Dakota, Edinburgh - Restaurants in Edinburgh | s1play.com

Striding Forth

Review published on 31/08/2007 © Sunday Herald

Dakota - the redux. I have revisited the Dakota concept, or to be precise, the new Dakota at the Forth Bridge.

My first experience of this small chain of foodie hotels was at scenic Eurocentral, where I had a disappointing meal. I didn't like Dakota's shiny, slate-grey exterior either. It looks like the HQ of a company producing computer software for the military.

Guess what? I am coming round to the Dakota thing. I still dislike its sepulchral tombstone look, but the meal I just ate at the Forth Bridge one was fantastic. You get a sideways view of the Forth Rail Bridge, so the environs are more uplifting than Eurocentral. That said, you can't go to Dakota without getting an eyeful of the sprawling Tesco right next door, and there's nothing more guaranteed to put me off my dinner than yet another serving of Every Little Helps.

Fortunately, the interior of Dakota – pretty much a dead ringer for the Eurocentral one – wisely has blinds and window panes that blot out its neighbours. On a humdrum Tuesday night, it was buzzing. A lot of its customers are business people, dining on their own. Not generally a clientele that predisposes any kitchen to turn out the most exciting, or effortful food. But we got off to an excellent start with some warm cheese and paprika gougares (cheesy choux pastries) and a pile of thinly sliced Poilane bread with milky unsalted butter, and continued with food that showed an impressive amount of effort combined with good taste.

The menu featured lots of dishes I wanted to eat. The style is classic, stripped-back cooking, neither anally retentive nor prissy; relaxed, but showing lots of care and attention, showcasing well-sourced, seasonal ingredients. The repertoire harks back to the great dining rooms of yesteryear with lavish seafood platters and dishes such as omelette Arnold Bennett, the smoked haddock and cheese dish famously created for the writer at the Savoy Grill. It recognises, too, that people away from home often fancy comfort food like fish pie, not Chateaubriand.

First up, an impeccable starter of dressed Eyemouth crab. The white claw meat, which was freshly sweet and juicy, had not been too interfered with, and its charms were perfectly set off by its garnish of mustard cress, melba-crisp walnut toast, and an inspired mayonnaise made using brown crab meat. A coral-pink shellfish soup captured the hearty flavours you find in the best sort of Marseillaise bouillabaisse and was further heightened by the judicious addition of orange. It came with another adroit emulsified sauce, this time a piquant homemade rouille, flavoured with garlic, saffron and cayenne. You dabbed the rouille on brittle toasts already spread with a garlic and parsley oil, then topped it with parmesan so fresh it might have been grated minutes earlier.

Kitchens are always noisy places, and here they must be doubly alive with the chatter of lobsters.

Apparently they get through a fair few at Dakota and we admired one particularly active mercury-black specimen, before going on to eat it, naturally. Simply grilled with herb butter, not cooked in water, it was strong and succulent. Like the rack of Dornoch lamb, you felt it had been given just the ideal treatment. These little pink cutlets had an extraordinary flavour – all that heather helps. Once again their ring of Boulangare potatoes, delicate pile of bright broad beans, well-made gravy and last-minute dusting of fresh mint were perfect in the supporting role.

Dakota understands there is more to dessert than stodgy British puddings and the liver-inflating delights of the ubiquitous lemon tart and creme brulee. It might have been just a touch less firm, but I loved my elderflower jelly, prettily enclosing plump brambles, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries. The same selection of seasonal berries was also shown to great effect by being coated with an eggy sabayon made with cardamom-infused brandy, then being flashed under a hot grill to produce a gratin-like crust.

Food apart, one striking asset to Dakota is its front-of-house man, a young, communicative Scot, articulate when asked to describe dishes, seriously knowledgeable about wine and brimming over with enthusiasm for the joys of a career in catering. Maybe he represents a trend.

Let's hope so.