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High-end contemporary Chinese restaurant serves up a visual treat
RECIPEMark Greenaway’s
fresh chestnut and
cranberry stuffing
Culinary delights in the capital with Juliet Lawrence WilsonIt’s just Tattu good
MY MUST SEE MOVIE of the year is the
embarrassingly accurate portrayal of fine dining
that is The Menu. Ralph Fiennes excels as world
class chef Julian Slowik who, like his diners, is
treating his food journey as if it were his last.
This black comedy will resonate with anyone
whose worked in a restaurant, not to mention
some head in the hands moments for anyone
who describes themselves in such cringeworthy
terms as a ‘foodie’. No spoilers, but I rather
sympathised with Slowik’s contemptuous
demeanour and rejoiced at some of his
culinary offerings.
The rules for children in restaurants should
be the same as for grown ups: eat with your
chops shut, be polite to the staff and don’t
make a prat of yourself whilst tasting the wine.
I was fortunate that my parents took me to
great places as a child and decided that I would
accept an invitation to Tattu to see how my
own offspring coped with a more elegant
dining experience.
Needless to say she was excited about the
aesthetics alone. As was I, because when
receiving Tattu’s booking confirmation it comes
with the instructions which amount to no
scruffiness, no fancy dress and no balloons at
party tables. Quite right too. What’s the point
of all that cherry blossom (the most in any
Tattu restaurant, the chap with the wine list
informs me) to ruin it with ‘Happy Birthday
Margaret’ balloons and people wearing
tracksuit bottoms. I did notice one scruff dining
in a t-shirt and baseball cap. Dearie me.
We began with a cocktail at the bar.
Mixologists Reece and Manny were quite the
double act and do more than a bit of tossing the
bottles and shakers about. They also share a flat
together, which is rather endearing. My daughter
tried a mocktail, the Sweet Skullduggery which
was served in a smoking skull bottle bubbling
away with the addition of dry ice. She was
delighted with this and seemed to find her
comfort zone sitting at a bar. Apple, tree, not far.
I sampled the Cherry Blossom Negroni and
Crouching tiger, an elegant mix of gin, tequila
and pink grapefruit, two of the least sweet drinks
and was very impressed by both. Although there
is a great deal of theatre involved in theconcoctions it is clear that the resulting flavour
is at the forefront.
Time to dine and the restaurant area is
simply stunning and a clever use of mirror
means nobody gets a duff seat staring at a
blank wall. The cherry blossoms add intimacy
as well as prettiness.
We started with three small plates: Crispy
salmon sashimi wontons, Sichuan rock shrimp
with carrot, sancho pepper and pickle and the
star of the show, sesame roasted scallops,
Chinese sausage, crushed endame and mint. Not
only were there flavour sensations but a pleasing
knowledge of texture too.
Caramel soy aged beef fillet with shitake,
ginger and asparagus was also delicious and
served meltingly tender blue as requested. My
only criticism is I’d have liked to see some
chunks of egg in the duck egg fried rice.
Desserts are clearly seen as an opportunity for
some sculptural art and we opted to share the
white chocolate ‘dragons egg’ which with the
balance of coconut and zingy mango was as
delightful on the palate as the eye.
Naturally all this comes at a price and, yawn,
some people will argue that they know a lovely
little place, slightly out of town that serves great
Asian cuisine for a fraction. Well the ingredients
are on the upper end of the scale and goodness
knows what they pay to have the blossoms
dusted, not to mention the business rates to
house them. It’s a treat, particularly the young
and joyful service.Mark Greenway who has one of his
restaurants at the Waldorf Astoria
Edinburgh - The Caledonian is keen
that your Christmas is as tasty as his.
Here he shares his stuffing recipeINGREDIENTS- 1kg pork mince
- 1 egg, beaten
- 100g fresh cranberries, chopped
- 2 tbsp thyme, chopped
- 150g peeled chestnuts, chopped
- 2 shallots, finely diced
- 20g fresh white breadcrumbs
DIRECTIONS- Preheat the oven to 185 °C
- Mix all of the ingredients together
- Roll the mixture into a sausage shape
and wrap in tinfoil - Bake for 20 minutes
- Garnish at the table with cranberry
sauce and chopped hazelnuts
Grazing by Mark Greenaway will be
offering a five course Christmas Day
menu, as well as a festive parties menu
throughout December.
The restaurant, which opened
in 2019, offers guests a relaxed
dining experience.
Mark insists on using the finest fresh
ingredients all sourced from local
Scottish suppliers.