Edinburgh

This was my very first visit to Strada and I brought along some guests to help me review the new menu. The restaurant was busy but very knowledgeable and attentive staff looked after us.
The wine list had a wonderful selection of Italian wines, Champagne and Prosecco. We settled for Pinot Grigio at £19.95 per bottle.

We were introduced to Castelvetrano olives - these are large, green and very juicy olives. They have a distinctive but pleasant taste and are incredibly moreish.

To start, we shared a delicious basket of warm garlic and rosemary flat breads, accompanied by a platter of meats and cheeses with olive tapenade. These went down a treat with my friends who picked away whilst catching up and sipping wine.

Our main courses included Strozzapreti Pugliese, a pasta dish with sausage, cheese and broccoli. This tasted surprisingly light and clean with just the right hint of red chilli butter.

The Risotto Zucca dish had pumpkin, butternut squash, pancetta and spinach - perfect for a winter’s night with the occasional crunch of a pine nut.

The Quatrro Stagioni is four pizzas in one. It had roasted artichoke, chestnut mushrooms, Luganica sausage, and Italian cotto ham on a crisp and thin base. The roasted artichoke in particular was delicious – giving the pizza a lift with some welcome acidity.

Some of my party preferred a more fitting dish for the cold and wet weather - the Saltimbocca Maiale (pork fillet, mash and green beans with sage butter sauce) was the remedy. The beautifully cooked pork fillet wrapped in Parma ham was delicious with the mash; the sage butter sauce brought all of it together to an approving chorus of “Mmm”.

For me, the evening’s highlight was the Orata Al Fotno – whole sea bream roasted with lemon and thyme, with new potatoes and green salad. The sea bream was cooked to perfection. The fish was moist and perfectly seasoned. I convinced the pickier members of my party to try it and they were pleasantly surprised, even if I had to turn the sea bream’s head away from them!

To finish off we tried three deserts and all were a delicious finale to some great food. The Pistachio Gelato was creamy but not too heavy. For the chocolate lovers, there was the Bunet Piemontese – a rich pannacotta style custard made with chocolate, hazelnuts, Amaretto biscuits, all accompanied by a shot of amaretto liqueur. This dish was bold and rich.

However, my favourite was the Affogato (nougat with semi-freddo served with hot espresso). This was a dish full of contrast. Hot with cold, delicious chewy nougat with soft ice cream and the strong espresso shot made it a talking point. It was divine!

I had a fantastic evening catching up with old friends in Strada and the food was part of this. Most of us tried dishes we had never had before and they were a talking point. The staff were great and answered all of our questions about the dishes.

I can’t wait to go back.

My 3 friends and I came along to Strada Edinburgh on the 6th of December and for the most part we really enjoyed our meal - we have our firm favourites on the menu so it was fun trying a range of things we wouldn’t normally order! And the staff were really friendly and helpful (though we got a lot of server traffic sitting by the serving hatch!).

The rosemary schiacciatella was lovely as always, though two of us found it a bit salty. I am not an olive eater, but two enjoyed the olives and one said they weren’t the ones she’d normally enjoy. The meat eaters at the table dived into the cured meats which they really liked. The tapenade and bruschetta were good (not a great time of year for ripe tomatoes but the basil helped a lot).

I got most of the Orata al Forno (sea bream) to myself (one friend balked at eating fish with eyes!) - I loved it and the gorgeous roast potatoes that came with it. Also, the pumpkin risotto (which was already a fave) was great as always; my friend who’d never had it before said she would definately order it again. Thanks to the staff for making it without pancetta so we could all try it! The meat eaters thought the strozzapreti pugliese was excellent, though they also thought the broccoli was undercooked. As for the saltimbocca, the consensus was that it wasn’t spectacular as the meat lacked seasoning but the mash was lovely and smooth (I will agree - it was gorgeous!) and went really well with the gravy and the green beans. The quattro formaggi pizza was tasty but I prefer the margherita I normally order - I think it has more of a depth of flavour.

The dessert choices were really interesting. The pistachio gelato was really popular (even with me, not usually a pistachio fan); one friend pronounced it ‘creamy and full of flavour’. The affogato was another winner - the strong coffee was perfect with the tasty semi-freddo. Luckily for me, I seemed to be the only one who really liked the bunet piemontese! I found it very rich and moreish, but others weren’t in love with the quality of the dessert or the taste and sweetness of the amaretto. That said, I adore amaretto anytime. :)

Thank you for giving us the chance to try out all these things - hope our feedback is helpful. I am always happy to come to your restaurant and was very pleased when you opened in Edinburgh!

Our table was booked for 6pm and despite arriving early to a busy restaurant we were immediately shown to a table to the rear of the premises. The staff were lovely always on hand. The clientele on arrival at the restaurant were mainly large groups and families and the lighting was suitably bright. By the time we were leaving the lights had been dimmed and the tables were being separated and more accomodating of coupoles arriving. All done seamlessly. Now to the food. My son took notes on his phone as we we went along and here is a summary!

Starters

Schiacciatella Aglio Flat bread - well seasoned, warm, crisp, fresh and very moreish

Antipasto - nice bread although we felt it over powered the rest of the dish as the charcoal over powered it all, the rest of the dish was very fresh and light.

Olives - fresh, light, overall a nice dish, non oily which was nice compared to others previously tasted elsewhere

Starters - very light and well enjoyed, left wanting more

Mains

Risotto Zucca -Well cooked and seasoned, lovely dish.

Strozzapreti Pugliese – Again well cooked, plenty meat and the sauce had just the right amount of kick!

Quattro Stagioni - base was lovely and crisp but the topping although plenty of was lacking in taste and in seasoning, disappointing.

Branzino Basilico - fish was lovely, well cook, full of flavour and very light. Mash potatoes were light and the taste was phenomenal.

Pollo Milanese - The chicken was oily and lacked flavour. The potatoes were oily and over cooked. The tomato and basil accompanying sauce was the only thing to help rescue this dish.

Mains – In general well cooked dishes with lots of flavour with the exception of the pizza and the chicken

Desserts

Pistachio Gelato - Creamy delicious ice cream with a hint of pistachio. Lush!

Affogato - Light dessert that was pleasant on its own but was perfected when the coffee was added

Bunet Piemontese –Unfortunately none of our party are lovers of amaretto

Desserts - All well presented and light rounding of the meal without feeling at all over full

Overall – Very well presented food, mostly well seasoned and more importantly ALL the food served was fresh tasting. We will undoubtedly return.

Favourites- Schiacciatella Aglio, Branzino Basilico, Affogato

My son & I had booked a table for 3pm, but arrived a little early.We were warmly greeted as soon as we entered & were shown to our table. All the staff were very helpful, friendly & polite.

We had the Antipasto & Schiacciatella Aglio bread to start, both were absolutely delicious. The portion sizes were perfect for two (hungry!) people. The Aglio flat bread was the best form of ‘garlic bread’ I have ever tasted. The three mains we shared were equally delicious, the pizza base of the Quattro Stagioni was thin, but not dry and the toppings generous. The mash with the Saltimbocca Maiale was light & creamy and the pork fillet was a good size, lean & moist. The pasta dish, Strozzapreti Pugliese was my favourite, perfectly cooked pasta with a cheeky hit of spices & chilli. Though I must admit I didn’t eat the broccoli.

The three sweets we tried were all equally tasty, and beautifully presented, but I enjoyed the Affogato the most, the shot of hot espresso poured over was the perfect end to a lovely meal. My son preferred the Pistachio gelato which had a light delicate flavour. The Bunet Piemontese was light & sweet, perfect for any lover of amaretto liqueur.

Thanks for a lovely unhurried meal & to Rachael our waitress and the other staff.

Two friends and I attended Strada Edinburgh on 28th November for dinner and we were instantly welcomed and shown to our table. Our waiter, Jakub explained how the taster menu would work and said if we hand any questions to feel free to ask him.

The starters of olives and Schiacciatella Aglio flat bread were both delicious and I could have eaten double portions of the flat bread but given that we had many more dishes to try, I decided to pace myself.

From the mains, the Saltimbocca Maiale (Pork Fillet) was delicious, with the Risotto Zucca coming a close second. My friends loved the Quattro Stagioni, mentioning that the dough was incredibly light and the toppings were delicious. We also tried the Strozzapreti Pugliese pasta with sausage and red chilli and the Sea Bream, both dishes of which we couldn’t find fault with.

To finish, we tried 3 desserts, Affogato, a creamy nougat with a shot of hot espresso, Bunet Piemontese, a chocolate custard which reminded me of a pannacotta but tastier, and pistachio gelato which we all agreed was divine!

We finished off with a round of Limoncello and some coffees and we all agreed that, although this was our first visit to a Strada restaurant, it wouldn’t be our last. A special mention must be made to Jakub for his attentiveness throughout our meal and his useful explanations of each dish. We will look forward to further visits!

We were given a bunch of different dishes to try.

Olives - not good
Antipasto - good
Risotto - quite nice but a little overcooked

Fish - this was nice, potatoes that came with it were very good
Pork - not so good, quite chewy and too much fat
Pizza - this was very good, can’t really get much better.

Gelato - too icy, needed to be blended
Coffee - far too bitter
Amaretto - this was nice but could do with a little more texture
Pistachio gelato - poor, very bland.

Overall the food was 50/50 and the prices were a little high for what it was.