La Lanterna

Walking past La Lanterna you notice a board advertising a lunch deal, 3 courses for £4.95. This certainly sounds like a bargain and so we were tempted to make a lunch visit there. Hanover street is awash with cheap and cheerful Italian restaurants, some setting pretty low bench marks. La Rusticana serves their risotto with basmati rice (I could understand this in an Indian restaurant but Italian?). Bar Napoli also got fined for 'food hygiene' back in 2010 (BBC News - Court fines 'filthy' restuarant), which is why we have been a bit wary about visiting.

Drink selection was quite simple on arrival. Usual array of Italian beers and wine, most people opting for the Perroni. The menu was quite simple, which is no surprise considering the price. You got to pick any pizza and pasta on the menu, quite decent in itself for £4.95,  then add a starter of either minestrone soup or potato skins, lastly add a pudding of ice cream or coffee. Most people opted for the pizza as a main and it was a decent  size filling most the plate. The staff were friendly and efficient. You might get the sense at dinner that you are being a bit rushed, however for a work lunch this is good, as you don't want to be hanging around. At the end of the visit no could argue against the value to be had at this place.

Quality Food 7.40
Quality Drinks 7.00
Value 9.20
Service 8.00
Ambience 7.00
Overall 7.80

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Bill including tip: £9

Comments:
- For a fiver this is an amazing deal. Pizza was very good. Beer Perroni and Moretti as every Italian should serve. Nice restaurant and friendly Italian staff.
- Very good value for money.
- A bit awash in garlic. One of the cheaper lunches to be had in town.

Newsroom

On calling up the Newsroom to make a booking, I was asked if I wanted a table for two as it is Valentines Day. I had to disappoint the guy on the other end of the phone, to tell him I would be arriving with a bunch of hungry office workers instead! On arrival we did not see lots of happy couples occupying each table, so maybe this is not the most romantic place in town. The decor was certainly different to your usual pub, the modern interior had many news clip like posters and images scattered around the walls. The drink selection was decent enough however lacked maybe an ale option. So most of us ordered the local brew 'Three Hops' and started scanning the menu.

No one was tempted by the Valentines menu, two courses and a glass of presecco for £15.95 sounded ok however we had already ordered our beers. The pork belly sounded good, however the 20 minute cooking time meant we had to be effecient in putting through some advance orders. Most of the rest of the crew were tempted by the hand made burgers. The pork belly was well presented, well cooked and quite delicious. The food overall was definitely a cut above your usual pub, some thought maybe what you would expect at a more formal restaurant. The price of the food was good value, however this was offset by the slightly expensive pints. 

Quality Food           7.71
Quality Drinks        7.14
Value                       7.00
Service                    6.71
Ambience               6.43
Overall                   7.14

Cost including tip: £16

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Comments:
- 3 Hops Beer Great. Ribs Great. Skiing on TV Great, Service was very good. The price was also very good cheaper than similar places in the city center. A very good looking pub inside. i love it !!!!
- Pork belly was well worth it. Ok selection of beers however nice if they had some ales. Decor was distinctive however maybe not to my taste. Place was a wee bit cold.
- Definitely a cut above pub grub, I have had restaurant food that was not as good. Great attention to detail on the dishes. Beer selection is ok, but no ales on offer.
- Excellent pork belly with cremed leeks, black pudding and potato fondant. Wish they'd put the heating on though...
- The service was a bit slow but I blame the pork belly people for that.
- Just a pub, nice pint though. Food average
- Really enjoyable pork belly, worth the wait. Enjoyed the three hops larger also, though cost a fiver.

Pomengranate

We decided to try Middle Eastern cuisine a go, to try something new for our lunchtime adventures. Being warned in advance that the only alcohol options was BYO, we decided to drop past the Tesco on route to pick some beers for our lunch. This polarised the opinion for the drink scores, as some people thought this is great in giving flexibility and making the meal cheaper, others felt the drinks should have been rated to only what they are willing to sell you.

The food orders ended up dividing the table in two. At one end we took advantage of the 6 mezze offers for £27 including naan for two people, allowing us to order 12 dishes between 4 people. This gave us a great variety to dishes to sample as can be seen in the photo below. It was however a small shame that the great sounding mezze lunch offers were only available between Monday - Thursday. The other end of the table decided to go solo and mainly order plates of kebabs. Most people felt the standout was the interesting variety of food this cheap and cheerful restaurant served. The service however felt very slow considering their was hardly anyone there. 

Quality Food 7.13

Quality Drinks 4.88

Value 6.25

Service                     5.63

Ambience                6.25

Overall 6.25

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Price including tip (£13 per head + BYOB)

Comments:

- Food was good, expensive for a Shwarma wrap. Service a bit slow. No alchohol drinks. I would say good for a lunch, not for a meal.

- Service a bit slow. Would not recommend this place for a date due to the amount of garlic used. Good variety of food at a good price.

- They surely sell some of the best middle eastern food in edinburgh - we enjoyed sharing 12 different dishes, all well cooked, with the babaganoosh dish standing out for me. Bring your own booze was interesting, and helped to keep the costs down.

- Good food, not the fastest though.

- Quite slow service, but there was a fair bit of cooking involved for the mezze end of the table.

- Just didnt really do it for me, fresh quality ingredients but didnt really deliver. No atmosphere, service OK and no bar only BYOB....

- Good food but waaaaaay too much garlic for me.

Abbotsford

This week we ventured into the Abbotsford on Rose Street. Downstairs did not take bookings, so we decided to go with the upstairs restaurant, as it provided the same menu at the same cost and we could order the beer from downstairs. On arriving we were presented with white table cloths and a decor that looked liked it had not been updated in well over a decade.

We were presented with a good selection of beer. On the food front most people went with one of the bar classics on the menu, the steak and ale pie being the most popular option. There was argument to how authentic this was, as it looked a bit like some beef casserole with some puff pastry placed on top. The service was a bit slow and people left thinking the experience was nothing really special.

Results

Quality Food 6.00
Quality Drinks 7.33
Value 5.83
Service 6.33
Ambience 5.67
Overall 6.00

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Cost including tip: £15

Comments:

- Way too long a wait for our food. Pie wasn't a pie and pastry was a bit pasty.
- Had the pie: meat was cheap cut quick cooked and pastry was OK. Chips were crap. Drinks range good but place felt like a step back in time.
- Would be nice if they had turned on the heating. A bit slow however good selection of beer.
- Nice bit of salmon, but the crushed potatoes seemed to have had the flavour splatted out of them.
- I asked for the pie but got a caserole with puff pastry plonked on top. But I guess that is what most pubs in the UK call a pie. Having said that, the casserole was ok, the broccoli wasn't over cooked, and the boiled potatoes seemed boiled ok.