Old Pal Bar & Kitchen, Edinburgh

Not what you expect, and not where you'd expect it. I'd been in its predecessor, The Mercat Bar & Kitchen once or twice. A nice enough wee pub I thought, with live music some afternoons. Although food was mentioned, it never seemed to be much in evidence, and only a couple of tables ever seemed to be set.

I noticed the change of sign and the revamp. More of the same I guessed, though I hated the name. Then three things happened. Popping in for a pit stop en route to Casa Johnston, I glanced at the menu and was intrigued. Secondly, I discovered the source of the name. Thirdly, I went downstairs to the loo.

We'll come to the menu. Doh! this is a restaurant review. Old Pal is the name of a whiskey cocktail. It's a near cousin to the Negroni featuring equal quantities of rye whiskey, dry vermouth and Campari. Forgive me: cocktails are not really my thing. But pause to look at the bar and see how well stocked it is. And when you go downstairs you find another dining space with 30+ covers, and yet another room with an elegant looking pool table.

It's the brain child of Ben Greig from Roseburn. Ben has spent 20 years at the licensing coal face, having worked in some of Edinburgh's swishest establishments. No mere pint puller he. And learning from some of the city's canniest operators he understood that in this, his first ever place of his own, he had to give people what they wanted.

The menu reflects that. Sensibly compact, it features half a dozen each of starters and mains, plus a choice of five sliders. That word may make those of us of a certain age think of ice cream wafers. But as a cosmopolitan food reviewer about town I can tell you they are mini burgers of various types, and have been great value additions to many a menu for some years now. At a mere £7.50 a pop, it's a bite for not a lot. And no we're not talking mini Maccie D. Think chipotle pork shoulder - with lime and coriander slaw; think cod with nahm jim (Thai dipping sauce) and mayo; think tofu, if you must.

L and I popped in one day on a whim. A French couple in ahead of us were looking well satisfied. To start you could have steak tartare. I don't think you get that from the purveyors of frozen stuff. Pink peppercorn calamari with ponzu? Much easier to eat than to say ten times. Burrata - you don't see that on every pub menu. I had the venison spring rolls. Home made, I think, and the advertised plum sauce, radically, tasted of plum.

Now for mains. Yes you can see steak (a snip at £22) and fish and pie. But the pie is of ox cheek and bone marrow. The fish is cod, but in the form of a rather good curry with lentil and lychee. I'm exceeding fond of a schnitzel. This chicken version was about half a beast with a stonking, properly made celeriac remoulade on the side. Rustic, but very satisfying.

There is a range of Sunday roasts. The menu does change from time to time. You may find a lobster sub, or a duck cassoulet. Prices are keen, the dearest dish on the carte being the steak which I mentioned. Our chips were great, and had clearly been cooked to order.

Complaints? Certainly not about Caolan, who looked after us with his easy Irish charm. The only one I could think of is that I'd love to see the place busier. Ben won a Best Bar award in his first two months of opening. If you want great value bar food with a twist, get along here sharpish. Oh, and have a cocktail or two and tell me what I'm missing.

Tom Eats! will return in a couple of weeks