L’escargot bleu
56 Broughton Street, Edinburgh EH1 3SA
0131 556 1600 www.lescargotbleu.co.uk
The Bill
Set Lunch
2 courses £12.60
Set Dinner (pre 18.45)
2 courses £14.90
A la Carte
Starters: £6.00 - £14.00 | Mains: £14.00 - £24.00
Desserts: £6.00 - £7.50
The Score
Cooking 7.5/10 | Service 5/5 | Flavour 4.5/5 | Value 5/5
TOTAL 22/25
For some reason, French provincial cooking found it hard to establish a solid footing in Edinburgh. Many tried. The Pierre Victoire experiment worked for a little while until the economic realities kicked in. Others started well enough but faded. Some will remember Le Caveau on Dundas Street. I remember amazement at the editors of The Good Food Guide. One year they continued to list it, but the first line of the entry read something like, That rarity, bad French food.
Fred Berkmiller
I've now eaten in three French places in the capital in three weeks and can attest at first hand to the fact that that has changed. The most important architect of that change is undoubtedly Fred Berkmiller, co founder and owner of this place, together with his wife, Betty. Fred has been in the town for 25 years now. He set up this place and its sister, L'Escargot Blanc in the West End, within about six months of each other. I'm often asked where I go to eat when I'm not reviewing. The latter is a favourite, whether in the restaurant upstairs or in the downstairs wine bar with a cheese or charcuterie platter. The care that goes into these - different every time - is remarkable. You would be forgiven for thinking that there was a complete bias to Fred's homeland.
Nothing could be further from the truth. He is a huge champion of Scottish produce: indeed he's an Ambassador for Scotland Food & Drink. An enthusiast of the Slow Food Movement, he also set up the Budding Chefs scheme, an exchange programme to assist the development of young pros. He recently established Newton Garden and grows much of what is served.
There are certain drawbacks to dining with Mr C of Mr C's pies fame. One of these is that he knows everyone and is treated like a VIP. Writing about Eusebi Deli a few months ago, I described my problem with the freebies which appeared, contrary to Tom Eats! policy. I rationalised it then, as I did this time, by accepting that they weren't for me and no one knew who I was. The trouble is that everyone, Fred included, knows who Mr C is. Still, no sign of the former today - we're safe. Ah well, read on.
In best French bistro style, there is a blackboard with a lunch menu, changing regularly. There will be a soup of the day, and a fish of the day. There will virtually always be a terrine or a variation thereof. It takes you back to the halcyon days when it was virtually impossible to eat badly in France. Moules marinières were, unusually, made with red wine. Not a combination I've tried before, but it really works. The dish was, of course, enhanced by containing the plumpest, sweetest mussels imaginable. Rabbit rillettes were of a traditional consistency, soft (so often in this country this dish is made no differently to a terrine). An extra grain or two of salt would have improved them. We were so busy engaging in our usual disjointed banter about food, the world, food and the universe, that we almost failed to notice the estimable Mathieu sneaking up with the first of two extra courses. Fred has spotted Mr C's reservation. A dish of sizzling snails arrived. Perhaps appropriately, given the name of this establishment, the butter was flavoured with blue cheese rather than garlic. Blue cheese in general is not something which is to Robert's taste, and I found it a little strong.
Steak Tartare
You will find steak tartare on the a la carte menu. Not entirely uncommon, but this was a nod to the days of les grand hotels, as opposed to bistros. The trolley of ingredients, the dish mixed and served in front of you. Everyone who savours this dish, ie not the ones who ask for it cooked medium, has his or her own preferred blend. For freshness and flavour this was hard to beat.
Crème brûlée
Back to what we had actually ordered. Here I have to pause, reread the menu and purr. A dish of wild rabbit came with a rich unctuous sauce (grand veneur, according to the menu). This is made of wine, stock, redcurrant jelly and sometimes dark chocolate. Confit of Shetland lamb was served with fennel and a light chilli sauce. To confit something, you cook it slowly in fat. Even though we knew the theory, we were both in the dark as to how this plate of perfection was actually realised. It takes a lot to shut us up, but these two plates succeeded. I have no idea how a certain dining companion found room for dessert. Crème brûlée, apparently, is a must not pass pud. I manfully stole a spoonful. The best ever. Made with duck eggs, said Mathieu, helpfully.
I may have had better French meals in Edinburgh, but certainly not in the lifetime of the Tom Eats! blog. And the service? Well, Toto, I guess we're not in Paris any more - hence the perfect score.
I smiled whilst reading this well deserved high scoring review of L’Escargot Bleu. Tom is a wonderful dining companion and we had a blast. I have to add Sebastian the restaurant supervisor and the kitchen team were all excellent.
A very memorable lunch indeed on many levels.
We are very fortunate to have such a choice of restaurants in Edinburgh. There are many favourites of mine but I love L’Escargot Bleu. I prefer it to L’Escargot Blanc in Queensferry Street which always seems a bit busy and noisy for me.
Thanks for the feedback, Paul. I hadn’t been to L’Escargot Bleu in a long time, and liked it very much. L’Escargot Blanc is very handy for us. These days we go more often to the wine bar on the ground floor. The mixed platters of charcuterie and cheese are stunning, and always different
The https://ormidalels.com website is one of the best we have found, and
the L’Escargot Bleu – Tom Eats & Cooks article is very well written and useful!
Thanks and kisses! 🙂
What a wonderfully perceptive and lovely person you are. I hope you continue to enjoy it.
Bookmarked!! I like your blog!
Very great post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wished to say that I have truly loved browsing your weblog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your rss feed and I’m hoping you write again very soon!
What’s up? After reading this remarkable post I am glad to share my
experience here with colleagues.
“Hi! I just want to give you a huge thumbs up for your excellent info you’ve got right here on this post. I will be returning to your site for more soon.”
Thanks for that. I hope you continue to enjoy the site.
It is not my first time to visit this site. I am browsing this web page daily and take nice data from here daily.
Welcome back. I hope you continue to find things of interest.
Hello! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be ok.
I’m undoubtedly enjoying your blog and look forward to new
posts.
Thanks. Yes, I am on Twitter – @TomJohnston52A. Glad you’re enjoying the blog. The next couple of weeks in Tom Cooks! will feature home made pasta.
I think everything said made a ton of sense. But, what about
this? what if you composed a catchier post title?
I ain’t suggesting your content isn’t solid., however suppose you added a title to possibly
grab a person’s attention? I mean L'Escargot Bleu – Tom Eats & Cooks is kinda vanilla.
You ought to glance at Yahoo’s home page and see
how they create post titles to grab viewers to click. You might try adding
a video or a pic or two to get people excited about what you’ve written. In my opinion, it might make your posts
a little livelier.
Thanks for taking the time to comment; however, when writing a restaurant review – as we used to be able to do in better times – I think the name of the place is pretty fundamental. As to pictures, there are a lot more of them than on the previous site. The review to which you refer has 4, and I don’t want an Instagram page. As for videos? Way beyond my technical capabilities!
But thanks for your input. I hope you will still visit from time to time. Vanilla is one of the most delicious and expensive spices!
My partner and I stumbled over here by a different page and thought I may as
well check things out. I like what I see so now i am following you.
Look forward to going over your web page for a second time.
Welcome to Tom’s Food! Thanks for getting in touch. I hope you continue to enjoy it.
Hi, this weekend is pleasant designed for me, because this
point in time i am reading this fantastic educational article here at my house.
Wonderful beat ! I would like to apprentice while you amend
your web site, how could i subscribe for a blog web site?
The account helped me a acceptable deal. I had been tiny bit acquainted of
this your broadcast provided bright clear idea
What’s up, just wanted to tell you, I liked this article.
It was practical. Keep on posting!
Many thanks. Tom
Wonderful website. A lot of useful information here.
I am sending it to several pals ans additionally sharing in delicious.
And naturally, thanks in your effort!
Thanks for your comments. I hope you continue to enjoy the articles. New On The Side article now online.
Way cool! Some extremely valid points! I appreciate you writing this article and
also the rest of the site is also really good.
Thank you. I hope you continue to enjoy it.
Howdy, i read your blog occasionally and i own a similar one
and i was just wondering if you get a lot of spam comments?
If so how do you prevent it, any plugin or anything you can recommend?
I get so much lately it’s driving me mad so any assistance is very much appreciated.
Sorry, not sure what to recommend. I get a fair bit too. Thanks for following.
This post is invaluable. Where can I find out more?
My family members all the time say that I am wasting my time here at web, but
I know I am getting experience everyday by reading thes fastidious content.
Howdy! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect
against hackers? I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked
hard on. Any tips?
Not my field, I’m afraid. Sorry.
It’s awesome designed for me to have a web site, which is beneficial for my know-how.
thanks admin