Ardfern, Edinburgh, review: book for brunch stay for cocktails as you won't want to leave Roberta Hall McCarron's new all day venture in Leith

We arrived at Ardfern a whole day late, because I got my dates muddled.

How they deal with moronic customers says a lot about a restaurant. I was due a sour expression at the very least, but they were very forgiving.

“Better late than never”.

Ardfern exterior show Pic:AwAyeMedia

Thankfully, there was plenty of space for two more. That’s surprising, considering this new restaurant – named after the Argyll and Bute village where she used to holiday as a child - is owned by chef Roberta Hall McCarron.

For those who’re not au fait, she is the queen of Edinburgh restaurants.

If the food scene here was the Noughties pop world, she’d be Britney - in her prime, with a glaikit boa constrictor slung around her shoulders.

Hall McCarron also has Albert Place’s excellent small plates venue, Eleanore, and her original hit is The Little Chartroom, which is adjacent to Ardfern. There’s also a cookbook, The Changing Tides, in the pipeline later this year.

Anyway, she’s hit us baby, one more time, so we can be rescued from the Capital’s current flurry of tasting menus - 16 courses is not what I want, on a hot day in mid-summer - with an all day casual cafe, bar and bottle shop. There’s a wall of wine bottles, with Paddington labels, slung around their necks.

Pop in for brunch, when dishes include mushroom hash brown and truffle pecorino, try the snacks, up at the bar, or, as we did, bed in for something slightly more substantial in the evening, when they’re serving dinner from 5-8.30pm.

There are so many tempting titbits. It was hard not to order more than the recommended pair of small plates and two bigger ones, but we stuck to our quota.

I loved the first dish to arrive - a dense and crumb-topped lamb merguez kofta (£8), which was threaded onto a metal kebab stick. It was hot, spicy and burly, but it was the addition of gummy and rich egg that really elevated this dish. It reminded me of having a cooked breakfast, when the yolk cools and clings to the sausage, and there was also sweetness thanks to a touch of date molasses.

This was hairs-on-the-chest stuff. I could feel them sprouting, a la The Hoff.

Same for the pair of kedgeree fritters (£7), which were a take on arancini, with haddock and rice balls, each topped by a feathery crumb, as well as a squish of Minion yellow curry mayo and cured egg yolk. They were so intense - like staring into the sun, but in a good way.

We also rather messily shared a fish finger sandwich (£12).

This was a pimped up version of one of our staple working-from-home lunches. It had taken boring old Captain Birdseye and made him over into a bearded hipster. There was a shiny brioche bun that was filled with a hand’s worth of cod fingers, each of which seemed to have been fried for extra pleasure, a tarragon-heavy tartare sauce and a layer of crispy shoestring fries.

We’d also gone for the large bowlful of fregola (£14) option, which was pleasingly humming with garlic and topped by a creamy drift of goat’s cheese, Landana Rosso. This pale green mixture stayed interesting bite after bite, thanks to nibs of courgette and tiny baby-tooth-sized croutons, rocket leaves and the tangy, silky and salty green goddess dressing.

For pudding, you can go affogato (£5) or chocolate and peanut butter cookie tart (£7). We went for the latter, and it was glorious, with a crispy light bottom, a slick ganache lid and a thick blob of creme fraiche on the side.

This is properly booze-friendly food to accompany a four-page list of wines by the bottle, as well as ones by the glass, which are chalked up onto the blackboard. There are also some great cocktails.

I had a suitable tangy strawberry pisco sour (£10.50), with ABA Pisco, Campari, strawberry, lime and almond, and he had the classic Tommy’s Margarita (£10.50), which contained Don Julio Blanco tequila, lime and agave, then us lightweights shared a very dry glass of riesling (£7.50).

Ardfern is the sort of place I’d want to hang out, from a chef who’s at the very top of her game. Hall McCarron was in the kitchen on my visit, and popping between her neighbouring venues – the original hit, and the newest release. Both bangers.

Oops, she’s done it again.

Ardfern,

10-12 Bonnington Road

Edinburgh

(0131 600 0067, www.ardfern.co.uk)

The Verdict

Food 9/10

Ambience 9/10

18/20