LONG LIVE LE POMPADOUR

The Mystery Diner goes back to an old haunt and finds it completely revamped and a go-to venue for the first time in many years

The Mystery Diner is delighted to find the capital's Pompadour has returned to its former glory

An old family friend who remembers Edinburgh back in the grey old days before and after the war, once told me a story about The Pompadour. She said that back in the day it was the place to go, but that as a young woman it was so expensive that if you accepted an invitation to dinner there you were accepting far more than just food.

For the record, as a bright young thing she never accepted any of the invitations to eat there, so when I took her along a decade ago it was her first visit. Now a well-travelled woman of some vintage, she looked at it with a rather sad eye; she wasn’t, she said, sure that it had been worth waiting more than half a century for.

I had to agree. No matter how good the food or the stunning views of the castle, the fact that the wall panels are listed means it’s difficult to change the place around, and unless fully full it has always resembled something of a gilded barn. And sadly, in my experience it has rarely been full.

In consequence, for special occasions instead of heading to The Pompadour I tended to end up at Number One at The Balmoral, or at one of the city’s countless other upmarket watering holes.

But it is amazing what you can do with a little thought, and on my recent return the place was much changed, and for the better. There had been

heavy dishes and lighter, finer options that left me sated but not feeling as if someone would have to take me downstairs in a wheelbarrow.

We started off with a beautifully creamy Lindisfarne oyster with horseradish and broccoli, which was followed by a gorgeous tartare of Gigha halibut with dill, preserved lemon and soy. Having recently been in Japan and seen at first hand a culinary culture that deifies uncooked fish, I can confirm this was superbly executed.

Next up was a personal favourite of mine, roast veal sweetbread. This was served with Swiss chard, shavings of wonderfully buttery and nutty Pecorino cheese, all topped with an unctiously rich sauce made from the juices of the sweetbreads augmented with Madeira wine. For someone who adores offal, this was condemned-man’s-last-meal good.

Next up was a segue to the lighter side, with an immaculately presented slab of ever-so-slightly overcooked wild turbot, served with swede, turnip and, apparently, chicken butter sauce (nope, me neither, although it turns out it’s a Tom Brown staple when cooking hake, with the more percussive poultry notes of Ashmore’s version adding a nice depth of flavour to the white fish without overwhelming it). This one found much favour with Mrs MD, although I thought it was probably my least favourite dish of the seven, perhaps because it was subtle and I, sadly, am not.

Next up was local loin of venison with pumpkin, chestnut and braised shoulder croquettes, and here Ashmore was back on safe ground, displaying bold flavours and a joy of working with Scotland’s game that has long been evident in his cooking.

By now we were entering the final straight, although we had a calorie overload to negotiate as we spied the two pudding courses. First up was ‘The Pompadour Chocolate Bar’, which was served with pistachio ice cream and hazelnut, a luscious combination which marked the first time my belt had to be moved out a notch. Then we rounded off with a prune and Armagnac souffle with gingernut crumb and a stunning Earl Grey ice cream. Although I’m partial to both prunes and Armagnac, I’m not really a fan of souffles, but this one was flawlessly produced and again found favour with Mrs MD. Nor do I like Early Grey, but loved this in a sort of inverse coffee way – love the beverage, but hate the taste in cakes and Revels.

All in all, this was a profoundly enjoyable experience, and although I sometimes found the paired wine choices a little too arcane (and woody) for my tastes, it was good for my palate to be challenged with some wines that I’d never usually think about ordering.

But mainly it was good to enjoy sumptuous food – displaying a new-found confidence, Ashmore must surely come into the reckoning for a star soon – in a refreshed and enhanced environment. I finally felt as if The Pompadour was reclaiming some of the lustre of its first fifty years, when it was a gastronomic goliath on the Edinburgh food scene.

“Ashmore must surely be in the reckoning for a Michelin star

countless subtle tweaks, but the most obvious difference was the addition of an eightfoot tall (fake, but surprisingly ‘real’) cherry tree in the middle of the room around which there were clustered four booths for diners. In one fell swoop the whole room had been transformed; diners no longer had to listen to what people at the other end of the room were saying, no longer felt they had to whisper. It was now possible to concentrate on the food. This, by the way, has undergone something of a metamorphosis. The Galvin Brothers, holders of countless Michelin stars for their London restaurants, are no longer in residence either in The Pompadour or downstairs in the Waldorf-Astoria’s more casual dining space, and their place has been taken by the irrepressible Dan Ashmore. The head chef cut his teeth in London at La Trompette, The Square in Mayfair and Tom Aikens before joining The Pompadour in March 2017, when he worked under the Galvins. However, since March 2019 he has had total control and has put in place a whole series of changes which led to the hotel being named Fine Dining Restaurant Hotel of The Year at the 2019 Scottish Food Awards. One of the most enjoyable is the introduction of a seven-course tasting menu which diners can opt to have as a surprise, a concept which appeals to me. So, too, did the food, a nicely varied balance of