Lyla (Edinburgh, UK, ⭐)

The second of three restaurants I went to on my recent long weekend to Edinburgh. Lyla is in a stunning Georgian townhouse. Word of warning, there is no accessibility access.

Just the one tasting menu on offer (plus they offer vegetarian options) at £185 per person.

The snacks were served in a lounge on the top floor, and the rest were in the main dining room. In the lounge there is the in-house dry aging chamber, where they dry aged both fish and beef.

Snacks

Caramelised onion biscuits, alp blossom cheese custard, sea buckthorn gel

Biscuits are super thin with lovely caramelised onion flavour. Cheese custard had a good consistency and bags of flavour. Sea buckthorn was surprisingly subtle but needed. A great first bite.

Beer batter croustade, lobster dressed in lobster oil, pickled kohlrabi, trout roe soaked in sake and mirin

Crisp shell, lovely lobster flavour that lingered nicely. The mirin and sake soaked trout roe was a lovely surprise, made such a difference

Golden beetroot tartlet, chalk stream trout – tartare and charcuterie style, topped with caviar

Another super crisp shell. Filling was jam packed full of trout flavour, the combo of the cured and the charcuterie style worked really well.

Course 1
Dry aged king fish, Katsuobushi cream, radish, fish bone dashi, almond oil

A lovely light dish. Fish treated perfectly, good texture and flavour. Radish added texture and the dashi with almond oil was light and fresh

Course 2
Isle of Skye langoustine, wrapped in Kataifi pastry, topped with dehydrated scallop roe, with a tamarind and apple dipping sauce

Thick, juicy langoustine, stunning produce. The pastry added a lovely crunch, the roe added a touch of salt. The sauce added sweetness and slight tartness. A truly top tier dish, I'd be happy with 10 of these and a pint of beer any day

Course 3
Eel chawunmushi, Ponzu gel, potato foam, preserved lemon, dill oil

Deep smokey flavour, cut through with the gel and lemon. Not sure what the potato foam added, and dill oil was a bit lost

Course 4 – bread course
Parker house roll, topped with honey and honeycomb, house butter with truffle puree

Super soft roll, added sweetness from the honey. Nice truffle flavour in the butter, but the butter itself was a bit lacking in seasoning

Course 5
Squid cooked at 67 degrees for 40 mins then slow frozen, served as "ramen noodles", Isle of Wight tomato broth

The technique here is next level. The way they dealt with the squid to allow it to be thinly sliced and tender was outstanding. Depth of flavour in the broth, with pops from the lemon verbena and Thai basil.

Course 6
Dry aged BBQ monkfish, red pepper relish, lobster bisque foam cut with caramelised cream

Another banger of a fish dish, where the fish itself is perfectly cooked and not overshadowed. Great barbequed flavour, bisque had depth and slight spice from the red pepper relish

Course 7
A5 wagyu sirloin, beef jus, cherry chutney, KFC style sweetbreads, endive chutney, wagyu tartare on a sable biscuit

Sirloin was perfectly cooked, cherry chutney was tart and cut through the super rich meat and sauce. Sweetbread worked nicely, was similar to the sweetbread served the night before at The Kitchin. The tartare was lacking a bit, especially compared to the big flavours in the other elements of the dish

Course 8
Kelp infused creme caramel, topped with kombu gel, caviar and finished with walnut oil

This was like the ultimate salted caramel dish. The creme itself was great, added savoury from the kombu and caviar. The walnut oil emphasized the nutty taste in the caviar nicely.

Course 9
Granny Smith sorbet, verjus pickled apples, sheeps milk mousse, pumpkin seed tuile

Full on tart apple, cleansed the palate well, but nothing more

Course 10
Chocolate mousse, chocolate sable, chocolate and hazelnut creme diplomat, chocolate tuile, coffee gel, Jerusalem artichoke ice cream, coffee liquor caramel

Full on chocolate and coffee, balanced perfectly with the earthy artichoke ice cream. Bags of flavour without being too much. Really well balanced dish

Petit fours
Malt caramel chocolate, inspired by starry night

Sweet filling, nice malt flavour and a good chocolate shell

Rum caneles

Chewy outside but soft inside, subtle rum flavour – no alcohol burn at all

Cacao tart, chocolate mousse and blackcurrant gel

Smooth filling, light chocolate flavour, added blackcurrant fruity sweetness

Overall, a great restaurant with some top tier food. The squid, langoustine and main desserts were the stand out – the wagyu was also superb, but let down by the accompanying dishes.

I'd highly recommend if you are interested in a super fancy night out.