Bia Bistrot

Colinton Road, Edinburgh

visited 6/10/10

We ended up here thinking it would be the OK but uninspiring Olive Branch, but it had changed hands and, as it turns out, for the better. The interior is pretty much unchanged (a very reasonable distribution of tables in the limited space) but the cooking is a real step up. We both had the same things. We started with some grilled mackerel with a potato salad, and I have to say this simple dish was one of the best things I have had lately. Juicy, clean tasting mackerel with a sparkling, crispy skin, and the salad with just a little sharpness to cut through and starchiness to form a base for the dish. Next a dish of pork done in what they called a stroganoff style. The basic dish was fine--the meat in an excellent stroganoffy sauce with not too much cream and just the right kick of paprika--but it included new potatoes, which I thought was wrong. The dish needs earthy notes, not the waxiness of new spuds floating around in it, but this is a minor point. With the pork we had some crunchy, tender, vibrant savoy cabbage which was perfect.

We had some wines by the glass: a dry, elegant French Colombard (really good) and a reasonable Cotes du Rhone. My companion had the house white, a very good value flavourful, slightly flowery Chenin Blanc (perhaps an odd choice for the house wine as it won't go with everything). All three wines were very well priced.

In sum, this is a really promising new place. Had I known it would be so good, I would have insisted my companion and I had different things, but I'm sure I'll be back. There's a lightness and sophistication to the cooking that you don't often get in a neighbourhood bistro.