinks and events in Edinburgh, and sharing the wonderful places we have on our doorstop. Read her reviews of places new and old and let us know what you think by commenting and sharing your favourite places.
Shouldve tried the hot scot pizza. Perfect combo for someone who likes spivy. Yummiest invention I have ever made. 🙂
Xx
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