The Lantern Room

Bar and restaurant at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel

The Lantern Room is located where Leith Walk begins, near to the Edinburgh Playhouse and a short walk from both Edinburgh Waverly Railway Station and Edinburgh Bus Station. Outside there is a partially covered and heated terrace for relaxing and watching everyone go by, but perhaps not at this time of year!

Once inside we expected to see lanterns, well it is in the name! There are some dotted about, but the lantern referred to in the restaurant’s name is, in fact, the room which holds the lights which shines from the top of a lighthouse and a wall is adorned with photographs of one such lantern room.

With our lunch, we shared a bottle of Pontebello Hungarian Pinot Grigio (£20). A surprisingly pleasant, light white for the price, with aromas of honeydew melon, lime and grapefruit, and a good balance of sweetness and acidity.

Our starters arrived quickly, beginning with Baked Camembert (£5.50) – nothing fancy here, simply soft gooey President Camembert cheese with a sweet onion chutney and two slices of lightly-toasted bread. We also had the Salmon and crab chowder (£6.95), a large portion, pleasantly creamy with chunks of hot smoked salmon, white crab meat and smoked haddock.

The main course of Seared tuna on a salad of mouli, chilli, coriander, mint and lime dressing (£15.50) was a massive doorstop of well-cooked tuna steak on a mountain of grated mouli. The lime was prominent but the chilli wasn’t fiery and the coriander and mint weren’t strong enough. We are huge fans of coriander, and even that was understated (sob). Some colour was added by a fresh Red onion, tomato and basil salad side salad (£3) but a bit less mouli and more spices and herbs would help elevate this dish without the need for a side salad.

Our other main was Confit of Pork belly, chorizo pomme purée and caramelised apple (£15.95). A chunky and moist pork belly with crisp and chewy fat served with a sweet and sticky sauce. The mash was tasty, soaking up the sauce, although it was more of a smoked paprika taste rather than the full-on flavour of chorizo.

Of course, desserts were also ordered! Chocolate fondant, vanilla ice cream (£5.50) – warm and gooey chocolate with ice cream is always a winner. Our other choice was suitable gooey and sweet too – the Apple tarte Tatin, whisky ice cream(£5.50). There was enough sugar in there for an excuse to lie down to recuperate. Just remember to leave some space for the Orange and Vanilla brûlée cocktail (£8) – comprising Courvoisier VS***, Orange Muscat and Flora sweet wine, vanilla syrup and cream all shaken together. Creamy and decadent and worth those calories!

Although our meal wasn’t spectacular, it was enjoyable and we were pleasantly full by the end of our 3-course lunch. The Lantern Room menu has enough tweaks to not be boring but without anything too outlandish or supercilious, the kind of place you could go for dinner after shopping, before a show, or somewhere to take the parents, making it a good all-round restaurant to draw you in on a cold, wet and windy night.

The total cost of the meal was £93.90, which included a full bottle of wine and cocktails each. The Lantern Room also do 2 courses and a bottle of wine for 2 deal for only £35 which seemed popular.