Tipo, Edinburgh

Restaurant websites? You don't half have to wade through a load of guff these days. So it was refreshing to read the single sentence paragraph at the start of Tipo's.

We serve delicious food

The question is, are they telling it like it is? The odds should be stacked in its favour. It's the third venture from star chef, Stuart Ralston, whose other two places, Aizle and Noto, have attracted rave reviews in this column, the former being only the second perfect score in its history.

The format here is similar to Noto, but you'll be confused if you've read that it's just a small plates joint. Menu headings include, snacks and breads, small plates, pasta, main dishes, sides  and dessert. It would be easy to get out of synch if, for example, you wanted just small plates and your dining companion was going for a traditional starter then main. Fortunately PM, as befits her email address at my zen, takes a calm approach to such things and we set about the smaller stuff. The lovely Holly suggested 2 - 3 per person. I can tell you that, having ordered 6 in total, we were well and truly stuffed.

Zeppole

The snacks are for gourmands. Lamb fritte comprised three solid (in a good way) meat packed rissoles of pulled lamb, with a tiny sliver of anchovy, topped with parsley pesto. Zeppole were new to me. Think churros, said Holly, helpfully. I'm not fond of churros, but we decided to give them a go in the interests of research. The analogy was spot on, but these were as light as air, flavoured with a veritable snow storm of grated castelmagno cheese. Darn fine start.

Duck liver parfait? A tad old hat for an old Great British Menu hand?

Duck Liver Parfait

All the more reason to try it. Thickly spread atop a chunk of focaccia, with walnut for crunch, and fig jam for counterpoint. Tomatoes, goats curd, black olives? How can this be elevated to anything special, even if the toms are from the Isle of Wight? Well, this dish had us practically weeping at the unfairness of anyone being able to get so much flavour out of these teeny fruit. There may have been a little heat involved, but the sweetness was intense. The basil oil drizzled over the curd was spot on, and the bitterness of the olives added balance. A tiny plate of perfection.

It's an occasional irritation at small plates places that they chuck the food out willy nilly. In one such joint the first plate delivered had the chips. Here they had the good grace to deliver both pasta plates together, having cleared the detritus of the first four. Pasta with crab and chilli is a classic, but one which often disappoints. If you're thinking of serving it on your menu, come here and discover how it should be done. Fabulous. I'm guessing the pappardelle were home made. Tipo  just means type or typical, but it is a brand name of the very fine 00 flour used for making pasta. P and I were divided about the strozzapreti. (Priest stranglers - I wrote about them a few months ago. You can read the explanation here if you're interested.) They were served with finely chopped sausage and something green which was advertised as cime de rapa (turnip tops). I was enjoying mine: P thought it too salty. I had a raging thirst all afternoon - she was right. The only off note in the afternoon's proceedings.

Be hungry if you come here. We saw one table diving into main course. The whole bream was XL. Sometimes it's difficult to make an adequate summing up at the end of a review. This one's easy. Read the first sentence of their website.