Avery, Edinburgh

This is a rarity. There is a kitchen containing so much skill, with a chef who has so much imagination, not to mention a Michelin star: yet somehow they manage to produce a meal which is rather less than the sum of the parts.

Chef owner is American Rodney Wages. He moved from Kansas to San Francisco where he worked at Thomas Keller's celebrated The French Laundry. On a visit to Edinburgh a few years ago he fell in love with the city and relocated his family here. It is clear, therefore, that we are dealing with a man of great discernment and taste. When we visited to celebrate my birthday he was front of house in civilian clothes. Truth be told, he looked a little ill at ease in a jacket which didn't fit all that well. For a small room there were a lot of serving staff, with no obvious dress code. A couple of young lads in aprons, but somebody with DJ and bow tie and others in shirt sleeves, or jacket with no tie. The best of the waiters (or servers as they would say in San Francisco) was Juan from Cordoba, with whom we got on famously.

The set menu - 10 courses if I remember correctly - is an odd scribbled affair. I'm guessing the list of names depicts who produced which course. They are served with an array of plates and cutlery which can be described either as eclectic or eccentric, depending on your viewpoint. I have no objection to chopsticks though we both hate eating with wooden spoons.  But quite why someone thought we needed something the size of a zombie knife to cope with a dinky slice of venison fillet is beyond me.

We both very much enjoyed a dish of tortellini in brodo. Classic pasta in a lovely broth. I'm told it was made with roasted garlic and that kitchen favourite burnt onion again, though I wouldn't have known. The bowl in which it was served was about the size of a christening font and you actually had to stand up to see into it. Very tasty though.

That can be said about most, though not all, of the food on offer. A sliver of raw scallop had just the right balance of bonito vinegar and chilli. Another broth, this time made with bones, came with tiny peas which had apparently been grilled. Onions here are subject to much conflagration. A crispy beetroot tart apparently featured burnt sesame, and onion ash. If you say so, chef.

I very much enjoyed the BBQ eel with wild nettles: L less so. We would both have given a round of applause for the Bits and Bobs From the Sea involving some squid and slivers of mackerel in a quite stunning broth made with ginger, lemon grass, coconut, lime and chilli, the latter apparently fermented. Sadly the wheels came off with a dish featuring Castle Game pigeon. The menu mentioned Vadouvan, which is a French-Indian sauce. Sadly it just tasted of uncooked, overly hot curry powder.

In fairness, when our displeasure was expressed, they comped us a couple of glasses of a claret significantly better than the £98 bottle of Italian we had chosen. Believe it or not, that was indeed the second cheapest, plus, of course, 15% service charge. You can do wine flights. I'm not sure of the cost. It's the chat which puts me off such things. Even with the food, sometimes the explanation of a dish took longer than the eating.

Heading towards the end, I recall being asked if I'd previously eaten pecan pie. After an answer in the affirmative there was delivered a cheese tart with a fluffy mountain of cheddar and honey on top. No obvious sign of a pecan. Maybe the secret lay in the base. Anyway it was not to my taste, and I left it. I recall something with a mousse with a bee mould and tiny chopped macerated strawberries. Finally a little tray of petits four served on pine needles. A stunningly good mini tart; something like a tortoise which didn't taste of much; and a crispy chocolate sandwich biscuit whose filling had suffered the same fate as the onions, ie burnt. An unpleasant end.

For £169 a head, payable in advance, the wow factor appeared too rarely. Perhaps we were unlucky. You just feel that all of the talent in the building ought to have been able to do better.

With reference to the picture at the top, I should say that chef is influenced by American artist Milton Avery and the artist's love of vibrant colours, and has nothing to do with Avery scales. The image is a birthday card painted and sent by my great friend Michael Greenlaw when he heard where we were planning to dine.