Hanover Street, Edinburgh
visited 4/11/09
Amore Dogs has a clear ethos: reasonable prices, decent food, snappy serve. The main room is a long thin shape—if you sit there, people will have to elbow past you. We had originally booked for 5 and although we were down to 3, they gave us a big table in a circular antechamber with plenty of space.
I was there earlier and out of curiosity order a glass of house white which must be the cheapest glass of wine in Edinburgh (a £2.45 Trebbiano) and it was perfectly OK—clean, dry, neutral, not too acidic. We then ordered a litre of equally good value Barbara—a soft, fruity wine with a bit of body that you could drink all night. Amore Dogs has straightforward Italian food—pastas, pizzas and some generalised meat dishes. I started with the antipasti which was probably a mistake in a restaurant that specialises in cheapness—the mozzarella was tasteless and rubbery and the artichokes and olives obviously out of jars, though perfectly edible. Good salami though. Then I shared a chicken and chickpea stew (a number of dishes are for 2) which was just that: chicken, chickpeas in an uncomplicated tomato sauce. We also had some roasted new spuds and some rather good sauted cabbage, but there was already loads of food, all very good value.
Amore Dogs is a great place for a quick meal. They chivy you along a bit but if I was sitting in the main roomI wouldn’t want to stay for long anyway. It’s obviously popular—packed when we left just after 9.00. The focus on putting all the effort in producing decent, good value food is commendable (though they might run to clean cutlery for the main course). The food at Tony’s Table, which has similar ambitions (see below) is quite a bit better, but slightly more expensive.
1 comment:
Yes, I think the emphasis is on value for money here, but the balance is a good one. I'd been before on a very busy Saturday night, and on a quieter Sunday, and had a decent feed both times. mmm... I am now thinking of that giant carafe of wine!
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