A Thank-you Surprise Lunch for Miss K

 My very lovely friend Miss K is so good to me, recently she taxied me around for a whole day, and I wanted to thank her with a surprise day out.

I asked her to meet me at Rose Leaf in Leith at 12.

Rose Leaf is just lovely. A quirky little establishment in a location that you really need to know where you're going, with a fantastic drinks menu, and my favourite- cocktails for 2 served in teapots!

 After a sneaky lunchtime cocktail with was a lovely mix of bubbly, amaretto and other tiddly yuminess, I thought I'd let Miss K know what I had in store for her. Lunch at the Plumed Horse.
Plumed Horse is an ex-Michelin Starred restaurant overshadowed my the banana flats in Leith on the border of the yucky part and the posh part.

One of Leith's 'banana flats' high-density council flats.

We entered the restaurant and took our table. We were one of only 2 tables in the restaurant that day, which is always lovely.

We perused the menu and decided on the 3 course a-la-carte menu. I had made my choices,and was very excited with the premise of Kidney and scallop and Monkfish with bacon carbonara. My guest was over the moon with her selections of fois gras brulee and veal rib eye.

NOW, one of the most disappointing things in the world for me, is when menus are supplied and then the waiter tells me what they are not serving. Which they did. Two menu items weren't available. I do understand that these things can happen, but it's not fun.

What is even MORE disappointing is when after being told certain menu items aren't available, making my choices from the remaining items and THEN being told they don't have those items either. Neither of my choices were being served.

When I am given a list of choices on a menu, I go through the list and mentally remove one-by-one the things I'd like least. So by this stage I was left with a small selection of things I had already decided I didn't want as much as other items.

Sad.

Nonetheless I made my selections, of Warm salad of rabbit two ways, and Duck for the main.

I did like the fact that proprietor and head-chef, Tony Bothwick came out and apologised, it was a nice touch.

 Our canapes were spectacular, salmon with creme fraise and caviar, a cube of soup (hehehe) it was a jelly of consomme to be precise and a beautiful black pudding. Each item was wonderful.

 We started with an aparatif of bubbles while having our canapes.

 And selected our breads, the herb foccacia was to die for.

 Amuse bouches always blow my mind, quite often the highlight of a meal, this was no exception, spiced squash and mango soup. It was absolute velvety bliss.

 My starter, of rabbit done 2 days. It was ... nice, unfortunately not memorable, almost forgettable.

 Fortunately, the main made up for it. The duck was really special. Good, hearty, 'like a hug from your mum' food. Cooked perfectly, with beautiful veg and the loveliest croquette I have ever tried.

 I asked if I could have one of the desserts off the lunch set menu and the waiters were all too happy to help. A passionfruit parfait with white chocolate mousse, it was unspectacular but very pleasant. (they also took £10 off the bill for the change- which was a nice surprise).

I have to agree with the removal of Plumed Horse's Michelin star. The staff were attentive, polite and helpful, but lacked a passion and confidence that I like to see in a waiter. They are the face of the food and if I can't detect that they love the restaurant as much as I should, then I feel almost undersold.

When paying £150 for 2 for lunch, I really want and expect perfection, and forgettable dishes don't cut it.

I'm going to give Plumed Horse another shot, I really want to love it, and just hope that Tuesday was an off day for them.

 After lunch, K and I had a walk along the shore to Cruz for a Pimms in the (imaginary) sun.

 And stopped into an art gallery with the most wonderful paintings of Edinburgh and New York City.

 An evening glass of Rose bubbles at Ship on The Shore.

We has a really lovely girly afternoon/evening. And I hope K enjoyed herself (I suspect she did). Thank you Miss K for everything you've done for me.