So dinner at a donut cafe you say? Well that’s exactly what we did for Mr E’s birthday dinner out. Now this post has been sitting in draft since November and I have no idea how we missed publishing it. We love to find places that are a little bit different and heading out into town for dinner on a Saturday night doesn’t always get you the best food or service. Deadly Donuts has smartly tapped into two markets, donuts by day and dinner by night. It makes sense when you think the place is just sitting there to be used. The menu on the night we visited was brief and simple, think along the lines of Aizle and Gardener’s Cottage. 
The menu is straight and to the point. It tells you the ingredients to your dish but not necessarily how they are going to be served. Whilst we waited for the meal to start we munched on some of their lovely sourdough bread and kept thinking this was a genius idea for somewhere that would otherwise be empty. There was one other couple in with us and it was great.
First up was the oysters and beer granita. Now I have never had an oyster before. I don’t know why, I think I was scared of not liking them and then having to eat it. Two oysters arrived at our table, fresh and topped with a little beer granita.
Oysters with Beer Granita
Now this was a treat. I can honestly say I enjoyed my oyster, it had a lovely seaside flavour to it and nowhere near as fishy as I was expecting. The Beer granita on top was great, it kept the oyster cold and added a different flavour and just melting once in your mouth. The evening was off to a great start. We hadn’t long finished our oysters and our smacked cucumbers and peanuts arrived. We both enjoyed this dish as well, unfortunately we tucked in so quickly that we forgot to take a picture. For a little dish it was packed full of flavour and texture.
We didn’t have long to wait and our next course was up. Oh we should mention that another great thing about Deadly Donuts Dinners is it is BYOB. This makes it a lot cheaper and great for bigger groups.
Mackerel, Beetroot and Celery
Our next course was a fab little dish of mackerel, beetroot and celery. The mackerel had been cured and had a fantastic texture and taste. The thin slices of beetroot on top added an earthiness to the dish topped off with celery juice and a little celery to garnish. Now this dish might not be to everyone’s tastes but we loved it. They took three simple ingredients and made the flavours and textures works together to create something very tasty. It seemed the dishes were only going to get better as the evening went on.
Beef onglet, shallot and walnut
This was probably the dish I enjoyed the most of the whole evening. Beef onglet isn’t a cut of meat we were familiar with but Mr E had googled it before we went and assured me it was a good cut of meat. Cooked medium the meat fell apart without much effort. There was lovely pickled walnuts, baby potatoes with a surprise of shallot cream inside them. To finish the dish off there was a lovely gravy and winter greens. Everything about this dish was great. The flavours were excellent and the meat so tender.
Sticky Toffee Pudding
This was Mr E’s favourite course of the night. The sticky toffee pudding was unlike any other sticky toffee pudding we have had. Mr E does love a good pudding and this was hitting all the right spots. To make it different the sponge had been cooked the day previous and fed over the course of the next 24 hours with sticky toffee sauce, making it condensed and almost like a fudge but not quite as dense. The top had a lovely crystallized sugar layer and Mr E quickly made work of the bit I couldn’t manage. This is definitely a great sign.
Freddie is a great asset to the place. Explaining each dish as it comes out and how it was prepared. This adds the personal touch to your experience and was very much appreciated by us. It’s nice to see the person behind the dishes.
Overall, we really enjoyed our evening at Deadly Donuts Dinner. For £34 per person the meal was excellent value as there were some lovely quality ingredients and with a stripped back menu we both thoroughly enjoyed them. Being BYOB is also an added benefit. We suspect since we visited that it has caught the eye of those in the know and would suggest even without seeing what the menu is, just book a table. If you have any dietary requirements where possible they will try to accommodate these. If you head along, don’t forget to let us know how you get on.
Deadly Donuts | 21 Argyle Pl, Edinburgh EH9 1JJ | Tel: 0131 221 0459 |
Twitter: @deadly_donuts
Facebook: @deadlydonuts
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