Leuty Parker

Tag: #restaurants

  • The Scran and Scallie

    The diabetic restaurant reviews return!

    This is in Edinburgh, in Stockbridge. Address :

    The Scran & Scallie
    1 Comely Bank Road
    Stockbridge
    Edinburgh EH4 1DR

    Tom Kitchin’s Edinburgh restaurant may not deserve its Michelin star…

    To see the menu is in the pictures. The staff were very polite, the venue was lovely, too.

    Sadly 2 downsides, though;

    1: the dish I chose was a special, so not on the menu, albeit I did get some vegetable crisps to carb compensate What I did choose was probably a poor choice; pickled herring. It came with some rye bread which had a beautiful gingerbread flavour, and the added salad was nice. The main objective of a restaurant, should be good food. I’m not reviewing it to be poorly cooked, but probably poorly researched what the market would like?

    2: the menu is stupid. Totally confusing, to fool you into paying more than what you expected, after you ate it.

    See if you can initially understand what is going on:

    Poor menu design, particularly for the target market. Beautiful presentation though:

    Again, NOTHING(like most high end restaurants) about the nutrition.

  • Herringbone

    Nice, mid market food. Modern ambience. Friendly staff, nothing regarding the nutrition though.

    I see a trend here, that needs to be addressed.

    The menu
    My food: “charred garlic & chilli tiger prawns” & rocket & Parmesan”

    Review; yummy, lovely, nice staff, better than average. Nothing very outstanding, & nothing regarding nutrition. I chose the safe, carb light option using assumption. BHL was 9.1 on leavi.

  • McLarens

    Why I tried this was because I was told they used ample WR codes, which really interests me. My idea is to provide nutritional information using QR codes…. Sadly this doesn’t suit the “classic” style most restaurants have though. Majorly, this industry is focussed on the “art” of cooking, not the data being it.

    So for this, it took ages to get there, the food was substandard, the decor was “pub-like” & there was a dog, barking there, owned by a customer. This, for me, ruined the atmosphere.

    An odd mix, but basically nothing of what attracted me there (the QRs). This was introduced as a method to adapt to “social distancing”, a great way to reduce the need of physical contact. Many modern restaurants have introduced this as a way to order. Pity that here didn’t carry on, or adapt this. They just kept the old fashioned style.

    This is very subjective, I know. But certainly not what I like.

    My main USP is reviewing restaurants as a diagnostic. No attractive of the food, rubbish atmosphere & “old-school” (obviously “pub grub”). Below is a picture of the menu, I had the risotto which didn’t fill me, so with side salad which had pomegranate, didn’t mention that on the menu. Ample fructose though, if I knew I would have reached.

    The pomegranates may have been the guilty party of why I left with high (& riding) BGL.

    It may have been because I stopped off for a tequila shot on the way back, but this made me happy, & very dancy.

  • The Huxley

    As a diabetic, I subconsciously avoid carbs. It should be well balanced to my insulin, I know. But because it’s such an extra effort, I try to get the lowest amount of carbs, saving me doing the calculation.

    I’ve been here, the “Huxley” at the Rutland hotel, several times before. So as they must’ve impressed me, as I’m returning. Also, I’ve worked out, already, which dishes will suit me.

    Sadly, the menu is heavily hot dog affiliated. So, too many carbs in the bun. Salad for Leuty, I guess.

    I have already tried some of the salads, and found some I like, which works nicely with my 3 units of novorapid. These include:

    Superfood sales (couscous (carrots), tomatoes (fructose), almonds, radish, watercress, chimichirri dressing) as I keep having it again and again, I enjoy the flavours, pairings and presentation. It is not carb heavy so it doesn’t affect my BGL much, and doesn’t leave me getting too full.

    Beetroot, feta and watercress salad (sherry vinegar, reduction) again, good reaction of my BGL as this has no carbs. Beautiful flavour pairings again. Mystery of ingredients in dressing, tastes nice, results nutritionally amenable.

    Two dish courses are salads so not very filling, and very carb light. So… PUDDING.

    I. J. Melis Scottish cheese selection (homemade oatcakes, porridge crackers, grapes, tomato chutney) safe selection of deserts is cheese selection; no carbs in most cheese and this appears on most menus. The accompanies are the treacherous ones which need the carb counting. The grapes are fairly standard 0.5g per grape, having about 7 to make up for the lack of carbs in previous dishes.

    Beautiful food, mid-range price. Nice atmosphere. Well paired flavours. Again, NO nutritional information accessible.

  • Visiting for the first time… again

    I have already said about my new objective(I think), writing restaurant; restaurant reviews from a diabetics perspective.

    Kind of a “nutrition consultant” , because nutrition is vital to all aspects diabetes life.

    This doesn’t just go for diabetes, but everyone’s life, in general.

    With this, too, I had a TBI where I lost my memory. So I get to try everything for the first time again.

    Before, on this blog, I reviewed the Table (see previous post) but

    So because this is what I want to focus my efforts towards (I’m diabetic, I LIVE eating out. A huge absence of nutritional information though m) I mean business. So I had;

    More recently, I went to a far more down market restaurant. This is a family favourite called Loon Fung, where I’ve been many times, just can’t remember any. The food was what you’d expect from Chinese food, because I’m no expert in this cuisine… yet. The experience was familiar, like coming home.

    As per usual, I can predict what dishes my company would have. A life theory is fine with you like, and stick to it. Younger people are more exploratory, because they’re still constructing their personality.

    Jasmine tea – no carbs (actually fish it LOWERS BG)

    Mum had hot and sour soup, which I had a mouthful. It was lovely

    They got prawn crackers, I had none as carbs…

    A friend had some noodles which I tried

    Curry shrimps

    To repeat, this is just an introduction for the lore of future projects. As this restaurant has a sentimental value, it influenced my experience. Evening was lovely, BGL totally fine (had 5 units of Novorapid, checked before = 8.0, aft= 8.8).

  • Career

    It may (most likely) or may not be blatantly obvious I am currently sans emploi (without job), and hate it. So… I did a masters, completed it. And now want something to focus my energy on. So I’m investing my time into developing a business proposal….

    This will take 2 things central to my life:

    1) i love eating out (seen in recent blog posts, recently). Very harsh reviews, but aim to inspire how to improve.

    2) I’m type 1 diabetic (very common, where 1 in 11 of the population has it). Reviews from a metabolic disabled person which gives insight in the nutrition of the ingredients and how it’ll affect the customer (most chefs are solely interested in the flavour of the dish but few know much about the nutritional values)

    This is a skill which diabetics must learn, . Diabetic or not, this should also be made imperative for restaurants to provide this information, and to follow the trend of inclusion.

  • Down the Hatch

    ….no alcohol was consumed, unlike what is presumed by the name. Albeit a big cocktail menu.

    A very unique & distinctive theme, being Canada. Much of the decorations were Canada themed. As well as the menu, having Canadian classics, purine being an example.

    It was, however, what is expected about an “average” restaurant. Pretty reasonable price tag, too.

    Certainly trying to fit the needs of the hospitality industry.

    No nutritional information at all though. I ordered “cauliflower wings” with a “Korean BBQ”top. I felt like a fool not assuming it’d have soooo much sugar. It was pretty tasty, but with that name, I presumed it would be relatively carb-light, but the cauliflower wings were covered in batter and syrup.

    I admit I only took an educated guess on my order choice, choosing cauliflower wings over a hot dog, but with more nutritional information, I could have made a better “educated guess”.

  • The Table

    Fine dining…. To the max. It’s rare that I’m left speechless, but this did the trick.

    The layout is unlike anything I’ve ever tried restaurant-wise. 10 diner opposite of few chefs. Dinner IS the show. Few other staff, one sommelier to note.

    As it was a tasting menu, there was many small tastes. Each was a very perfectly designed flavour match, so ample amounts of creamy in the gastrointestinal design. Sadly, nothing at aloud the nutrition in the menu, though.

    The style of this restaurant is very individual & food that gives the elements of surprise. Great for the PR in wanting what you can’t have. My father can’t walk, so not very suitable when wishing for accessibility. The staff tried to help as much as possible however.

    But they foolishly (maybe) gave everyone a memento of a copy of their menu. Little did they know, I’ll share it with you now;

    ⁃ Hey Sombridge; Smoked makerel in apple, celeriac & wild mushrooms

    ⁃ Derby della Madoninsa; osso buco ravolo

    ⁃ Jaqueline Mate; hake with courgettes, chorizo & almonds

    ⁃ Finding Oshidori; will duck with salsify, salmon & plum

    ⁃ 2nd breakfast at the Pranoing; Brie, bacon & cranberry

    ⁃ Werthers not so original; caramel powder inspired by Grant Achaiz

    ⁃ Marvin’s machical view; carrot, caramel, mandarin & walnut

    Albeit the creativity of flavours, for me, the restaurant experience is not just about the food but much about the ambience.

    Beautiful setting, but with the kitchen right in front of you, too much background noise.

    Aside from the flavour being divine & the story being engaging, I felt I should be impressed. A beautifully designed menu, for an extraordinary price tag though.