A great place to dine in Edinburgh’s new town
The Magnum sits on the corner of Albany Street and Dublin Street in Edinburgh’s new town. Here’s the view from outside – a simple yet refined exterior – we came back later for dinner when it was cold outside but warm and cosy inside, especially as all the cute window lights were switched on.
We were greeted quickly – note that the entrance is through the bar further along the street – and taken through to the restaurant (both bar and restaurant have different menus). The bar is also dog-friendly and once seated in the restaurant we heard what sounded like Chewbacca the wookie next door but we discovered some time later that it was just a dog!
We had heard that the Magnum excelled at meat and so promptly ordered a bottle of red to go with our food, a Trivento private selection Malbec from Argentina at £24.50 a bottle.
To start…
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Gravadlax
Moist, herby salmon with amaranth and dill salad with beetroot. Light and fragrant – a delicate and attractive starter.
Wood pigeon salad
Always a favourite but somewhat of a rarity in Glasgow restaurants, we both wanted to order this! The pigeon meat was lovely and soft as we’d hoped and the sweet mango in the salad was refreshing and a bit more exotic than typical wood pigeon salads.
Venison Loin
So good…soft tender meat with a nice char-grilled taste, it was a bit salty but it was welcomed saltiness. The black pudding croquet was also soft and lovely inside. Garnished with amaranth and fresh coriander – my favourite herb! The food was devoured pretty quickly!
Côte de boeuf
Pink and moist interior with a caramel taste on the outside. Creamy, buttery dauphinoise arranged into a square. Pert broccoli, light horseradish and an undercurrent of garlic. A great combination of ingredients and delicious perfectly-cooked meat again.
Chocolate fudge cake
A huge cake, warm, soft and moist but could’ve done with bit more ice-cream but only because the cake was so big!
Lemon & ricotta tart
Fresh creamy tart and zesty with vanilla cream on top which was smooth and thick, mmmmm. Add to that a scattering of pine nuts and s sprig of fresh mint to garnish.
Coffee to finish
A good strong coffee (not sure of brand) served with warm milk.
Conclusion
Writing this review has made me very hungry again as it was a great meal with tasty meat and top-quality ingredients served in a pleasant classy interior – it was intimate but not overly formal so the perfect place for a romantic night out in my opinion. The drinks selection is pretty good and the service was top-notch. The couple seated opposite us were French and seemed to be very impressed by the high-standards of the Scottish cuisine on display. The Magnum has been steadily rising the ranks of TripAdvisor since we became aware of it so they are getting a lot of things right. Unfortunately we did not have the chance to have a drink in the bar before or after our meal so a review for the bar will need to come at a later date…watch this space!
The Magnum website can be found here.
