The Caley Sample Room

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• What are these?

• Average price 2 courses:
   £12 (lunch)
   £16 (evening meal)
• House wine: £11.95 per bottle

• High point: A fresh crisp white linen napkin with every course
• Low point: Don't attempt a quiet bite on a match day
• Food served: Mon–Thu 10am–9pm; Fri noon–10pm; Sat 10am–10pm; Sun 10am–9pm
• Bar open: Mon–Thu 11am–midnight; Fri 11–1am; Sat 10am–1am; Sun 10am–11pm
• Open since: September 2006
• Also offers: Children's portions, Children's high chairs, Wheelchair access

This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008
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Situated just off the beaten track in Craiglockhart, The Caley Sample Room is definitely one watering station to mark on the map. The venue uses every inch of its long, thin interior confidently to bridge the twilight worlds of bar and restaurant. At the drinking end of the bar you'll find the statutory plasma screens for sporting pleasure, while the other end specialises in the serious business of eating. And what a serious pleasure it is. As well as the above average pub staples there's a host of daily specials: shank of lamb (which falls from the bone) is complemented by mash, roasted vegetables and rosemary jus, delicate spicy squid and chorizo salad – even butternut squash dahl. When it comes to meat, rare means rare: just a quick kiss of the pan, European-style. The Caley also offers a specials board for the dessert course. But puddings disappear fast. Even once the staff have wiped off the last trace of that long-desired sticky toffee pudding from the board, disappointment quickly changes to delight as you change your choice to fabulous bramley apple crumble with ice-cream. To coin a sporting phrase, this really is a bar of two halves, whose component parts meet perfectly in the middle.