The Captain Darling, Edinburgh

Well the Captain had had his plumbing fixed, so the Retired Captain of Industry and I were able to visit for lunch only three months late. Now for the avoidance of doubt the first named is Captain Darling for whom the pub is named. For an explanation read my review of The Bailie. As far as I'm aware the RCI's plumbing, like the rest of him, is in perfect working order.

This pub stands on the site of what used to be Hamiltons. It's therefore fair to say it could only be an improvement. It was opened with some fanfare last year by John Howard's Òir Group. They also have Bodega and Lucky Yu fairly nearby. On today's evidence they should be worth a visit too.

I'd heard mixed reviews through the grapevine. People raved about the Sunday lunches, but one well respected gourmet friend pulled a face when I told her I was going. I believe that Scott Smith, late of the well respected Fhior, was involved in setting up the kitchen and the menu, but he doesn't seem to be involved in anything day to day.

It's a pleasant space, not that different from the Hamiltons days, and the people are just lovely. I'll single out Grace who hails from Virginia. Much of the menu is (or seems to be) pretty staple pub fare, but seven dishes come from the Charcoal Grill, including rare breed pork, sea trout and smoked aubergine as well as the more obvious steak dishes. During the week there is also a Worker's Lunch menu served between 12 and 3, a choice of five dishes, including steak sandwich and chips or fish pie for a bargain £12.50. Obviously that didn't apply to us, so the a la carte it was.

Haggis bon bons and prawn cocktail don't sound terribly exciting, do they? Well let's start with the latter. Four good sized tasty prawns on top of a glassful of shredded lettuce. (Note to owners - not easy to eat. I ended up decanting the prawns on to the saucer to be able to mix things up.) Then I started to detect interesting flavours in the Marie Rose. Grace made enquiries for me. A langoustine emulsion, made with the shells. A lovely touch, but I just wish there had been more of it.

Haggis bon bons usually arrive looking like grape shot and often have the same consistency. Here they were advertised as croquettes, but we expected nothing more than the usual. Wrong. Four generous sized fingers on the plate. The haggis was combined with smoked Dunlop cheese, neither flavour overpowering the other. There was also a bowl of home made brown sauce. For those who like brown sauce, it was a fine example. At this stage it's fair to say that the kitchen had grabbed our attention.

A chicken schnitzel really couldn't have been improved upon. Cook it in oil that's too hot and it's birstled: too cool and it's greasy. This was spot on. One often sees Koffmann chips on menus. I'm not sure what the esteemed Pierre did to have a humble French fry named after him, but these were very good. But the superlative must be saved for the beef shortrib. Braised to perfection, then finished on the grill, this was bathed in a beef gravy so perfect you might have wanted to move in with it and spend a happy life together. (Had we not been respectable, happily married men, of course.) The RCI declared it the best he's ever had, and that really is saying something.

So there we have it. As an aside, we asked server Matthew about the name. He thought it came from the Blackadder programmes. The website makes a vague nautical reference. RCI thought it mildly irritating: I save my annoyance for Gaelic names in lowland towns. What really mattered was that this lunch considerably exceeded expectations, and that Grace and Matthew are the nicest serving staff out there.

Tom Eats! will be back in a fortnight