In the brutal depths of a cost-of-living crisis, when some people still have money for the cream at the top and too many don’t even have enough for the basics below, going to dinner at a venue that was once a bank could be spun as brutally symbolic . Here is a former financial institution, still serving those with enough filthy lucre to invest in a rich return, just in different ways. There’s a joke in here somewhere about pork restaurants trading mammon for gammon, but I have my pride. The point is that anyone who has a spark of humanity should feel uncomfortable that they are financially well off while so many others are not. Again, we are all capable of holding two thoughts in our heads at once. We can be horrified by the current financial situation, which is overseen by cowards and intellectual lightweights who care more about their own greasy, demeaning parliamentary careers than the well-being of the people they are meant to serve. But we can also wonder if Palmerston in Edinburgh is a nice place to go for dinner. It is, by the way. We’ll get there in a moment. “Deeply fried: beef liver, chips and prunes.” Photo: Murdo MacLeod/The Observer Certainly, the last thing the economy needs right now is for people who can afford to stop spending their money. Allowing more restaurants to go out of business due to a very British middle-class embarrassment, which only puts more people out of work, while depriving food and drink producers of income, is no way out of recession. It is a route deeper. And if you still think that the restaurant business is some kind of risky business, pursued by get-rich-quick traders, you might want to try it yourself. Sure, there are scammers in hosting. They exist in all fields. But for the vast majority, the struggle is the same as everyone else’s. They face the spiraling costs of energy, food and labor that must be recouped in order to survive and make it to the other side. So I will repeat the other argument about former banks, a resource with which Edinburgh seems unusually blessed. As I pointed out earlier this year when I reviewed Double Dragon, they make great dining rooms. The former Bank of Scotland building in St Andrew’s Square has recently opened as Gleneagles Mansion and features a restaurant, Spence, full of dome, cornice and grandeur. It’s almost next door to another former banking hall, which opened in 2018 as Edinburgh’s Hawksmoor Outpost. “Extremely satisfying”: beans and pecorino. Photo: Murdo MacLeod/The Observer And now, on the other side of the heart of the city, there’s Palmerston, occupying a corner site that was also once a bank. The floors are partly polished wood, partly tiled in black and white. There are olive green walls and beautiful globe lights and huge portrait windows. It is a large robust room to serve large robust dishes. The food is solid, comforting, and beautifully executed, and it puts satisfaction slightly ahead of gorgeousness. Palmerston is also a bakery and with the crusty sourdough that exercises the molars encouragingly, very good. The restaurant, named after its address, opened last year and is a collaboration between Australian-born Lloyd Morse, who previously cooked at London’s Spring, and Edinburgh-based James Snowdon, who was formerly general manager of Fulham’s Harwood Arms. He professes a deep interest in working with local farmers, using as much of the animal as possible and serving only what’s good at the moment. The result is a constantly changing menu. The photos taken a few days after my visit may therefore not represent exactly what I had, but you get the idea. ‘You have a plate’: lamb and pepperonata. Photo: Murdo MacLeod/The Observer I can only feel deep love for a menu that starts with a big plate of puffed crispy pig skin, like giant Quavers, but served hot, dusted with spices and lightly vinegared. On the night we’re there, they’re offering a hogget and bacon pie with buttered cabbage for £33. Only the imperative to eat more than one main course between us stops me from doing so. There’s roast chicken for two or three with chips and béarnaise £45 or whole mackerel with tomatoes, capers and parsley. It’s the best kind of well-written menu. that makes you imagine yourself eating all those dishes, with a greedy sigh. Not everything depends on the animal. Among the starters is a hugely satisfying plate of green beans and newly podded beans, like bright emeralds peeking through, with pickled red onion, the crunch of walnuts and a thick dusting of pecorino. Then again, there’s also a pickled tripe salad, an overlooked ingredient that, prepared properly, deserves all the love. It’s both meaty and puffy and comes with fried croutons, little gem flavor boats and a mustard and crème fraîche dressing. ‘A constantly changing menu’: gooseberry sorbet and launges de chat. Photo: Murdo MacLeod/The Observer For mains there’s beef liver, briskly fried to a crustless but soft and wobbly inside, with prunes and chips and a rocket salad. Or put in the deep well of the dish a slab of slow-roasted Texel lamb, a beautiful shade of cotton candy pink, with borlotti beans and heaps of pepperonata, as if trying to contain the joy. These dishes are also properly milled, as if determined to ensure they’re mopped up with any leaven that hasn’t already been used as a vehicle for salty whipped butter. And oh my, there’s a familiar-sounding wine list that seems designed to allow for drinking rather than exploration. Sometimes – I dip it, most of the time – I don’t want to broaden my horizons, I just want a nice glass of crisp white. This is what I get: a bottle of arneis from Elvio Tintero. I liked it so much that I kept a detailed note. The charming waiter said it had a creamy finish. I’m not going to argue. Palmerston supplies other restaurants in the city with bread, and more evidence of that baking prowess comes with the desserts: a properly wobbly custard tart with a dollop of cream to brighten things up, and a deeply soothing blackcurrant roulade with its own pool of custard . I’m a huge fan of custard lakes. It’s a great dessert. It’s a great dinner. It’s also the best time I’ve had in a former banking room in a long time.
News Bites
Asma Khan’s much-loved Darjeeling Express will open its new location in London later this year. Meanwhile, they’ve launched a pop up at the Pembroke pub on Old Brompton Road. Alongside larger dishes such as chicken methi, there’s a list of toasties, including a chilli toast with green chutney and a chicken kebab toast (darjeeling-express.com). Chef Michael Shaw is to open a new high-end Japanese restaurant on Manchester’s Bridge Street in October, complete with video walls. Musu, which roughly translates from Japanese as “infinite possibilities,” will have à la carte and multi-course kaiseki options, as well as an omakase option served at a six-seat counter. Interestingly, MUSU is also short for Manchester University Students’ Union, which could make for a very different night out. There is still time to nominate nominees for the first Be Inclusive Hospitality Awards, launched by Be Inclusive Hospitality, a not-for-profit organization founded to promote diversity in business by industry veteran Lorraine Copes. The categories celebrate foods from around the world, including Africa, East and Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean. Judges include Andi Oliver, diversity consultant Mallika Basu and chef and MasterChef winner Shelina Permalloo. Nominations close on 9 September and the winners will be announced in London on 24 October. To nominate anyone in the various categories, including yourself, visit: bihospitality.co.uk/nominate/ Email Jay at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @jayrayner1
