I had lunch at Edinburgh's newest and best Japanese restaurant and it was pure magic
This lovely restaurant has opened on a busy street near the train station
There are firsts for everything.
That includes walking along Morrison Street, as Igglepiggle and Makka Pakka balloons float past, with their strings held tightly in the sweaty hands of an army of small people.
I was heading for lunch, at the same time as the crowds departed from an In the Night Garden Live show at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. I didn’t even realise that this Noughties children’s television programme was still a thing.
Anyway, my Ninky Nonk was already waiting for me at Nishiki.
This is the newest place from the team behind the wonderful Yamato, on Lochrin Terrace at Tollcross.
I have made no secret of the fact that their original branch is my favourite Japanese restaurant in the Capital. Now, they have an exciting offshoot, in the form of this izakaya-style joint.
While Yamato is atmospherically moody and dimly lit inside, Nishiki is light and bright, in a white and wood style that they’re calling Japandi - a portmanteau of Japanese and Scandi. There are sliding doors into the restaurant, and a constellation of paper lanterns.
In one room, there is a large communal table and in another, a bar, with other spaces and booths for tables a deux.
We got one by the window, so we could watch the Tombliboos drift past.
Should you be in the market for a drinkie, they’ve got a good list of wine and summer sake. However, since we’re 12-year-olds inside, we both went for the kiddy-widdy Ramune sodas - lychee for me, and the bright green melon for him (£5 each).
The lunchtime food list is quite pared back, compared to its sister Yamato’s. There are a couple of rice dishes, three ramen or udon, as well as sashimi, small plates and a few meat and seafood dishes. We ordered five bits to share.
First to land was the kawa yakitori chicken skin skewer (£5).
There was one each, and they featured folded pieces of salty skin, all threaded onto wooden skewers and polka-dotted with blackened blisters from the grill. It was a fatty hit of flavour that got our appetites jumping.
Next was the miso aubergine (£8), which we’d chosen from a selection of small plates including takoyaki, karaage, miso soup and an onsen egg with dashi broth. I love this classic dish. It usually features a thick slab of aubergine, but Nikishi gives you an entire half, which is piping hot and satisfyingly squelchy inside, with that glorious comfort-foody sticky miso sweetness.
The hamachi sashimi with ponzu sauce (£9) was another beautiful dish. There were four pads of buff-coloured silky fish, all on top of shredded daikon nests, and doused with the citrusy tangy pale yellow jus.
So dreamy.
Then there was a prawn katsu with cheese and avocado temaki (£8) - a single mobile-phone-sized sushi roll that’s not the easiest thing to share, so it was one bite from me, the next from him. We each got three chomps of this thick roll, with its central reservation of super crispy and hot prawn, and sticky and lightly vinegary rice.
Our last savoury dish was the elegant grilled langoustines with kombu and shiitake butter (£16). There were three halved crustaceans, with flesh that was as pale and velvety as an ermine’s coat. The butter was very subtle, but just added an earthy and luxuriant note to the sweetness.
Another 10/10 dish.
We did think about choosing something carby as well, and I think next time we’d also share some noodles or the eel rice, since we’d slightly underordered and everything we’d had was very light.
Instead, though, we shared their single pudding offering of matcha soft serve (£4).
It was the perfect post lunch perk, and I loved the additions of a scoop of starchy red bean paste and a handful of crispy snap, crackle and pop toasted rice. As we ate the green ice-cream, there were stroller-pushing parents checking out our spoils and doubling back, to look at the menu. I’m sure they’ll be back, once they’ve engaged a babysitter.
However, it’s also worth noting that they do an interesting breakfast menu here. It’s available from 9am until 11.30am, with trendy dishes including shokupan French toast and nori avocado toast.
Overall, this is such a wonderful new addition to the street, and to the city,
We happily floated out of there. Just like inflatable Igglepiggles.
Nishiki, 151-155 Morrison Street, Edinburgh www.opentable.co.uk
Read more: “I tried the new £39.50 lunch in Edinburgh’s most elegant dining room and it was a proper treat”
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