Eat Like Ushi

With very little time to spare between returning the rental car and taking the train back to London, the fastest/delicious recommended nearby food was ramen. Luckily it was a delicious one with nice thick pork broth that translated well into a takeaway train meal. Hell ramen (chilli broth, cha siu, soft boiled egg, greens) £12.5 and Tonkotsu (pork bone broth, cha siu, soft boiled egg, greens) £11.9 hit the spot nicely. It's also good to see a place in the UK that includes (half an) egg rather than always having to pay an extra £1-2 for it.

On a freezing 2C day, there is nothing better than gelato. I was the only one who thought this way and ended up here after a quick search for places around my Airbnb.

They serve an exceptional gelato. The pistachio was a perfect colour and flavour. The dark chocolate with orange wasn't one I've seen elsewhere, but a favourite chocolate of mine usually. It could have used a touch more orange, but that's just being picky. 70% dark is also the right amount of dark.

It was texturally great with no ice crystals. And of course in the cold it didn't melt at all.

It isn't cheap by any means, but it's very good.

In order to escape the mess and inflated Edinburgh accommodation prices during the Fringe, we'd booked an Airbnb in Leith, the port suburb in north Edinburgh. It turned out to the a good opportunity to find a new area to explore more bereft of crowds, but at the same time realising that the buses to George Square are quite unreliable and the initial plan of Uber/taxi was limited by availability and constant surge pricing.

Nonetheless it's a pleasant part of town moreso with the river areas particularly when the sun was shining. Food options (other than Michelin star) are not especially renowned but there's certainly options. The Ship On The Shore seemed to be the seafood place with reasonable prices that I considered. However for a casual lunch, The Compass won out.

It's a bar with hidden upmarket upholstery and decoration. The lunch crowd was a man and his baby, a group of young adults and two elderly females. They were serving both breakfast and lunch at 1pm on a Friday but the lunch options seemed clearly superior on paper.

- Cullen skink with crusty sourdough bread £5.5 - this local specialty of smoked fish was a hit. I really enjoyed the creamy flavours and smoked fish pieces;
- Hawaiian poke salad with sesame & chilli marinated salmon, avocado, rice & macadamia nuts £7.95 - in contrast to the traditions of cullen skink, this was the only other entree sized dish that appealed. The flavours married well and the texture combinations were good and varied;
- Shetland mussels in Thai red curry sauce with homemade chips & crusty sourdough bread £12.95 - I had to look up Shetland to discover it's a group of islands north of Scotland. These mussels were a good meaty size and quite tasty. The red curry sauce was decent but had too much fish sauce added. The homemade chips were very good.

Overall the food quality was very good and the options different to those in English pubs. I'd happily go back for the cullen skink and try the fish & chips of pie.

When visiting The Compass the day before, we noticed a very cute and full cafe sitting across the road. Although it was difficult to see the menu, the decoration and general friendly cafe atmosphere was appealing. On a Saturday at 1130am the place was busy but not full. Maybe it is because the Fringe was on and everyone had gone central already or that there are more options around for this quieter part of Edinburgh.

Seating was available to marvel at the old style kettles and kitchen implements, the local magazines to peruse and listen to the cassette player lined with a wall of albums. Maybe cassettes will come back in one day...

The menu is focussed and without the extreme creativity of modern day cafes. But it was certainly suffice. I'm told the coffee was good. I drank the Jackie Chan smoothie (berries, spinach, avocado, dates, goji, almond milk) £3.5. I have to admit it was a bit of a let down without the expected creamy thickness and flavour of avocado nor the sweetness of dates. It tasted like blended berries, which is fine but not expected given the ingredients list.

- Grilled sourdough with blue cheese, bacon & apple £4.9 - an excellent combination of toasty white bread heated and squeezed until the mild blue cheese melted on top of the bacon and warmed apple. Brilliant;
- Fried eggs & oak smoked salmon (with toasted artisan bread & cream cheese) £6.9 - the bread was fine without being special and was really just the vessel for the cream cheese, overcooked and non-runny eggs and ample amount of good salmon.

There's no problem having brunch here but I'd want to try the plethora of other options nearby. In particular Mimi's Bakehouse full breakfast or the cafes such as Printworks, Nobles or Rocksalt.

During the pleasantly warm and incredibly crowded trek through the Golden Mile during Edinburgh Fringe Festival, a friend living locally suggested this would be a good stop for a break and some haggis. I remember eating haggis in Glasgow back in 2005 in a pub on what was the known as the haggis day or Burns night (January 25). Interestingly it was a much more quiet affair but probably because either locals will eat it at home or not especially eat it on that evening.

I remember it being very similar to mince meat from a cheap pie. How different would it be 12 years later?

The place says it is well known for fish & chips. As tempted as I was, I couldn't fit haggis and well as a full serve fish & chips. So I went for the more traditional and less available option.

- Haggis, Neeps & Tatties £4.95 - haggis was a thicker form of mince made from mutton and oatmeal. Others thought it had a strong liver taste but I thought only mild. It was fine to eat but nothing special and nothing I would go out of my way to try again. It was served with a fairly sour swede mash, and some standard but minimally seasoned potato mash;
- Macaroni & Cheese £3.95 - nice and warm with a tasty burnt cheese topping. Very good.

I also tried the vegetable scotch broth which was a warming soup served with quite ordinary bread of soft crust and spongy middle.

The other areas looked like happening pub bits and the upstairs food area was a bit more settled. I'd go back again and try the fish & chips or other dishes.