Outside Leith Chop House
The team behind Sygn, Monteiths and The West Room in central Edinburgh have now opened Chop House in Leith, which seeks to showcase the best of Scottish steak. We traveled through to Leith to check out the restaurant, try some steak and quaff some specially-brewed beer…
bar area, Leith Chop House
Looking achingly hip but also functional, the bar area showcases some of their 70 wines (including an English rosé), with 20 available by the glass – including a rather tasty Syrah from Mexico! On tap there is a good selection of beer from Innis and Gunn and William Brothers and bottles-wise you will find their own “Chop house” beer, which at the moment it is a limited edition IPA brewed by Drygate, and contrary to current popular styles it isn’t overly hopped so does actually go well with steak. There are also a number of conventional cocktails and intriguing shrubs.
Beer selection
In-house beer
There are lunch, evening, sunday roast and brunch menus on offer, as well as a blackboard outlining the latest cuts and their prices.
Meat board
The main menu is a delight, in addition to the charcoal grill, there are items such as ale-glazed ribs, lobster bisque, posh corned beef and more mainstream things like a burger or roasted half-chicken so it may take you a while to pick a dish. The dining room is next door from the bar, separated by a wall of slightly open panelled frosted glass windows so you can hear the hub-bub of happy diners no matter where you are.
Steak tartare
The first dish on the evening was Steak Tartare (£9.50) deconstructed, with all the ingredients to mix to your own tartness/onion/spice levels! This was delicate beef with crisp fresh ingredients on the side making this a perfect meaty starter.
Lobster bisque
At £7.50 a bowl, this bisque delivers a rich fishy flavor with crispy croutons and a dash of caviar. It was extremely creamy and moreish, if you’re a seafood fan, you’d be silly to not order this!
Prime rib in steak
At £52 this is not cheap but feeds two people easily. The pink meat was cooked to the chef’s recommendation and accompanied by a delicious piece of bone marrow as well as dripping chips and well, I was almost in heaven!
Bone marrow
The staff are friendly, helpful and the mac and cheese (sorry no photo) was also top notch! The team are proud of the provenance with meat coming from some of the UKs’, perhaps Europes’ (or even the worlds’!), best producers such as Hardiesmill Farm and Highland Wagyu which is all dry-aged on site. The cheese for their mac and cheese is also provided by nearby Iain J Mellis. They also allow you to bring your own booze on Mondays and Tuesdays so for a Glaswegian this one is worth the trip to Leith!
Himalayan salt dry aging fridge
TL;DR
+ Dripping chips were fantastic
+ Local/Scottish suppliers
+ BYOB Mon/Tues
+ Excellent steaks
+ Great wine and beer selection
– Sore on the wallet
