Lunch Club dines at Dionika
Another Friday and another outing for The Edinburgh Blog’s Lunch Club. After hearing positive reviews from friends who had enjoyed the tapas at Dionika in Canonmills, we headed to this established restaurant for lunch. Apparently fish is the speciality of Dionika; infact it was this which inspired the owner to bring his Spanish roots to Scotland. Three courses including a glass of wine for just £7.50 makes Dionika a very attractive proposition on paper. However, despite the popular Friday lunch spot we were the only group in the restaurant until another couple of tables arrived towards 1pm. Inside Dionika is a rather charming and simple restaurant with a delicatessen area to one side and the restaurant area to the other.
There can be no complaints about the size of the glass of wine we received, although its contents would certainly win no awards! The £7.50 lunch deal offers a choice between two soup starters, two mains (fish or chicken wings) and two desserts. My light starter of mussel soup was tasty stuff, while the vegetable soup drew no complaints from its recipients.
We all chose the plaice fillets, but agreed to cod as a substitute. Dionika seemed to have trouble matching the written menu to the delivered food - a solitary slice of cod constituted the fillets and, strawberries and ice cream for dessert actually meant ice cream with a gooey strawberry sauce squirted all over. Anyhow, all three mouthfuls of the cod were lovely and the chips were good - but with portion sizes this small, it really should be advertised as a ‘light lunch’.
There’s little else I can say about the ’strawberries’ and ice cream - except ‘change your menu’. My creme caramel flavours were a little too intense. The food showed some promise, but Dionika are perhaps trying too hard to fit the food to the £7.50 price tag. On this evidence alone I wouldn’t rush to Dionika for dinner.
Lunch certainly wasn’t a quick affair. In the end we worked out the total cost (3 x £7.50 wasn’t too difficult!) and paid before receiving the bill. I’d hope the speed and attentiveness of service would improve for dinner, otherwise it will be a long night.
The final quotes, as ever, go to the Lunch Club members:
The only thing substantial was the vino!
Lovely setting and food, unfortunately no atmosphere and portions too light
Competent cooking, but too light a lunch!
Dionika is located at 3-6 Canonmills Bridge, Canonmills, Edinburgh, EH3 5LF
Telephone: 2021 652 3993
Yeah, I’ve tried the £7.50 menu here and was fairly impressed. Soup as starter - delicious. Daughter and I shared a main course - she ate the chips and I had the fish. The a flan for pudding. Good value - and I found the staff helpful and friendly, but I know what you mean about the atmosphere - not enough business? Nice, though. I’d go back.
I must say Juan, the owner of Dionika certainly knows his stuff. I had the most wonderful dinner experience at Dionika not so long ago.
As Juan used to be a fish exporter, he certainly knows his fish and it really does show on the plate - combinations of flavors meet perfectly. I enjoy sticking to lunch wherever possible as you often see Juan chatting with dinners (never an outstayed welcome though!) and he has a story for every fish.
The Spanish aren’t contrived when it comes to food, not least seafood. A good peice of fresh seafood in Spain is simple, well seasoned and trusted to please on it’s own merits alone. Dionika echoes perfectly, the Spanish ethos with fish.