Visit La Garrigue, arguably the most authentic French restaurant in town and be transported into the Languedoc region of France. Enjoy the food, sample the 'Terroir wines' and the warm service. Winner 'Les Routiers Guide; Scottish restaurant of the year'.
Le Café St Honoré
- Food served: Mon–Fri noon–2.15pm, 5.30–10pm; Sat/Sun noon–2.15pm, 6–10pm
- Pre-theatre times: Mon–Fri 5.30–6.45pm, Sun 6–7.15pm
- Children welcome: On request
- Number of wines sold by the glass: 9
- Private dining: Up to 16 covers
- Also offers: Gluten-free options, Children's portions, Pre-theatre menu
- Music on stereo: Soft jazz
- Capacity: 40
- Largest group: 40
- Open since: 1993
- Average price 2 courses:
£15 (lunch)
£28 (evening meal) - Pre-theatre price: £16
- House wine: £13.50 per bottle
This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 – in the shops now or buy online.
At the beginning of April 2008, just as this guide was going to press, Le Café St Honoré was passed from the hands of Chris and Gill Colverson, proprietors for the past 15 years and more, to Andrew Radford and Neil Forbes of Atrium and blue restaurants. Initial plans are for a fairly seamless changeover: Radford's 23-year-old son Ben is taking up the role of head chef but only after a four-month period working under the Colversons in addition to previous experience at the Atrium and elsewhere. Just off cobbled Thistle Street, all the place needs is a tricolore flag fluttering over the door and you could be in a restaurant in a French town square. The informal, split-level restaurant is divided into four small, intimate areas. Black wooden chairs contrast with white paper tablecloths and the black and white checked floor, but the space is saved from starkness by walls of mirrors, fresh flowers and soft lighting. The menu will be evolving under the new regime, but typical of the dishes here are discs of spicy chorizo sausage matched with warm, plump scallops, or pink-in-the-centre saddle of venison partnered with wild Scottish mushrooms and whole-baked garlic.
- High point: French bistro ambiance with straightforward French food in the heart of the city
- Low point: Hard wooden chairs might not encourage a late night
Comments
- 1. Nicholas Ashton, Edinburgh – 28 September 2008, 4:45pm
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This delightful restaurant has been a favourite of mine ever since I came to Edinburgh 17 years ago and I am pleased and relieved that the modus operandum is essentially the same since the handover - a concentration on extremely skilled but unfussily executed French cuisine tending to the provincial ( in the best sense of that word), framed by relaxed and efficient professional service. I've just had a close to perfect Sunday lunch with four friends.
The table was spotless with white linen and two tiny orange roses. We were brought warm bread (which I think was Poillane) and offered faultless pumpkin ravioi, an unusual take on coq au vin (with crisped legs) some marvellous locally reared steak and a rather clever dish of cod in a lobster bisque decorated with pea-shoots. I have never had a better bargain for a house red: a very good 2005 Bordeaux- although the list extends to some classy numbers: a special Margaux ( I think Marquis de Terme) and St Estephe. The desserts were broadly of equal quality: a kind of tarte-tatin but with pears, an apple crumble with an intense sorbet; their tiramisu wasn't quite what it seemed - with pannacotta rather than cream - but still very attractive with sweet little biscotti.
Great coffee- my second best espresso in Edinburgh.
The only slight downside is mentioned above in that the old style wooden bistro chairs do not encourage lingering - they are better for a swift cafe-complet on the way to work. Otherwise, this place should be very high up on your list of the best restaurants in the city, especially if you prefer lack of pretention but where they really know how to cook and to create the best atmosphere for a convivial meeting with good friends - especially discerning ones like mine! It also gives far better value than most of its competitors of similar quality. The three courses plus two bottles of house wine, water and coffee worked out at £40 each including a generous tip. Cafe St-Honore has been around for a long time for a very good reason.
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