I had my best dinner of 2025 at this divine new Edinburgh restaurant
This fab venue is a real treat
In mid-winter, it takes a lot to tempt me out of the house after 5pm.
As soon as dusk hits, my crepuscular lockdown routine consists of loungewear and binge-watching a gogo. I become like an aged Hugh Hefner, but with no bunnies.
However, if anything was going to draw me into the darkness, it’d be new restaurant Dogstar, which is presumably named after the celestial body, otherwise known as Sirius, rather than Keanu Reeves’ band. This neat 26-seater place, in what used to be the the five-years-empty Portland Bar, is owned by Michelin-starred chef, James Murray, formerly of Timberyard, and the team behind the excellent Nauticus bar, Kyle Jamieson and Michael Lynch.
It’s hot right now. As evidenced by the fact that it was hoaching on a Thursday night, in a Newhaven-Leith border neighbourhood that’s usually pretty dead.
It seems that it’s already attained that elusive thing - atmosphere - in spades.
We bagged a seat at the curved bar, which is covered in Battenburg-coloured tiles. This offered us a direct view into the kitchen, where Murray was doing his thing, and it also means you get to chat to the staff, including the charming Jamieson.
These guys, who wear the staff uniform of dark green beanies and workwear gilets, are so much fun. As an introvert, my mind boggles at their 200-watt social skills. I just couldn’t.
They quickly mixed us up an incredibly treacly and cockle-warming Rum and Raisin (£12.50) with raisin-infused Benriach 10-Year-Old Whisky, Diplomatico Reserva Rum, Port of Leith Oloroso Sherry, sweet woodruff and Angostura Bitters. My plus one went for the zingy Ume-Booosh! (£13), which features Patron Silver Tequila, Ilegal Mezcal, Umushu Sake, salted plum and Champagne agave, with a bright pink salted rim. Beautiful cocktails.
We’re happy that they also persuaded us to try the focaccia (£8) - two charred slices, served with a salty beige and tangy salsa verde and anchovy dip. My frown turned upside down, and I didn't even need to stand on my head this time.
The pair of comte gougeres (£12) were cold golf-ball-sized puffs of undulating choux, each filled with a custardy liquid cheese that was dotted by tiny cubes of jamon.
We also ordered the crispy pig's head (£10), and were told to leave this for a couple of minutes, as it was freshly fried and hotter than the surface of the sun. The wait reminded me of the social media trend that involves putting food in front of dogs, and telling them to ‘leave it’, before exiting the room and filming their reaction.
I’ve seen those videos. We were the same. Drooling. Pleading.
It was the longest two minutes of my life, before we bit into those super crispy-coated meaty blocks, with an accompanying date-y sweet molasses of a brown sauce. No tongue burn. Boop.
There are loads of seductive-sounding bigger plates. I found it very hard to settle on the traditional one each, when, flitting around in front of our eyes like aurora borealis, there were other equally tempting options including Mylor prawns, Aleppo pepper, garlic pil pil (£22) or the cod, artichoke stems, Alexanders, rouille and garlic sauce (£31).
In the end, we went for smoked eel (£18), since I only ever see it in Japanese restaurants. It was a dramatic-looking beauty, with a melting and densely meaty pad of fish, along with little beetroot wedges, sheep’s yoghurt and dill fronds.
The pheasant (£35) was gorgeous, too, with tender and disassembled pieces of the black-peppered bird, along with jammy Lyonnaise tropea onion, and pink castelfranco leaves that looked like Marie Antoinette’s crumpled love letters, with their bitterness to cut through the salt and fat, and an amazing mouth-coatingly gelatinous and translucent lemony jus.
They had told us that we might enjoy a portion of chips (£6) with this, and we dunked the whole poke of skinnies into the balmy tarn.
There are just three dessert options, one of which is a portion of Isle of Mull cheddar, espelette crackers and chutney (£11). We went for the two sweeties.
I had the glorious warm chocolate mousse (£10), with a dollop of soothingly cool pear sorbet underneath, and nibbly roasted peanuts, plus a glug of grassy extra virgin olive oil.
The brown butter ice-cream (£10), with crumbled walnut and blood orange jus, was similar to the mousse, thanks to a sweet-savoury balance that made you turn feral and want to request another round. It’s hard to know where to stop here.
Anyway, Dogstar really has ‘it’ - that elusive gravitational pull, when all elements just meld together beautifully.
I dreamt about the place that night, and it was the first thing I thought about when I woke up. THAT.
It’s the sort of star power that makes this old Hefner remember that it’s possible to leave the house after dark.
17 Portland Place, Edinburgh, www.dogstarleith.com
Read more: “I’ve been to 49 new Edinburgh restaurants in 2025, but returning to this old favourite was bliss”
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