Ondine

George IV Bridge, Edinburgh

visited 27/3/10

Ondine is a seafood restaurant wedged into the more-style-than-substance Missoni Hotel building. It makes good use of its space with a central bar you can eat at, and tables lining the windows that curve round GIV Bridge and the top of Victoria Street. It's not a huge room but has a sense of spaciousness and the tables don't encroach on each other at all.

I went for lunch with 3 of my gastronaut pals. A glass of prosecco was completely flat but smoothly replaced (why serve it, though?) and the menu contemplated. There is a cornucopia of seafood: oysters of various provenance, squid, scallops, and fish. Plus some non-piscine items, but there's not really much point to them.

This being lunchtime, I had the lunch menu. This might not always be the best idea at Ondine, which specialises in the kind of expensive ingredients that don't show up on a prix fixe, but there was smoked haddock and poached egg which is one of the best things for lunch ever. I started with some squid with garlic mayo--squid spot on and mayo light. The smoked haddock was a perfect rendition of the dish with the egg just at the right point. It came with champ, which my years in Ireland tell me should be mashed spuds, not restaurant puree, and you couldn't really taste the scallions, but that's probably a personal thing,

Naturally I tucked into my companions' grub: some oysters of spectacular freshness, squid risotto with very tender squid and rice with a bit of bite, and salt cod with chorizo and chickpeas (cod fantastic, accompaniment taking a back seat to it). Ondine cooks really accurate dishes that show off the seafood to its best advantage. It’s hard to fault.

The mark-up is a bit noticeable but we had a lovely Picpoul de Pinet--dry but with some slightly spicey fruit. (A wine that seems to be getting a bit trendy and no longer the great bargain in used to be).

Ondine is a serious, upmarket seafood resto that, with luck, will spark up the hitherto complacent competition among Edinburgh fish specialists. I want to go for dinner next.