Nonna's Kitchen

Having read a number of reviews my wife and I decided to book Nonnas this evening. On arrival we had to wait 10 minutes for our seat, not the most impressive of starts. Our starters were fine. For the main course I went for the grilled fish special which monkfish was the highlight and first mentioned. The portion of monkfish I was served was a joke, less than the size of my pinkie. We mentioned this and the waiter said it was because monkfish was a special in it's own right. A rather pathetic excuse. The owner had enough to say to the waiter about it as we overheard it but she didn't even have the good grace to come over and discuss this with us. Overall a rather dissapointing evening and we won't be back.

I had a meal at Nonna's on Friday night with my mum and we were both very impressed. The restaurant is really lovely inside, very modern with a minimalist look, very different from The Patio.

We didn't have starters but I chose the Ravioli al'Ortolano which was amazing. My mum chose the Gamberoni Thermador which I have to say was even better than my dish (because I had quite a few tastes). The king prawns were succulent and the sauce was totally delicious. I honestly cannot stop thinking about this dish and must go back soon to have my own portion.

For dessert we shared a tiramisu. Now I have eaten a lot of tiramisu in my time, some delicious ones, but I think this was the best of the lot. The portion wasn't enormous (which was good) but I could easily have eaten a whole one for myself.

All in all, really friendly and efficient service too, lovely ambience. It was also very busy, we hadn't booked but luckily a table for two was available for an hour or so. I would advise to definitely book as the restaurant isn't enormous.

Definitely a place I shall be going back to soon and one of the best meals I've eaten recently.

The previous restaurants which occupied this spot (and there have been a lot of them) have traditionally always been pretty dire, so when yet another new place popped up in this location we were quite sceptical. When it first opened, it seemed to be packed to the rafters every night, which we at first thought was probably due to a bit of a honeymoon period with people keen to try out the new place. However, a month or so later it was still heaving every time we looked, so we decided we should give it a whirl ourselves.

What can I say? One of the best meals I've had in Edinburgh, without a doubt, and a thoroughly pleasant dining experience to go along with it. Having had a good look at the menu online before I went, I thought I'd already decided what to order, but I wasn't prepared for the huge list of seafood specials which were expertly reeled off to us by our waiter. In the end I opted for the famous scallops with black pudding, followed by the crab linguine from the specials board. My dining partner ordered the mozzarella and tomato salad, followed by a pepperoni pizza.

The scallops were cooked to perfection and although they were the priciest starter on the menu, they were absolutely worth it. The crab linguine was superb, too. Often crabmeat can be a little too fishy or taste like it's come out of a tin (even if it hasn't), but this was just delicious. Now that I know how well they do seafood, I'll definitely be back to try some more of the fish choices. But this is not just a place for fish lovers: the pizza and pasta were also brilliant and I can't wait to work my way through those too. Something tells me I'll be back here rather a lot!

Our only gripe was that a pint of beer cost almost a fiver, which my boyfriend hadn't thought to check before he ordered two of them. However, given that Pizza Express charges around the same amount for their large bottles of Peroni, we can probably forgive them for that.

Well done, Nonna's, for bringing Morningside just what it needed. I hope you stay put longer than your predecessors!