Home House

This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 – in the shops now or buy online.

Home House is a relatively unknown restaurant offering impressive food at affordable prices against an elegant backdrop. Located at 12 Picardy Place, Home House is in fact a private members' club, but the restaurant itself has been open to the public since March 2008. Large tealight-shaped lamps shine above guests sitting on rosette-covered chairs and at white tables. Both the lunch and à la carte menus are filled with enticing options. For starters, smoked organic salmon from Martin Wishart (the Michelin-starred chef acted as a consultant in designing menus) is stuffed with lemony, creamy crab and is accompanied by drops of poached pink rhubarb. The lovely marinated beef carpaccio is arranged like flower petals around a centre of delicately dressed leaves and shaved Parmesan. For the main courses, fat roast cod sits atop a tower of coin-sized pommes Boulangère and soft spinach, and is drizzled with buttery champagne velouté. The perfectly cooked roast rump of lamb comes with Provençale vegetables and crispy Dauphine potatoes. A fragrant, honey-glazed pear tatin is accompanied by a scoop of walnut ice-cream. Impeccable service, mellow music and walls graced with interesting art exhibitions complete this deeply satisfying dining experience. On such form, Home House restaurant is the best-kept secret of the Edinburgh eating scene.

• High point: Discovering the venue, and such high-quality food
• Low point: Occasionally loud private parties