Editor Richard Bath revisits Edinburgh’s Leftfield, a venerable Bruntsfield restaurant which has just undergone a refurbishment and remains one of the capital’s finest bistros.
Leftfield is a delightful little bistro on Bruntsfield Links, with big picture windows which look out onto the 36-hole pitch and putt, with the former Boroughmuir School as the backdrop. That blissfully bucolic scene has been unchanged for over a century and has been an ever present since restaurateur Rachel Chisholm and her partner, head chef Phil White, opened this place in 2017. Since then, they’ve gone on to feature in the Michelin Guide, which sums them up as ‘honest, intimate and sweet, this is a proper neighbourhood restaurant’, and have just undergone a refurbishment that has freshened things up and provided the clean lines and Mediterranean vibe that match its pared-down menu. Despite insinuations to the contrary via its name, this is in its bone marrow a classic bistro that is more Left Bank than left field.
It’s intimate yet relaxed and convivial, with 40 covers upstairs and a further eight downstairs. The waiting staff are led with aplomb by restaurant manager Veronica Luque Perez, a Spanish Basque from Bilbao who has left her mark on the menu, while sommelier Lola Chisholm White has put together a really thoughtful and eclectic wine list with a wide range starting at £28.
Leftfield may have undergone a makeover to make it lighter and brighter, but understated culinary ethos and seafood-centric menu – unsurprising given that White’s previous life was at Fisher’s in Leith – remains fundamentally unchanged.
The pescatarian started with six silky Gigha oysters (£21), three of which came with manzanilla sherry and shallots, while the other three came with ice-cold olive granite. I had two large hand-dived scallops in cucumber, crispy garlic, ginger and chilli, which sounded like it could be an overwhelming taste sensation, but in which the flavours were nicely muted and complementary.
If White was on form with the starter, the mains were another step up. We had sideswerved the sharing plates, which consisted of Leftfield’s legendary but now brutally pricey seafood platter (£145), whole fish of the day (£45) and 600g Gloucester Old Spot pork chop (£48), and instead opted for a dish of hake with cockles, arenka caviar and buerre blanc (£26) and the venison haunch with asparagus, chicory and oyster mushrooms (£25). If the venison dish was well-conceived and executed, the slab of buttery hake was transcendent – perfectly cooked and in a glorious buerre blanc studded with caviar and cockles, this conjured memories of flawless seafront meals in Marseille and San Sebastien. Crushed roast potatoes with truffle and grated rainton tomme cheese (£6) and chargrilled tenderstem broccoli (£6) accompanied both mains.
On the subject of things Basque, much to Veronica’s disappointment, the Basque cheesecake (£8) which is made every morning had sold out, so not fancying a cheeseboard we both had the thick, rich chocolate mousse (£8), which to its credit was good enough to atone for our lack of variety.
Leftfield. 12 Barclay Terrace, Edinburgh EH10 4HP. www.leftfieldedinburgh.co.uk
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