The Spanish Butcher, Edinburgh

I was born to be a lawyer, I think. My mum used to say that I would get at my very crossest when I perceived injustice. That's not fair, was a mantra from an early age. It's one that's persisted. Now far removed from matters legal, I become terribly exercised when I see unfairness in my chosen field of food writing.

When deciding whether or not to visit a place which is primarily known for its steak, I might well have been put off altogether by a headline reading, Is Any Steak Ever Worth £112? That was in the Alba section of The Times a couple of Saturdays ago. You had to delve into the article to discover that the lady had ordered a joint weighing 700g, which provided two large meals and then became a takeaway for a few people. She discloses that some of it had to be fed to her dog because she couldn't finish it. Don't get me started on food waste, and don't get me started on that quality of journalism.

Take your calculator and you will work out that a 200g steak, in this case of the finest beef that Galicia has to offer, would cost £32. Galician steak? Giles and Jay and Co have been writing about this for a while since it was introduced to London. In Scotland our Aberdeen Angus bulls are typically slaughtered between 22 and 28 months of age. Two remarkable things. Galician steak comes primarily from cows, not bulls, generally beasts which are over eight years old. Hold that thought. I promise to come back and try it. But when you book your table, bizarrely you have to choose whether you're going a la carte or set menu, and we were in the latter camp.

It's available in the midweek lunch time service. At 25 quid for two courses it's astonishing value. Meeting up with Mr & Mrs Retired Captain of Industry, we had many tales to hear of recent events in foreign parts. Not the time to be attacking large slabs of protein. Like many of the assembled company the set menu was short but perfectly formed.

We tried all four of the starters. Haven't seen grilled corn on the cob on a menu for a while. These came with payoyo cheese, chilli and lime, and were very well received. I don't know why I eat mussels only rarely these days, but if the average bivalve was as plump and sweet as these, I'd change my ways. They were in no way over powered by a sauce of chilli, white wine, garlic and saffron. The gazpacho was as good as gazpacho gets, and we've all eaten a few in our time. That left my choice, beef and marrow sliders. These are mini burgers, in this case featuring, according to the menu, truffle cheese, piquillo peppers, onion and harissa aioli. Let's just say that chef used a light touch with the accompaniments, and I think the marrow must have been incorporated into the patties. Tasty enough, but with less oomph than might have been expected.

All in all, a darn fine start. There were lots of dashing and cheery servers around. I won't mention our waitress by name. Let's just call her R. I think she was new to the profession. Sadly, her attempts to get things right were, by the end of the proceedings, just irritating. It really should be the waiter who tries to put the diners at ease, not vice versa.

To mains. You will find merluza (hake) on most menus in Spain. I don't know why we don't eat more of it in the UK. Here, treated with respect, romesco sauce and sauteed ratte potatoes being well chosen companions. The boys were the carnivores. At last the great Scottish public has learned to love Iberico pork served pink as it should be. Garlic potatoes this time, with some mojo verde, and only a £3 surcharge. When you order steak on a set menu, you really don't expect an awful lot, even for an extra fiver. What arrived was a hefty (250g) chunk of rump, perfectly cooked, tender and tasty even without the garlic sauce. The fries were nothing special, but hey ho, a pleasant surprise of a plate.

Leaving aside the value for money, this set menu is a definite cut above. It certainly makes me want to return for the carnivorous main events of the carte. I know the food is going to be great, and I hope that the timid Ms R will have found her serving feet by then.