Malvarosa

The 2012 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).

This review is taken from the current (2012) edition.

Until recently, Portobello's links to Spain were pretty much limited to its name and a strip of sand. Madrid native Alvaro Bernabeu opened Malvarosa’s doors in 2011, and has gained an enthusiastic following since. Greeting guests with a wry smile and many a cheeky comment, Bernabeu and his chef James Benin dish out delicious tapas that could be as close as Edinburgh gets to this inherently Mediterranean way of eating. Dishes come as thick and fast as the kitchen can deliver, provided Bernabeu can be distracted from chatting to the customers for long enough to bring them to table. Highlights might include txoripan, a warm, flaky bread studded with nuggets of chorizo, or silky fillets of hake with high-toned salsa verde, or dense, delicious albondigas, with a well-reduced, garlicky sauce. Best though are the patatas: crisp and fluffy and with an earthy flavour that only comes from careful sourcing. Desserts lamentably aren’t up to the same standard – chocolate cake is nice and gooey, but lacks intensity – but all that really means is that you can focus on ordering more tapas.

• High point: A seaside resort with lovely tapas. Yes, in Edinburgh.
• Low point: Desserts a bit of an afterthought