Come to La Garrigue and sample the flavours of the Languedoc, in the South of France. Beat the credit crunch with our special offers. At lunch times from Monday to Saturday order one main course, a glass of wine and a coffee for £14.50 or enjoy 3 courses for the price of 2 (£13.50). Sample the deep South's food, its terroir wines and the warmth of its welcome.
21212
Calton Hill
- Food served: Tue–Sat noon–1.45pm, 7–9pm. Closed Sun/Mon.
- No. overnight rooms: 3
- Open since: 2009
- Average price 2 courses: £25 (set dinner)
Nominate this restaurant forThe List Reader Award 2010
This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2009 – in the shops now or buy online.
Despite the city’s steady accumulation of Michelin stars (none in 2000 rising to four in 2009), Edinburgh doesn’t really create many waves in the UK’s restaurant scene. However, the decision of chef Paul Kitching to leave Manchester’s only Michelin star holder, Juniper, to set up a restaurant with rooms in Edinburgh, made many sit up and take notice. In mid May 2009, Kitching’s new venture with partner Katie O’Brien will be revealed. Situated on Royal Terrace on the north side of Calton Hill, the restaurant will be called 21212, a reference to the choices available at each course on his evening menu. The implications are that Kitching’s left-field approach (Heston Blumenthal, for one, recalls a 45-course meal served by Kitching, while Branston pickle ice-cream and beef with lemon curd are among the dishes in his back catalogue) is heading in a more conservative direction, but indications are that the new venture will be similar in style to Juniper but with a more grown-up and sophisticated take on modern British cooking. Lunch will also be available, and the Georgian townhouse will offer three overnight rooms. [Not yet open at time of going to press.]
Comments for 21212 (3 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh)
- 1. Comment removed
- This comment has been removed by a moderator.
- 2. JCM, EDINBURGH – 2 July 2009, 10:37pm
Report -
21212 AMAZING
Decor was delightful and luxurious beyond belief.
now for the food
Just dined at Paul Kitching new Restaurant at 3 Royal terrace Edinburgh and had a wonderful experience
1st course was Slow cooked black pudding with bacon cheese,fig and lots of other flavours DELIGHTFUL
2nd course onion soup with so many depth of flavours he can make a great plate of soup MORE PLEASE!
3nd course mouth watering lamb cooked to perfection melt in the mouth stuff ,with rice parsnip and cherries to die for( where does he get them),
4th Cheese board to share ,just ate the lot.
5th and by no means last a trifle like I've never tasted before Blueberry rasperry with banana and walnuts.
any room for more yes just some coffee and home made truffels.
This Guy is talented , watch this space !!
We'll be back and will certainly recomend you to try for yourself
I just loved it.worth the money and lunch is only £20. - 3. belinda and stephen, Edinburgh – 25 August 2009, 6:28pmReport
-
We had the pleasure of having an anniversary dinner here towards the end of July. Wouldn't normally leave reviews, but having read the first one (which we'd heard about) we just had to provide a different take on things.
We had an altogether different experience from the first reviewer. The staff were delightful, from reception, through to drinks upstairs (we were given a tour of the private dining room) to service at the table, everyone, maitre d' included were lovely.
The food is rather experimental but all the better for it. Fabulous chef creating something new every day or so; what's not to like?
And we can't go without mentioning the bread, sensational and worth going for alone. To our pleasant surprise the staff had wrapped a loaf for us which they gave us as we left. Passive-aggressive service? certainly not our experience.
Thank you so much, it was a memorable dining experience and one we'd highly recommend. We will be back for sure
S&B - 4. M – 23 November 2009, 5:11pm
Report -
We enjoyed a drink in the lounge before being shown to our table which was one of a number of tables for two where diners had to sit side by side. Whether this was a design idiosyncrasy or an attempt to get more seats on the floor space remains a mystery. Personally, I like to sit opposite my dining partner as I find this facilitates conversation better than constantly turning around to engage each other. It also makes a left handed person sitting next to a right handed person a lot less awkward.
We were presented with the menu which we were told was “self explanatory”. Just as well we had read about 21212 and were familiar with the concept. The menu also had a list of suggested accompanying wines by the glass, but this wasn’t mentioned at all.
Our starters arrived and we were talked through these by the waiter. Both dishes were topped in foam, in fact just about everything was topped in foam! The number of competing flavours did not to our mind accomplish anything pleasant, let alone special. In fact there was a consistent sweetness to not only the starters, but all of the dishes including the bread.
Following our sweet, foam topped soup, our main courses were delivered without explanation… perhaps the waiter was too embarrassed to tell us. In the event both of the foam topped dishes were underdone. The lamb was red and bloody rather than rose whereas the sea bass would have been more at home in a sushi bar. The over use of ingredients and obligatory sweet overtones did not make for an enjoyable course.
Our waiter returned with our selection of four cheeses, mercifully minus any trace of foam. The cheese was a welcome savoury relief after the assault of sweetness from the previous courses although the grapes were brown, bruised and past their best.
Following the cheese we finished our wine, a pleasant Lebanese Chateau Musar which proved to be the highlight of the evening.
We waited a bit longer, finishing our water.
We waited still longer. Were we invisible?
When we were eventually noticed we were offered menus to choose our desserts. No suggestions that we might want more water or wine. We declined and were asked, without a hint of irony, if we want some more time between courses. I honestly expected the ghost of Jeremy Beadle to jump out from behind the curtains, stick a microphone to my face and ask if I was ‘Game for a Laugh’!
Rather than prolong the agony we left before the final courses, putting this disappointing evening down to experience.
We expected 21212 to be an exciting addition to crop of quality restaurants in Edinburgh. Sadly it failed to deliver and is one of our most disappointing dining experiences. On this showing the capital’s Michelin rated restaurants have absolutely nothing to fear from its arrival.
To post a comment you'll first need to log in: Forgotten your password?
Not registered? Sign up – it only takes a minute.
RSS feed of these comments
