Whiskers Wine Bar & Bistro - Sunday Roast
If you haven’t yet had the good fortune to dine at Whiskers you should go. I want to eat there far more than my schedule allows but one dreich Sunday Mr Bite and I decided to hell with everything we are going out to dine.
Whiskers is located in Stockbridge on Raeburn Place; décor is modern European, produce is Scottish and the influence is French. Head Chef Jonathan Cook earnt his stripes with none other than the Roux brand amongst others.
Mr Bite and I settle in and I order a glass of Gusbourne English Sparkling Wine which seems an appropriate choice of fizz for the quintessential British tradition that is Sunday Lunch. This wine producer is based in Kent and the bottles carry the goose crest of the estate where the grapes are grown and which dates to the fifteenth century. Gusbourne won "English wine producer of the year" in both 2013 and 2015 at the International Wine and Spirits Competition.There is a good selection of wines by the glass on the Whiskers List which is useful when your spouse loves beer. He orders a Daft Days Porter.
Mr Bite has not been to Whiskers before and when he dithers between Borders Lamb or Hardiesmill Beef I gently suggest the latter. Hardiesmill, in the Scottish Borders, is a farm run by Robin and Alison Tuke. They believe the best beef is also the most ethically produced beef. Their cattle spend their lives on the farm and eat species-rich grass, grass silage and hay (no hormones, no steroids, no pesticides, no grain). A nutritional analysis of the beef revealed it to be rich in Omega 3, Omega 6, Vitamin B12, protein and minerals. The cattle are all pure-bred Aberdeen Angus with some blood-lines going back to the original Aberdeen cattle (as listed in the Poll-Cattle Herdbook 1887).
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It’s also very tasty and when our roasts arrive we can see the meat is lean and juicy. Roasties are crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside and the Yorkshire puddings likewise. Neeps are mashed with butter and cinnamon; this spice tends to divide people but here it lends a clever dimension to the root veg. Carrots and parsnips are roasted sweet and the gravy is a real winner being fruity and rich, deep and thick but still pourable.
Pudding on a Sunday is a must and I order Pistachio Sponge, Honey Roast Figs and Crème Fraîche while Mr Bite chooses the Dark Chocolate, Coffee and Orange Millefeuille. Both boast fresh, seasonal fruit; orange segments in the pastry while fleshy, purple fig pieces complement a Levantine-inspired sponge moistened with plenty of honey.
Sunday Roast at Whiskers is great value at £18.50 per person for the main event. The farm-to-table ingredients are bar none and we leave replete and happy that such good food, well-executed is available to us.
Sunday Roast at Whiskers may well turn into a new tradition. (S. Wilson)
Whiskers Wine Bar & Bistro - 48 Raeburn Place, Stockbridge, EH4 1HL - 0131 343 3681.
Opening times:
Mon-Tues closed.
Wednesday Bar 5pm-11pm; Kitchen 5pm-8.30pm.
Thursday-Saturday Bar 12pm -12am; Kitchen 12pm-2.30 and 5 pm-8.30pm.
Sunday Bar 12 pm - 6pm, kitchen 12pm-6pm.