Clouds & Soil can be found up at Picardy, and after having had fantastic food at Bond No. 9 we were expecting great things. Picardy Place has been the source of a number of new restaurants recently and being situated beside Fish and Steak I hope it succeeds. Those heading to see a show, have a fantastic range of places to eat and there’s no excuse for not being able to grab something tasty.
We had an Itison voucher for this visit. The offer was £19 for a starter and main each. We thought this was fantastic value given the normal price would be approx. £40. We find Itison is a great way to see new places in Edinburgh without making too big a dent in our pockets.
The first impression when you walk into Clouds & Soil is how spacious the whole place is. It is decorated beautifully but the first place you step into is an entrance hall. It’s not very well signposted which rooms are which. On the ground floor is the bar, which is very stylish and looked to be serving very nice cocktails, although we didn’t sample any on this visit. We will be back again just to sample them. The dining room is situated on the first floor. The dining room has lovely big windows with nice views of the city and perfect for people watching. The majority of the tables are in this front room with a bar and some more tables located in the second room to the back. There is also a private dining room which can be pre-booked for between 4-6 diners. I thought this was a fantastic idea, prefect for birthdays and special occasions.
Enough about the luxurious surroundings we found ourselves in and more about the food and drink. Our waitress for the night was fantastic, one of our party only drinks bottled beer and was surprised they didn’t serve Perioni but our server talked through the options with him and found a suitable beer (it must have hit the spot as he ordered another bottle). She was also very knowledgeable about the wine list and helped us picked a nice bottle. I love it when the waiting staff are clued up on the drinks on offer and helped make the sometimes daunting wine selection a much easier job. Drinks ordered, onto the food.
Clouds & Soil have a seasonal menu and it will often change with what is in season. The menu on offer on our visit was very tasty. There were a number of dishes we could have ordered but Mr E and I both ended up ordering the same thing. I knew if I didn’t order the salmon roulade and duck i’d have serious food envy.
For starts we had smoked Scottish salmon roulade with spinach, chive and cream cheese filing.
It was very well presented. The salmon was fresh and had a great smokey taste. I thought this was a little over powered by the filling which was a little too salty for me but Mr E thought it was fine and finished of the remainder of mine.
Next was the main event. We both ordered duck breast. It was served with potatoes and a mix of seasonal root vegetables, blackberries and a jus.
This was definitely the winner of the menu. The duck was cooked to perfection, medium, and very tender. No chewy or fatty bits to be found. We were both very pleased with this dish and how tasty everything was. The potatoes were cooked well, lots of flavour and complimented the duck and vegetables well. Overall the dish was a success and we thought extremely delicious. Definitely something we would both order again.
Now you would think after all that, we would be full. Well not quite. I knew how good their sticky carrot cake is and Mr E can’t resist a cheese board especially when it’s an I.J Mellis cheese board with carmelised onion chutney, oatcakes and fruit.
Both desserts hit the spot. The carrot cake is fab and I’ve honestly to taste a better one. It was moist and sticky with lots of filling inbetween the layers. The vanilla ice cream served with it was a nice touch but I felt it didn’t really need it. The cheese board was as expected delicious. It had a smoked applewood cheese, brie, a mature cheddar and a very nice blue cheese. The perfect size for one, good job we didn’t do our usual and get one to share.
Overall, our dining experience was great. The food was delicious and the service excellent. Next time we won’t leave it quite so long!
Her x
Clouds & Soil | Address: 4 Picardy Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3JT | Tel: 0131 629 2728 |
Twitter – @Clouds
Facebook – Clouds & Soil
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