First up were
the vegetable fritters (£3) which had a great golden brown colour. The
crust was outstanding with a crispy texture without being overly hard.
The inside consisted of shredded carrots, zucchini and salsify (?)
which in itself are not strong flavours but offered some nice contrasting
colours. I found the batter to be a bit lumpy - it wasn't unpleasant just unexpected.
A spinach pesto topped the fritters giving it a bit more flavour. Not a bad
start and a favourite amongst the table.
My favourite
tapa dish was the steak and peanut meatballs (£4) which had such a rich flavour
to it. The Bon Vivant used steak cuts of meat as the base providing a
much beefier essence while still being relatively lean. The peanuts sounded like
a weird ingredient but were subtle and appeared to be ground into the meat with
just some small soft bits throughout. The tomato sauce was great
flavourful sauce that's a mix between marinara and gravy, nice and mellow and
not too acidic.
The chorizo
in cider (£4) was not my favourite, but then again I never really liked this
sausage. It’s much milder in flavour likely due to it being boiled in the
cider. The sauce was a nice mix of briny tanginess and good for dipping
the bread into. Strangely, they only provided us with two wedges of bread
despite there being four of us and the appetizer portion equivalent to four "bites".
It would have been nice if there was enough for one per person.
My main was
good but not my favourite. Wanting to try something different, I opted
for the seared hare loin and bridie (the leg of the hare)(£16.50). The
dish was quite a substantial portion despite the small size of the hare and the
meat very tender. The meat has a gamey flavour and is sort of like duck
but stronger.
Normally, I
would have been enjoyed the dish but the accompanying ingredients, sweet potato
mash and salsify, were just too sweet and similar for my taste. Additionally
the sauce consisted of chestnuts jus which also did not contrast the rest of
the ingredients. The only thing that differed was the wood sorrel but
these are very light tasting mushrooms so didn't stand out. If only there
was something else - a vinegary or savoury sauce or a fresher vegetable I would
have liked it much more. The empanada like pastry on top was a bit unexpected
but was good with its flakey crust. The filling, I believe was the
bridie, could have been flavoured more as was sort of bland.
Without a
doubt, the best dish of the night was the haggis (£9.50) which actually looked
appetizing. Seriously, travel shows have done this dish injustice by showing it
served in the stomach, The Bon Vivant serves theirs in a formed shape on the
plate and actually looks nice. The texture was thick and smooth but still
had some pieces with bite to it. I found it to taste like a thicker
sheppard's pie mixture with richer flavours. It didn't taste like offal
at all and was actually delicious. The accompanying gratin dauphinois
(scalloped potatoes) were amazing and rich, just the right consistency (soft
throughout but still a bit a bite in the potatoes) and had a hint of
horseradish in it that gave it a wonderful zing. The roast neeps (turnips) and
leafy greens were a bit plain but I think that's necessary when the rest of the
dish is already so heavy and flavourful.
We also
ordered a side of triple cooked hand cut chips (£3) for the table that were
some of the best fries I've had. I’ll
admit, I’m a bit of a fry connoisseur and have tried many throughout Toronto. Up until now, I thought I like the thinner
fries (my favourite being the ones served at Beer Bistro and One) and generally
detested the thick and filling wedges. My perception has changed as the
ones in Scotland were still light and crumbly yet had such a great crunch and
rich potato flavour to it. Something
about their potatoes are amazing, the flavour so pronounce without even using
the skin. In Canada, we often only get
the strong potato taste if the skin is left on the spud, but the skin also
leaves a metallic zing to it. In
Scotland, their chips have such a lovely essence without needing the skin. The
Bon Vivant’s chips were simply salted and arrived burning hot … I couldn’t stop
eating them because they were so delicious.
Being voted
as one of the top bars in Edinburgh, they also offer are a variety of beers and
wine at reasonable prices - approximately £6/glass for wine and £3.50/pint for beer.
What made Bon
Vivant outstanding was their service. Everyone was welcoming and attentive
right from the beginning. Knowing we were tourists, our waiter took the time to
explain what ingredients were as many were named differently -
"swede" for turnips and "tatties" for potatoes.
Another employee, Kyle, also took the time to offer pub and attraction
suggestions even plotting it on a map for us. Given this was our first
meal in Scotland we had a great welcoming experience into the country – thank you
to the Bon Vivant for showing us the “good life”.
