Terrine
The Angel At Hetton

The Angel At Hetton

The Angel Inn, Hetton, United Kingdom

Pub • Pubs • Coffee • British


"Visited the Angel Hetton recently and have mixed feelings. We were aware the Angel had changed hands but didn 't fully appreciate the TOTAL change we were going to. Anybody who previously loved the Angel Inn must realise this has now gone both in ambience, decor, staff and food. The Angel Hetton is a totally different place, the decor is now wood, concrete, grey, sparse and I have to say a little cold. The Bar top is an absolute amazing piece of art work and the new wooden bench seating with funny built in seat pads is somewhat uncomfortable but functional. We had lunch through in the Restaurant which has not changed layout but again the colour pallet is now grey...... grey, grey, grey! The atmosphere even though it was busy was hushed and just lacking, maybe we came on an off day? The menu is small and very 'fine dining ' focused, the food was wonderful and all our party enjoyed each course, you will no longer find any 'Old Angel ' favourites like 'Money Bags ' or 'Sticky Toffee Pud ', the dishes now are small, perfectly formed, and there is the presence of foam which always amuses me when I dine at fine dining establishments. Staff are pleasant and efficient, the lady sommelier was very good and had a lovely bubbly disposition. Would I return? Yes but probably in the evening and with the knowledge that the Angel is now a modern, fine dine restaurant rather than the warm, comfortable good food Inn it used to be. Price wise there isn 't a great deal of difference but some of the party did go off the lunch set menu. We were away in an adult group, I would bring my children here but they are over 12 years old, I would not be overly comfortable bringing young children here as I have in the past though. The food is something special and will surely encourage a new breed of diners to the Angel, I will be interested to see its future development."

Angels With Bagpipes

Angels With Bagpipes

343 High Street, City Of Edinburgh EH1 1PW, United Kingdom

Bars • European • Scottish • Modern Cuisine


"Situated on the Royal Mile, Angels with Bagpipes manages not to offer the usual tourist fare. The restaurant was low lit with twinkly lights and was full of glossy, polished surfaces adorned with discreet cushions. The room was about half full, which was about expected at this time of the evening. The a la carte menu was relatively short but packed full of variations on classics. I opted for the beef tartare followed by the pollock. My dining companion chose the goats cheese followed by the Ross-shire lamb. The starters arrived relatively quickly. The tartare looked pleasing to the eye. I had spotted that it was beef rather than steak tartare, possibly indicating an inferior cut of meat. If this was the case, I certainly couldn’t tell. If tartare is on the menu I do like to give it a try. The meat had an amazing freshness to it and the egg oozed perfectly. The proportion of the quail egg to the meat was just right. The capers were not chopped up finely but somehow this added extra zing and bite to the dish. My dining companion enjoyed the goats cheese with beetroot but commented that it would be difficult to go wrong with this combination. The mains appeared not long after. My pollock looked really appetising. The extra side of thin cut chips was a good call, with a balanced crunch –to-fluff ratio and just the right amount of salt dusting. The fish itself was cooked well and the skin was perfectly crispy. The veg alongside was adequate but nothing special. However, the star of the dish were the pickled mussels. Only a scattering of them appeared on the plate but seriously, I could have eaten a whole bowlful of those on their own. My dining companion had dithered a little over ordering the lamb as she is still a little worried about meat coming a little rarer than her liking. She was advised by staff upon ordering that it would come medium rare. I would say it was closer to the rare side than medium but my friend soldiered on. She enjoyed the dish but again, the meat was not the star. High praise was offered for the accompanying lentils. We were automatically given the menu for dessert without being asked if we actually wanted any. Perhaps it was just the look on my face that said I was in the mood for a dessert (which is the course I am most likely to forgo). I went for the parfait and my dining partner chose the cheesecake. My parfait was tonka bean with caramel swirls, scattered peanuts and a caramel dipped hazelnut. Along with that was a Granny Smith apple sorbet. Both parts were excellent. The parfait was firm but creamy and the caramel complemented it. The sorbet was sharp and packed a punch. However, they did not go together. So I ate them as if I was eating two separate desserts, one after the other. My dining companion was a little underwhelmed by the cheesecake. The pear seemed lost in the honey and didn’t appear to have anything that made it stand out. She felt that ‘it did what it said’ but it didn’t wow. So, overall we had a lovely time and the food was of a great standard. There were just a few bits here and there that took some of the shine off what could have been a truly astonishing meal."