smoke stack

this review appears in the may edition of bite magazine, and can be found online here . located half-way down broughton street sits smoke stack, where the silver fox and i recently stopped by for dinner. they’ve called this busy spot home for 15 years, and the dã©cor theme of ambre and burnt ochre give the restaurant a warm feel. we bagged a window table to enjoy the last of the day’s light, and some people-watching. along with a few ‘tex-mex’ dishes on the massive menu were the chicken liver and bacon pã¢tã© (â£4.95) and the calamari (â£5.95), both of which came recommended by our cheery waitress. the calamaris were perfect. a crisp outer with tasty cajun-style spice seasoning, these thinly-cut little rounds were divine. the homemade pã¢tã© was smooth and rich, and the sizeable portion with two hunks of toast meant there was plenty to share. this being a steakhouse, there’s the full selection from rump through to fillet, all of which are sourced

me and my partner came here for valentines with no table booked, yet they managed to fit us in. they did give us a time limit but this was no problem at all. my partner had a steak and he said it was the best steak he’s ever had! i had a steak and ale pie and it was sooo nice! would highly recommend this place so tasty. also the staff are very friendly and welcoming.

what a find!
popped into this place to see if there was a need to book for a meal in the evening. we were greeted by a charming young woman who was polite, friendly and helpful. we were informed a booking was advisable although she didn’t think it would be busy. the place was spotlessly clean with a casual but smart atmosphere.

having exhausted our selves we arrived 4 hours early. again another pleasant welcome, this time by an equally charming man who couldn’t have been more helpful.
i’m pretty wary of amid afternoon places for a meal because it’s quieter & often the chef is on a split shift and someone else ‘fills-in’.
not so here.

the two ‘tasty-choice’ menus and blackboard specials were well explained and the order taken. the starter of fried brie, served with summer fruit compote was beautifully cooked, not greasy and tasty.
as requested our scampi and one medium/rare fillet steak arrived - delicious in its taste & simplicity. my husband, well travelled and ‘fed’, thought the steak to be one of the most memorable he’d ever eaten. both dishes were accompanied by especially gorgeous fries which had been hand-made on the premises.
throughout, we were checked on, without bing pestered, to make sure we were happy.

the cooking and service were far superior to the ‘tasting menu’ in the four star hotel in which we were staying.

highly recommended for quality of food, warmth and efficiency.
a real gem!

i’ve been a couple of times - once for breakfast and then went for dinner over the weekend. breakfast was good, had the full breakfast which was pretty standard. for dinner i had the prawn cocktail (nice and fresh) and then the club sandwich. the club sandwich was good, but the garlic mayo was pretty strong so may be best to ask them to ease off on it if you plan to head out and meet others after dinner. i’ve not had the steak from there yet, but plan on trying it as that’s what the main attraction seems to be.

having started reviewing in 2011, there’s a fair chunk of our back catalogue that’s looking a little dusty and out of date, so i’m keen to update some more places this year. i started this trend with a visit to the smoke stack on broughton street. i visited with friend kathryn back in 2011, when we had a decent steak dinner that didn’t set the pulses racing particularly quickly. i’d not previously visited for lunch.

my friends and i had a great time at smoke stack. this steakhouse has a lot of substance and i really like their ethos. with a varied menu and a dedication to quality food, this is going to tick the boxes for most folk who visit. i’ll definitely be back for round two with the veggie burger!

smoke stack has a great interior with beautiful stone walls and quirky features. the food was good but not anything special. i had the blue cheese burger with chips - the chips were quite good but i've had way better burgers. the service was really slow which didn't help either as we were starving! the staff were lovely though!

a talented interior designer will get you some bare stone walls, timber floors, even light up wine bottles spelling wine. a decent pr company will tinker with your twitter, flash up your facebook or bedazzle your bebo. (random noughties reference cool young kids won't get). but this is all frippery, it's the meringue on your baked alaska, it's the picture of the fonz jumping over a shark, on a rainbow coloured unicorn sprinkled into your cappuccino froth. it all counts for nothing if your ice-cream has melted or your coffee is cold. basics are far more important than the pretty shiny bits.

the smoke stack is a funny kinda place. i initially thought it was a grill house but actually it's so much more. they do fantastic savoury waffles and smoothies for brunch and then offer a large lunch and dinner menu. when we dined last week we took advantage of their 2 courses for £11.95. the starters didn't grab my attention so i went for mains and dessert. the crombies sausages, mash and onion gravy was a good fish. the sausages where great quality although the mash was a little lumpy and the gravy somewhere over powering. for dessert the sticky toffee pudding caught my eye. the sponge itself was moist and fluffy but the toffee sauce could have done with cooking a little longer as there were still sugar granules in it. overall it's a good place if your looking for somewhere cheap and quick to eat.

the service was great and during the week there was plenty of tables free so it wasn't cramped.

i have passed this place many many times but somehow never went in until last sunday. i fancied some home food, something easy. they have burger, salad, steak, club sandwich and cool sides. i hade nachos for starter and just onion ring and macaroni cheese after that. i just couldn't eat more. nachos is massive! service is very casual and the place has this old farmer look. it's cool. i wouldn't suggest for a romantic dinner but for a quick lunch or supper is ok.

'after a long and relatively tiring week - we decided to head out for a celebratory friday night dinner in the broughton street area. we weren't quite sure where we'd end up - our top choice, the basement, was absolutely packed, so we decided to head slightly further down the road and go into one of edinburgh's longest serving restaurants - the smoke stack'. 

their welcome seemed subdued - quite possibly due to the busyness of the restaurant which was fair enough. 'we hadn't booked but this turned out not be a problem, as they found a table for us pretty quickly. we made our drinks orders, a rather easy-to-drink bottle of sangiovese, and were left to peruse the relatively extensive menu'. 

'all of the starters sounded pretty damn good to me. the offerings of grilled goat's cheese, mussels and nachos (not all in one dish, that would be horrible - or would it?!) made choosing a starter a serious dilemma - however i managed to settle for the chicken liver and bacon paté, whilst my girlfriend went for their cauliflower and dunsyre blue cheese soup... a generous amount of perfectly made, smooth paté was served with chargrilled crusty bread which was absolutely delicious. it also came with a generous serving of red onion chutney which, we all know, is the perfect pairing with paté. an overall great starter. the soup, too, was flavourful and well made. the fantastic flavour of blended, well seasoned cauliflower was accompanied by the close to unbeatable dunsyre blue cheese - the two go together perfectly, and the soup certainly demonstrated this'.

'moving on, after our two tasty starters, we were looking forward to our mains. naturally, coming the the smoke stack, i had to go for their rump steak - as great and comforting as the other dishes on the menu sound, steak is clearly their speciality, and over-looking it is often followed by regret. my girlfriend agreed but fancied something lighter - going for the healthy meat option in the peppered steak salad (unlike me, she did not ignore the salad section). you can be healthy, however, with the accompaniments of the steak - but i went for chips and a dunsyre blue cheese sauce. the steak was excellent - prime aberdeen angus cooked exactly to my liking (medium rare) and not in the slightest bit chewy, despite the rump cut. the sauce was also delicious - however texturally odd. the salad was also top quality - leaves with a delicious soy dressing were topped with a generous amount of heavily peppered beef, that, again, had been cooked to absolute perfection'.

see my blog for the full review.

i booked smoke stack for my works xmas meal. i'd been trying to book here for years but always missed out.
the 14 of us were seated through the back and down the stairs with one other table. there was a great amount of space to chat and eat. we had preordered our meals so after a round of drinks our starters were brought out in no time.
i had gone for the deep fried brie with cranberry sauce. it was great, my only small complaint would be the brie was cold when personally i would have liked it still warm. my main course was steak & chips, the steak was cooked ideal medium/rare, the handcut chips were tasty. personal preference i would have liked my peppercorn sauce a bit thicker/creamier. for desert i went for the cheese board, cheddar, brie and blue cheap with biscuits and grapes. a fab end to my meal.
everyone raved about the food and no one had any complaints.
a cheeky elderflower martini rounded off my meal well.

a funky little venue with a dedicated brunch section on the menu. the food is super tasty, they can brew a decent cup of tea which is essential.

i didn't get the waffles.

i'm still thinking about it days later. 

why didn't i get the waffles?

oh well, i will just have to go back.

this is one of my favourite places to have brunch in edinburgh. normally i got for the banana waffles which come with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream – it is very indulgent and it is very sweet but i love it. if you have a sweet tooth the berry waffles are also very tasty.

if you don’t have a sweet tooth they also do savory waffles as well as a range of breakfast dishes including cooked breakfasts and different filled rolls. if you are nursing a hangover the all day breakfast with bacon, sausage, beans, tomato, eggs, mushrooms and toast is a good fix.

normally i do go for brunch but i have been assured that the lunch and dinner menus are both as tasty as the brunch menu. the staff are always very friendly and the prices are pretty cheap.

i've visited smoke stack twice in the past week.  firstly to try dessert, which was awesome and secondly to have lunch which was okay.

my friend had recommended this place purely for their desserts, so me and girls went along on a friday night and had banoffee pie, sticky toffee pudding and raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake.  oh my god it was insanely good!!! i had the sticky toffee pudding and it was the best i have ever tried.

moving on to lunch, i went along with my boyfriend and tried the prawn and avocado salad, and he had the chicken burger.  both were good, although i felt the £11.95 for the salad was a little steep.  my boyfriend liked his burger and the chips were nice too.

i would go back again to try something else on the menu, and definitely for dessert.