The Kitchin, Leith, Edinburgh

This isnt my first visit to Tom Kitchin's award winning restaurant "The Kitchin" but it certainly was the best visit.

I'm a hard man to please and keep happy when it comes to good food and good service.  My last visit left me with a distinct bitter taste in my mouth, well the gnocci that night was burnt and we felt we were being served by a herd of cattle stampeding through the restaurant.

Tonight would be totally different.  On arrival I couldnt help but noticing that the bar area had had a very pleasant makeover since my last visit, not that we had time to take in a drink at the bar, our table was ready and waiting.

It was a table for two at 7pm on a Tuesday evening.  I was surprised to see the restaurant was quite busy on a school night, business must be doing well.  The Kitchin has a large window so diners could see a working kitchen during service.  It was good to see Tom running the pass tonight.

We opted to try Tom's Land & Sea Surprise Tasting Menu with matching wines.

To start with was an appetiser of Chilled Pea Soup served with Creme Fraiche.  It was delightful with the odd unblended pea in the soup to give added texture.  The first and last mouthfuls of the soup were for me a touch peppery for my liking.

It was followed by a light 'Shellfish Rockpool' served with west coast shellfish and sea vegetables in a chilled tomato consomme.  It was perfectly balanced and tasted lovely and fresh. 

Our penultimate fish dish was a Razor Clam cooked and served with diced vegetables, chorizo and lemon confit.  This to me was the highlight dish of the menu.  the different flavours worked brilliantly together, if I could I would have licked the plate clean.

Next up was Tom's signature dish of Pigs Head and a langoustine tail with a crispy ear salad.  A good sized portion as was all of his dishes.  The pork melted in your mouth and the crispy pig ear was a pork eaters delight.

We opted for the 'special' on the tasting menu, of locally caught lobster.  The decision was a no brainer really, hake or lobster, it took less than one second for both of us to decide on the lobster.

What we didnt expect was to be presented with our lobster still alive and kicking before cooking.

The lobster itself was grilled and dusted with manioc flour and basil butter.  Like everything so far, the cooking had been top notch. I was sure if it could the lobster would have jumped up and give me a kiss.  It certainly did not die in vain. 

By this time we were both struggling with the amount of food on the menu, we still had two courses to go.

The next course was a rump of Highland lamb served with red pepper piperade and a brochette of offal. 

The final course was new season Yorkshire strawberries served with a creme fraiche tart and strawberry sorbet.  A perfect pallet cleanser after a truely sumptious meal.

We decided to have our coffee and petit fours in the bar area.  During our coffee Tom came out to speak to the few people seated in the bar area which was a very nice personal touch.

Tonights menu was far more accomplished than any of my previous visits.  It was certainly more than a match for the godfather of Edinburgh's cooking scene, Martin Wishart and his restaurant 150 yards along the road.