Posts by Tom Johnston
Tapa, Edinburgh
Tapa 19 Shore Place, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6SW 0131 476 6776 www.tapaedinburgh.co.uk The Bill Lunch Tuesday to Saturday £15.00 A la carte (Half price Thursdays*) Para picar £2.50 – £5.95 | Tapas £6.25 – £17.00 Charcuteria £15.00 – £36.00 | Para Algo Dulce £5.95 – £9.95 The Score Cooking 8/10 | Service 4.5/5 Flavour 5/5…
Read MoreSpaghetti with Prawns, Crab, Garlic and Chilli
At heart this is just a posh version of that simplest of Italian classics, spaghetti oglio, aglio e peperoncino, ie with oil, garlic and chilli. It’s so easy as to defy belief. For today’s dish, the quality of your ingredients will make all the difference, though I did improvise. A few pointers. Use your very…
Read MoreEnjoy A Glass of Wine? Why Not Have 40? Or 85?
I recently lost a wonderful friend who in his heyday was wont to say, 1 bottle good, 2 bottles better. And if you enjoy a glass of wine, why not 85, as recommended by Decanter? To clarify, that is their recommendation for the maximum number of wines that a taster should sample in a single…
Read MoreTom Eats! A New Restaurant Critic
I permitted myself a small smile when I heard that Marina O’Loughlin was packing it in as restaurant critic of the Sunday Times. Not, I hasten to add, that I disliked her work. It was just that when one door closes, opportunity knocks, if you get my drift. The credentials for a replacement? Well,…
Read MoreTeriyaki, Tamagoyaki, Dashi
Mielko Itadakimasu! The customary saying before eating in Japan. It’s more than just bon appétit: it literally means I will have the food respectfully. For this, the last article influenced by our jaunt to Japan, I’ll say thank you (arigato) to Mielko, the lady who taught us to make sushi, and who sent us away…
Read MoreIn Japan S is for Soya
Don’t be confused with the Tom’s Food! alphabetical. Yes, I know we haven’t done Q or R yet. When we get to S, we may do sprouts or succotash or some such, but that won’t be for a while yet. We are in Japan, where S is undoubtedly for soya. With every day that passed…
Read MoreMake Your Own Sushi
For the first cook of the post Japan period, it’s surely appropriate to start with what is probably the best known Japanese food, sushi. As we alluded to on Wednesday, there are about five varieties. I exclude sashimi from that, as no rice is involved. Today’s version, makizushi, is so called because you use a…
Read MorePound Kyoto Ekimae, Kyoto, Japan
Pound Kyoto Ekimae 185 – 1 Higashi Sakaicho, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto 600-8217, Japan +81 75-708 8929 website not functioning The Bill (Based on £1 – 181.5 Yen plus 10% Tax) Starters £4.75 – £17.00 | Steaks £67.00 – £185.00 Desserts £4.00 – £4.50 The Score Cooking 7/10 | Service 1.5/5 Flavour 4/5 | Value 3.5/5…
Read MoreJapan: Some Initial Food Thoughts
Sushi Tokyo Fish Market Some of you who noted the absence of Tom’s Food! these past few weeks may have been labouring under the impression that I was on holiday. As if! Those who follow me on social media will have known that L and I have been in Japan, researching frantically to keep these columns…
Read MoreHerringbone, Goldenacre, Edinburgh
Herringbone 2 South Trinity Road, Edinburgh EH5 3NR 0131 552 3292 www.herringbone-goldenacre.co.uk The Bill Daytime Starters £4.75 – £7.50 | Mains £12.95 – £18.90 Desserts £4.00 – £7.50 Dinner Starters £4.75 – £8.50 | Mains £14.50 – £20.95 Desserts £4.00 – £7.50 The Score Cooking 6/10 | Service 4.5/5 Flavour 4/5 | Value…
Read MoreBoeuf à la Ficelle (Poached Beef with Vegetables)
With Wednesday’s French influences still ringing in my ears, we had to go to France for today’s recipe. In fact, to France via New York. There are many versions of this classic, but this one comes from Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook. Brasserie Les Halles in New York City was where Bourdain was Executive Chef…
Read MoreFrench Food is the World’s Finest? Discuss
The only food magazine to which I subscribe is delicious. While the adjective is one I do my best to avoid in Tom Eats! columns, I very much enjoy the periodical, with a good range of columnists and recipes. It is enthusiastic and entertaining without being condescending or patronising. The September issue was dedicated to France, and contained…
Read MoreHamiltons, Edinburgh
Hamiltons 16 – 18 Hamilton Place, Edinburgh EH3 5AU 0131 226 4199 www.hamiltonsedinburgh.co.uk The Bill Lunch (Mon – Fri) Sandwiches £11.00 – £13.00 | Mains £14.00 – £22.00 Desserts £8.00 Dinner Starters £5.00 – £8.00 | Sharing Plates £10.00 – £15.00 Mains £14.00 – £22.00 | Desserts £8.00 The Score Cooking 4.5/10 | Service…
Read MoreSpiced Apple Cake
Well, if Wednesday’s On The Side column got you in the mood for coffee, I thought you might like a slice of cake to go with it. With apples coming into season, why not try this terrific recipe from the celebrated Sarah Mellersh of the late lamented Let’s Cook Scotland? Thanks as ever to Sarah…
Read MoreCoffee Overtakes Tea in the UK
According to a report in The Times this week, coffee has overtaken tea as Britain’s favourite drink. I wasn’t entirely blown away by the statistical evidence which was quoted. To say, as the article does, that shoppers bought more than 533 million packs of coffee compared to 287 million packs of tea, is meaningless. From a…
Read MoreZizzi, Edinburgh
Zizzi 42 Queensferry Street, Edinburgh EH2 4RA 0131 225 6937 www.zizzi.co.uk/italian/restaurants/edinburgh-queensferry-street The Bill Starters £4.65 – £9.00 | Pasta £14.95 – £17.45 Pizza £14.00 – £17.45 | Mains £14.45 – £17.45 Desserts £6.75 – £8.00 The Score Cooking 6.5/10 | Service 4.5/5 Flavour 4/5 | Value 2/5 TOTAL 17/25 Breathtaking. Jawdroppingly awesome.…
Read MoreAndrew McCall’s Apple Chutney
Yes, I know we had a chutney recipe a week or two ago; however, this is the first batch we’ve made here this season. Since word got around that we make the stuff, kind souls have taken to donating apples. Two large bags in the space of a few days. Not only did nephew Andrew…
Read MoreCan’t Cook? Can’t Even Boil An Egg
Can’t even boil an egg. The ultimate culinary put down. But why, one wonders? Can’t even make toast, or can’t even open a tin might surely be more damning. The topic came up the other day in The Knowledge, a daily newsletter which has interesting features on politics, society, arts and miscellaneous trivia. Twenty years…
Read MoreLesley Johnston’s Chicken Liver Pâté
In today’s review of Tipo (don’t miss it, the restaurant, that is, not the review – oh come to think of it, sample both) I expressed surprise that a top chef would be featuring pâté. My, how food snobbery seeps into our bone marrow. Once, of course, it featured on every menu, hence the backlash.…
Read MoreTipo, Edinburgh
Tipo 110 Hanover Street, Edinburgh, EH2 4DR 0131 226 4545 www.tipoedinburgh.co.uk/ The Bill snacks and breads £6.00 – £8.00 small plates £12.00 – £14.00 pasta £13.00 – £15.00 | main dishes £22.00 – £35.00 dessert £6.00 – £7.00 The Score Cooking 8/10 | Service 4.5/5 Flavour 5/5 | Value 5/5 TOTAL 22.5/25 Restaurant…
Read MoreThe Pepperpot Diaries; Rice Table; Upgrade
Confused by the title? Well, come and have a look at my (overflowing) book shelves. For a good number of years I tried to operate a one in, one out policy when it came to cookery books. Now, however, I can’t think of a single one in my collection I could bear to part with.…
Read MoreSarah Mellersh’s Crème Fraîche Ice Cream
Even by their standards, Scottish raspberries have been superb this year. If you are pondering the relevance of this thought in an ice cream recipe, allow me to enlighten you. I often serve this with rasps and coulis and balsamic, and truly wonderful it is too. I wrote about that combo three years ago. You…
Read MoreDakota Grill, Dakota Hotel, Glasgow
Dakota Grill Dakota Hotel Glasgow 179 West Regent Street, Glasgow G2 4DP 0141 404 3680 www.dakotahotels.co.uk The Bill Set Lunch 2 courses £30.00 | 3 courses £35.00 A la carte Starters £10.00 – £16.00 | Mains £20.00 – £37.50 Desserts £9.00 – £10.00 The Score Cooking 6.5/10 | Service 4/5 Flavour 4.5/5 |…
Read MoreHow Well Do You Treat Your Suppliers? A Fine Tale for August
Tina and Ross Coventry While I’m thinking about the food and drink industry in particular, it’s quite a wide ranging question to anyone who is in business. The butchers, bakers and wholesale merchants who supply the food that you cook or sell on; the fishermen and farmers who labour, often in arduous and dangerous conditions,…
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