Margot, Edinburgh

Margo(t). You wait years for the girl, then two arrive at once.

Well, that's not entirely accurate. Margo, minus the T, is the newish hot ticket in Glasgow from the Ox and Finch people, and we'll feature that in a few weeks. But Edinburgh got here first. Margot is the less formal offering run by Phil White and family, just round the corner from the excellent LeftField in Edinburgh's leafy Bruntsfield.

Many of you will be aware that Tom Eats! regular Hamish Coghill (Scotland's Finest Former Journalist (East)) went to The Great Copy Room in the Sky at the turn of the year. I didn't know his family and I was abroad at the time of his funeral. To make amends I arranged to lunch with his daughter Kari and raise a glass the the great man.

Google Margot and you'll see it referred to as a café. Go into their website and they describe it as a neighbourhood wine café serving seasonal good food, minimal intervention wines, coffee, juices. It's closed for two days a week. On Wednesdays and Sundays it has traditional café hours, closing at 4. On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays,  it reopens at 5, closing at 10.

It's a bright pleasant space, albeit a bit cramped. That's fine. Seasonal good food at competitive prices, and in a café you don't expect a fine dining experience. A bistro, perhaps, with good cakes or so I'm told. Looking at the website I did pick up on one or two quirks. They describe themselves as child friendly, but have no high chair, not even one of these folding ones you can clip on to the side of the table. And if you're tempted to buy someone a gift voucher, be aware that it can be used only from February to November.

The menu is a list of eight items. There didn't appear to be any desserts, except a grapefruit shortbread, listed on its own on a separate page. Interesting. I'm assuming the granola and French toast options were intended for brunch, though the latter comes with poached pear and crème anglaise, and seems to be very well received.

We ordered some focaccia. Very good, as one would expect from The Palmerston, who supply it, but you don't really need it as most plates come with bread. We shared three dishes. A nice service touch. The staff had overheard our plans to share everything, so each one was brought as a half portion per person to save us guddling around. I thought that Phil from LeftField might be doing it all, but no. The food is prepared here by a separate chef. It's a tribute to his or her skills that one might have imagined it had all been cooked by Phil himself.

Turkish eggs were fried, on a base of garlicky Greek yoghurt, burnt lemon, chilli and honey with a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds. Everything on offer has a careful combination of colour, texture and flavour. The beef brisket had crème fraiche, but also the crunch of a red cabbage slaw. The hot smoked trout was probably the dish of the day, with a crispy leek fritter, pickled cucumber and lemon chive mayo. We were sated, with only space for a (very good) coffee. The dearest dish is £14, which is terrific value.

All of which makes the wine list more inexplicable. Yes, there are wines by the glass, but if you want to go for a bottle, there are only two under forty quid. Not quite what you expect from a neighbourhood café. And, sadly, there were a few service issues too. Charm in abundance, but we saw orders being mixed up. We asked for a bottle of wine, but were brought two glasses - of the wrong stuff. Looking for some preliminary fizz to drink the health of Hamish, the choice was restricted because some bottles hadn't been chilled. I noticed a negative review on Trip Advisor where the self same issue was commented on.

I'm not quite sure that this place is clear about its own identity. Reading reviews, there seem to have been issues with the food in the early days. No such problems now. Everything we ate was very fine. So if the development continues, this slightly awkward adolescent may well grow into a well rounded grown up.

Tom Eats! will return in two weeks