From Kama Sutra to The Carnivore, we have all the new Edinburgh restaurants and bars. Plus an old timer enjoying a new lease of life.
Previously on Lothian Road, Kama Sutra has resurfaced on Drummond Street in the premises which, until recently, housed B’est.
If the first Kama Sutra offered purely Indian menus, the new incarnation has cast its net a little wider.
Fusion cooking is the name of the game so look out Indo-Mexican, Indo-Chinese and Indo-Med fusion tapas.
Kama Sutra rides again
Of course, you can still order up a lamb bhoona or chicken tikka masala at Kama Sutra.
You can do your own jokes linking the Kama Sutra name and something about spicing it up.
Around the corner, Mono is taking shape in what was once the Citizens’ Advice Bureau on South Bridge.
It promises contemporary Italian dining. We’re pretty sure that there is no link with the recent announcement by Glasgow’s Mono café bar that they are soon to open a vegan restaurant bar in Edinburgh.
Below Mono on the Bridges, The Carnivore is in the early stages of coming together on Blair Street.
Meat and bourbon
It promises a ‘new concept in casual dining and drinking’ along with plenty of ‘meat and bourbon’.
For some reason, the 5pm Dining blog suddenly feels a need to beat its chest and growl at the moon.
While it’s a little off our usual path, we feel compelled to mention that The Waverley bar on St Mary’s Street has re-opened after a refurbishment.
It had been closed for a couple of years after the death of its unique host and owner Ean Walker.
We understand that it was bought by Caledonian Heritable. They have refurbished it while doing their best to maintain The Waverley’s quirky appeal.
The bar had been run by Mr Walker’s family for the best part of a century and many would swear that very little had changed in that time.
During the Sixties and Seventies, it had been a hub for the city’s folk scene and, latterly, the upstairs room had been home to a story-tellers’ club.
Rich cultural life
The pub’s rich cultural life was clear from the musical bills, theatrical posters and bric-a-brac which lined the walls.
When your correspondent was a young shaver back in the Nineties, a visit to The Waverley was always an adventure. It wasn’t for everyone but it was always an experience.
Mr Walker was also known as The Captain and he ran The Waverley according to a set of rules which seemed quaint back then and would be unthinkable now. His dislike of mobile phones springs to mind.
These days, new Edinburgh restaurants and bars open every week and, as is to be expected, they are of their time. You might argue that many appear to come from the same mould.
If we’re talking about chains like Five Guys – currently preparing for launch on Frederick Street – then they are exactly the same from Boston to Barcelona. They are cookie cutter units.
The Waverley offered something different. This blogger hopes it still will.
Anyway, enough misty-eyed reminiscing, it’s worth a visit if you find yourself at a loose end on the Royal Mile.
We’ll be back tomorrow with all the skinny on another new Edinburgh venture from another of the city’s idiosyncratic culinary characters, Mr David Ramsden.