Celebration dinner at The Bonham
Last night I spent the evening at The Bonham restaurant, for a birthday celebration meal. The Bonham is located in the West End of Edinburgh and is a hotel with a highly regarded restaurant. Their website states the restaurant has achieved 2 AA Rosette Status. The hotel is located on Drumsheugh gardens and it blends nicely into the expensive and historic looking housing in this area of Edinburgh.
The restaurant is a contemporary affair with high ceilings, interesting art on the walls and a spacious interior that was a little awing at first. The tables are large affairs and there is a good space between tables, so it doesn’t feel like persons sitting elsewhere are part of your group. I think the waitress serving our table must have been new to the job, but in general the service worked well and there was no notion of rushing you (the restaurant at its peak was probably half full).
The menu included a special card advertising the only white truffles in Edinburgh at £30 a pop, for either starter or main. I elected to start off with a glass of Louis Roederer champagne though (£10.50 a glass) . This was nice and we also ordered a bottle of still water for the table (£3.50) and a bottle of the superb Gavi white wine (£28).
For starter I had Foie Gras served with a delicious Chutney, toasted bread and salad (£9.50). This was a delight to eat. My dining partner had crab which at £6.50 was a tasty way to start the meal. Before any of the starters were served we were given two slices of superb bread and a little taster of mushroom soup (that was excellent).
For main I had lamb (£17.90) and my dining partner had the venison served with creamed cabbage (£18.50). We ordered side dishes of potatoes and green beans at £3.50 each. The amount of food was just right, although I only had two lamb rib bones, where I thought a fuller rack would have been appropiate. Maybe the lamb could have been a little more tender. The meal worked well though and was hugely enjoyable - I also tried some of the venison and the taste of that with the cabbage was superb. We skipped desert, after such a hefty two courses, and had a cup of tea served with chocolate, fudge and miniature muffin (£1.95). There was a fair selection on the menu and if returning again I would like to try the steak and one of the fish starters e.g. langoustine soup.
Overall, The Bonham proved an enjoyable dining experience for such a celebration. It’s not somewhere I would dine regularly at but for special one off events it’s a special setting with quality food to match. I see they do ‘Boozy Snoozy’ sessions where for a table of four persons for Lunch on Saturdays or Sundays you each get a three course meal and two bottles of wine for the table. This looks a good deal at just £60 per table and one that I will try before the end of the year.
