I got into Edinburgh proper last Monday around 8am. I only had four days in town, with an entire day devoted to a training by David Gurteen on implementing knowledge cafes, so I had to make the most of my brief vacation time. I hadn't done a whole lot of planning, however, apart from buying a ticket to a performance of John Cleese's Alimony Tour in Glasgow for that same evening, and a ticket to a National Theatre of Scotland production of Knives in Hens, a play I'd never seen or heard of before.
My room at the George Hotel wasn't going to be ready until 2:30pm, so I whiled away my time having breakfast at the hotel restaurant (I'll post something about my first encounter with haggis in a later blog), then puttered bleary-eyed around George Street and other parts of the New Town until noon.
Starting to feel a desperate need for caffeine, I was very grateful when David Griffiths from K3Cubed, which was hosting the training, suggested that we go to the nearby Wellington Coffee. Hearing that I was coming in from NYC for the training and never having been to Edinburgh before, David kindly offered to meet me before the training to give me some pointers on the city. We headed up to the Old Town after getting sufficiently fueled (tasty coffee, by the way), with me laboring to get up the steps and slopes - sure, I walk a lot in NYC, but for the most part it's flatland; Edinburgh's terrain, I'd soon find, was going to be a bit of a challenge. After providing me with a quick look about the Royal Mile, a tip on a good place to eat (to be covered in an upcoming post), much needed directions to the University of Edinburgh building for the next day's training, and answers to a random assortment of questions from me that hoped didn't come off as too touristy, David headed off and I started thinking about lunch.
Although I hadn't done a lot of travel planning, I did enough to know that Edinburgh had a reputation for quite good food. While wandering about in the morning, I found that a restaurant I'd read about (where, I can't recall) was pretty close to my hotel, so I popped over to 110 Hanover Street to give The Dogs a try. I went up a flight of stairs and into a small, high-ceilinged, and cozy dining room with large windows facing the street and an eclectic mix of dog photos and prints.
The small menu offered up some interesting items, including haggis and turnip hash with fried duck egg and brown sauce and a smackaroni pie - smoked mackrel and macaroni cheese - which I seriously considered getting. Being a bit cautious, I ordered the fidget pie with boiled cabbage after finding out that gammon is ham; other ingredients included potatoes, apples, sage, onions, and cider: a tasty dish, although a bit on the monochromatic side, with a nice balance of sweet, savory, salty, and sour. The pie crust was crisp and light, just right.
Next up, dessert. I had no idea what a lemon posset was, and the server couldn't come up with much of a description - did she call it a pudding, a custard, or something else? In any case, not knowing what it was meant that I needed to try it, and, wow, that was a good decision. My sad sack tendency immediately had me bemoaning the fact that I'd been deprived of something this good for so long, but I quickly came to my senses and just enjoyed what I had.
This was one amazing dessert, almost custom made to hit all the flavor and texture variables that I like in a dessert. Not too sweet, brightly tart, super smooth and creamy, with a thick, almost custardy top layer giving way to a thinner but not soupy interior. The posset tasted superbly buttery, but, based on recipes I've looked up, there's no butter in it, just lots of heavy cream (well, heavy cream is on its way to being butter, so that must be the flavor relationship). Paired with a crisp ginger oat cookie for a nice texture contrast and flavor complement, this is a dessert I'm going to crave for a good long while.
I was able to finish up my dessert, tea, and remnants of a ginger beer both without being rushed and without being ignored by the staff, who were friendly and good at keeping an eye on things while not being intrusive. Thanks to The Dogs for a calming and leisurely lunch, a nice segue to vacationing for someone who doesn't vacation well, and a lovely introduction to Edinburgh.
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