Dionika

Canonmills Bridge, Edinburgh

visted 10/8/09


Dionika is a slightly odd place. I came here a couple of years ago and recall having a great pile of fantastic fish which two of us shared, some very dry fino, and a lovely Albarino. This time, the pile of fish was £62 per person, making it about the most expensive dish in Edinburgh, so we didn't go for that. We did ask for some fino, but when it came it was a sweet sherry, although the waiter insisted to the contrary. I asked for the bottle and pointed out where it said "Pedro Ximenes" but was told "my boss says it is Fino". Anyway, it was a pretty nice PX and we weren't charged, so no harm done.

Bizarrely, although this place specialises in fish, there were only two white wines on offer(I remember there being a deli in the restaurant where you could buy wine, but apparently no more). After the Sherry Question, we opted for the house Rioja, which was perfectly nice if unexciting.

The food is great. We (6 of us) started with great big plates of vegetables, manchego, chorizo and various other cured meats. All excellent and authentic. Then we had all gone for different fish, although a lot of things were off the menu that evening. Juan, the owner, used to import Scottish fish to Spain, and he provides some fantastic specimens, all mainly simply grilled or roasted, with a bit of salad and home made chips. I had halibut which responded very well to this treatment. Dionika is not cheap, but you get a generous helping of very good fish, properly cooked. If they could just scale down the fish platter arrangement, that would be the thing to go for--I wonder how many of these they sell at £62 and suspect it would be easily enough for two, but you never know at this place.

Juan turned up and talked incomprehensibly for a while, which I suspect he does to all tables (it wasn't busy on a Wednesday) so you can just ignore it. The he gave us some Spanish brandy on the house. So all in all a good evening, if unpredictable.