Newhaven Harbour, Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland
I was not expecting a business trip to Edinburgh to provide much material for an article - deep fried haggis balls and very good curries washed down with gallons of beer doesn’t fit into the Reign of Terroir mission statement! However I was pleased to discover the hotel was next to a Loch Fyne Seafood restaurant and managed to have a pleasant evenings dining on the recommendation of my colleague Matt, who has frequented their sister restaurant in Newcastle’s Gosforth area.
Loch Fyne is named for the sea-loch on the west coast of Scotland famous for its oysters, and the company started as an oyster farm and bar in the 1980s, with the first restaurant opening in 1990. Since then it has grown to 38 premises throughout the UK (39 if you include the Sheffield restaurant due to open this week) and has garnered a reputation for quality seafood and a dedication to sustainability in its produce - they use the Gaelic saying “Nach Urramach an Cuan” (How worthy of honour is the sea) on their site. In 2007 the chain was bought by Greene King, the largest British owned brewery in the UK.
As I looked through the wine list (a copy of which is available on their web-site) I noticed a lack of obvious brand names and, although predominantly French, an interesting range of styles and types. The menu had enough variation to come up with several tempting alternatives for the meal, but as the waiter went through the evenings specials and came to “Fish & Chips” I knew what to go for - I’m a sucker for the traditional stuff! Once that decision was made I chose a Muscadet Sevre et Maine, Sur Lie, as an accompaniment, the Domaine des Dorices Cuvee Choisie 2006 Vieilles Vignes. I’ve had this style of Loire Valley white before and have not been disappointed.
A bowl of lobster bisque came first, served with bread and aioli. The rich soup had an almost “earthy’ flavour and was delicious, and I appreciated the strong garlic mayo! Matt went for the peppered smoked mackerel pâté and oatcakes, a full flavoured pâté (from the small taste I had). The Fish & Chips arrived with a small bowl of minted mushy peas (good taste, although a little desiccated) & tartar sauce. The fish, a good sized haddock fillet, was delicious and full flavoured, very meaty with a golden batter, while the chips (that’s fries to the Americans!) were the best I’ve had for a while, especially dipped in ketchup and mayo! The fish was maybe a touch dry but that’s more of an observation rather than a criticism.
Throughout the enjoyable eating experience was the Muscadet. This had a delightful pear and apple nose and a slight frizzante on the tip of the tongue, moderate glycerol texture and a nice creamy dryness and good acidity - overall a very good wine with the food.
Before leaving I asked restaurant manager Lisa about their wine list. She was very helpful and explained how the company MD, who owns a chalet in France, visits the country regularly and is keen to source as many wines as possible direct from local suppliers rather than through merchants or wholesalers. This explains the mostly brand free, predominantly old-world wines on the menu, many of whose producers are, as stated on the wine list, “eco-friendly or organic in their grape growing and vinification techniques”.
A case in point it the Domaine des Dorices Muscadet I tried, 
produced by the Boullault family, near the town of Vallet, this winery proudly reports controlled chemical fertilisation, minimum chemical pesticide use and intervention with non-polluting products.
After a filling meal the prospect of dessert or coffee was too much for both of us, so we thanked Lisa for her help and happily settled the £50 ($100) final bill. I thoroughly enjoyed my first visit to Loch Fyne, the food and wine were excellent and I now need to try out the one in Newcastle to see if this is true of all their restaurants!
Greybeard.
Wine House.
Arif Nihat Asya Sokak #37, Oran, Ankara.
On my first night in Ankara I was invited to the Wine House Restaurant, in the Southern district of Oran, with a group of Turkish business colleagues. Stepping through the doorway you pass by a small barrel and a rack of wines from the local Kavaklidere winery 
and walk into an elegant wooden interior, similar in style to Eastern European hunting lodges (it says Swiss Chalet on their web-site). There are two floors, the main lower dining room and an upper balcony floor with an open central area looking down on the diners below.
The wine theme is maintained as you walk to your seat past a display table containing bottles in baskets and racks. 
My hosts knew of my wine interests and they briefly showed me the wine list, but, on seeing the indigenous varieties and producers, I knew when to admit defeat and was happy to sit back and let them discuss with the Sommelier on which wine to have with our meal. The Kavaklidere Öküzgözü Elazag 2000 was settled upon and, as there were 6 of us drinking, a Magnum was opened and decanted (this was my first ever Magnum!).
In the glass the colour was very light, similar to a Pinot Noir, with orange-brown edges showing the bottle age. It had a delicate, oaky nose with some sweet spice and possible a dash of liquorice. The taste was also light, but still had some good tannins and a little sour cherry on the tongue. This was a good wine, oaky, complex and medium length (88-89pts).
The food was very enjoyable too. We started with Feta-style cheese with fresh crusty bread, olives and olive oil and then some baked cheese, a local equivalent of baked Camembert. 
For the main dish I had a Bodrum Kebab, thinly sliced sirloin on a bed of crispy shredded potato, almost vermicelli like, and some fresh yoghurt on the side. The potato wasn’t to my taste, a bit too crispy, but the meat had an excellent flavour and I finished off the food and wine while watching the other patrons enjoy their evening.
I couldn’t tell you how much the dinner came to, as my hosts covered the bill (thanks to Murat and Riza for the experience!) - the food would have been reasonable, as is usually is in Turkey, but the wine was likely to have been expensive as the Turkish Government imposes painfully high taxes on alcohol, especially wine. Nevertheless this was a lovely evening and this is a good restaurant to visit if you are ever in Ankara.
On leaving I noticed a wall plaque of the key wine producing areas of Turkey 
showing how widespread Grape and Vine are - something that tends to get overlooked by Western drinkers when they consider this country that straddles Europe and Asia.
Greybeard.
In the 1930s Shmulik Cohen set up a small family restaurant serving traditional Eastern European influenced food in the South of the expanding Jewish city of Tel Aviv. At the time the Herzl street was the main North-South road through the city on the way to the ancient port of Jaffa (which has since been absorbed into metropolitan Tel Aviv). Although the area may have lost some respectability over the intervening years I am informed that little else has changed in the restaurant, and this is one place where staying the same is all important because it is so good I’d hate to see it change.
This is the 4th time I’ve been here, each time in the company of my good friend and colleague Dr Yaron Lapidot. As we both have Eastern European heritage (mine is Hungarian, his German/Polish) we both savour the food and the atmosphere. We sit at our “regular” table, the one in the corner near the counter with the picture of Ezer Weizman on the wall, I think it’s signed by him. There is a menu, but we don’t use it, instead Yaron, as somewhat of a regular, asks for the kitchen selection, and then we sit back and the food gradually arrives, spread out over at least an hour (2-3 if we take our time and talk, which we usually do). Schmulik is long gone but his daughter is the main cook, typically preparing the food during the day, which his grandson and granddaughter work the evening diners.
First are the “appetizers”, pickles, humus, olives, dark bread, egg & vegetable salads, hot grated red horseradish, cubes of pickled beets, radishes and the stars of this opening act; 2 fish dishes, small pieces of brined herring (or mackerel?), slightly pickled but so full of flavour and melt in the mouth, it is to die for.
As always they serve a small shot-glass of their homemade lemon vodka, cold and sweet it is nectar and previously has been the only accompaniment to the food on my earlier visits. However this time I am keen to expand my knowledge of Israeli wines and we open a bottle of Yogev 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, from Binyamina and pour a couple of glasses. The wine has a beautiful nose with a hint of Bordeaux, but fruitier and with a touch of sweetness promised. The softness of the nose carries on into the first taste, this is a nice easy drinking wine which matches well with the food that continues to arrive and which we are gradually working our way through.
After a while we the waitress clears the table, since this is a fully certified Kosher restaurant the plates and cutlery used with fish have to be cleared away and replaced with new before the meat dishes can be served. A bowl of chicken soup is an intermediate, a clear broth but strong in flavour, with short trimmed noodles, ravioli and a dumpling. If you didn’t know what was coming next there’s a good chance you’ve already eaten too much and the soup would finish you off, however I’m familiar with the plan and do not finish to soup, just savouring the best bits. Yaron picks up another bottle off the wine rack on the counter (they keep a tally as you go along!) – it’s not as if we’ve finished the first, but he wants me to try a second one that night, so the cork goes back in the Yogev (the start of a decent carry-out when we finish). The second bottle is the Dalton Canaan Red, 2006 from Upper Galilee. The nose suggests a richer wine, but still a delicate fruitiness, and there’s more up-front dryness, turning into a smooth finish. Yaron suggested similarities to the semi-sweet wines popular in Eastern Europe, and I could see what he was meaning, but having only recently tried a semi-sweet red from Georgia these two do not have any of the residual sugar that was obvious in there – these two are well made, easy drinking, delicate and feminine wines, made with ripe grapes. Neither of these would have aging potential over a couple of years, but that doesn’t detract from what they are, and with the delicious food at Shmulik’s it was a treat.
Finally (it’s well over an hour since the dishes started arriving – it took that long to slowly savour the food in between conversations) the roasted and baked meat arrives, and what a selection!. A goose leg cooked to perfection, the meat falling of the bone and the skin crisp and flavoursome. A similar story for a chicken drumstick, I can’t recall tasting chicken as good as this for a long time home, some slow-cooked beef and what I think is a slice of lamb (but it had been marinated or cooked in a sweet savoury sauce and falls apart at the touch of a fork) some homemade sausage, kishka I think and a selection of vegetables; peas, potatoes and such like (I’m sorry to say I ignored these, as the meat deserved full attention).
Nearly 2 hours later we were done. Food and wine were left, but neither of us had anywhere to put it! A doggy-bag was suggested, which I jumped at (since it was primarily large chunks of meat that would go into it and I knew the next night I would not be visiting any restaurant). The wine came with me also, approx a half bottle of each which I savoured over the next 2 nights. Yaron bought a bottle of the lemon Vodka for himself, something I’ve done on my last visits to the restaurant, but this time I knew I was intending to buy some wine for my return trip home (I may regret that, it is the best Vodka I’ve ever tasted) and came back to the hotel with the remnants of the wines and a little box of roasted meats for the next night.
If this has sparked your interest in visiting this restaurant beware, the size of the establishment is deliberately small (cosy is a good descriptor) – so you have to book in advance. But if you do get in then I hope you enjoy the food and the service as much as I have.
Shmulik Cohen Restaurant, 146 Herzl St., Tel Aviv, Israel.
Greybeard.
The Chameleon Indonesian Restaurant, Temple Bar, Dublin.
This was my first trip to the Emerald Isle and I was only here for one night with my colleague Matt. Our contact was Adrian, and after a hard day’s work we invited him for a few drinks and a meal to take advantage of his local knowledge. I’m a big Asian food fan and once he’d mentioned an Indonesian restaurant in the area no further options were needed.
The front of the Chameleon is unassuming, easily mistaken for a traditional pub, but closer inspection shows the numerous awards won over the last 11 years. Inside we were shown upstairs to the first floor where we removed our shoes and sat, cross-legged, at the traditional tables. The menu concentrates on Rijst Tafel – a selection of different bite-sized dishes covering all that Indonesia has to offer, each one aimed at giving a single person a hearty introduction to the cuisine.
As all three of us were hungry we went for Rijst Tafel 1, 2 and 3 as I looked at the wine list. The Fred Loimer 2006 Grüner Veltliner from the Kamptal seemed a perfect choice. Grü-V is a delicious white variety I first tried a few years ago and I’m always keen to expand my experience of it, plus I recall it matching well with Asian food and neither Adrian nor Matt had had any of Austria’s finest before, so I was honour-bound to show them what they were missing. It was served well chilled and had a crisp, floral aspect that had us half-way through the bottle before the main dishes had arrived!
As for the food, well, I’m going to blame the couple of pints of Guinness we had after the meal for my incomplete notes, but the Rempah Daging (spicy meatballs), Sate Ayam (Chicken Satay) and Beef Rendang were the stars of the show and suffice to say it was all absolutely delicious and nothing made it back to the kitchen!
The final bill for 3 was approx. £100 which is a little bit on the pricey side (at least as far as my boss is concerned!) but the food and atmosphere are well worth it and this is a must-visit restaurant for anyone with a few days in Dublin, only Amsterdam is guaranteed to have better Indonesian in the region.
Greybeard
A short business trip over to Germany raised the possibility of trying out some of the less obvious local wines, and since German red wine not easily available in the UK, and has such a poor reputation, I decided to look a little closer at what was available in the country itself. I started in Giessen, a University town just north of Frankfurt which is closest to the Rheingau, Rheinhessen and Franken growing regions.
My colleague on this trip was Steffi, who favours dry and full bodied wines, so as we perused the wine list on the first night we were both concentrating on the reds. However the first to attract our attention was a white, the 2005 Silvaner Trocken from Weingut Hauck in Rheinhessen. Coming in at 12.5% abv this was rich and floral, a delicious wine to start the evening and only my second ever Silvaner (in Germany it is written with an ‘i’ unlike Alsace and Austria which use Sylvaner).
The hotel was the Altes Eishaus Weinstube, originally an ice-cream house but now a cosy lodging with a very quaint restaurant called the Pfannkuchenhaus (Pancake house) specialising, unsurprisingly, in savoury pancakes. For a main course I went for the Bauen Pfannkuchen with a smoked ham and onion filling. To accompany this we had the 2006 Portugieser Rotwein Trocken Qba by Weingut Volker Pfaffmann in Pfalz. Despite it’s name Blauer Portugieser is actually an Austrian variety used to make light red wines and this one was very light, but easy to drink with the mildly flavoured food.
In an attempt to add a bit more body to the evening’s drinking we finished with what promised to be a much richer red, a 2005 Spätburgunder, also from Weingut Hauck at 13% abv. Spätburgunder is a clone of Pinot Noir and is grown widely in Germany and Austria (where it is known as Blauburgunder) and is used to make medium bodies reds. Our one was a much deeper colour than the Portugieser and had a smoky nose that promised much, but unfortunately too much, as the flavour lacked depth, was bitter and it finished exceptionally fast. It seems that Herr Hauck is better at whites and at the end of the evening we both agreed that the Silvaner was the best of the selection.
I managed to pay a quick visit to a small convenience store before we had to leave Giessen, but unfortunately the selection was limited and mid-range at best.
A Dornfelder seemed the best option for a red, the Hemer 2005 Dornfelder Trocken from Rheinhessen. The label indicates Gutsabfullung meaning Estate Bottled and matured in Holzfass barrels. This came in at £5 ($10).
Hemer also produced one of the whites I selected, the Primus 06 Rivaner Trocken, also at £5. Rivaner is another name for Müller-Thurgau (a Riesling-Silvaner cross ) - although there are some claims that it is a distinct Riesling clone. In the 1970s more Müller-Thurgau was planted in Germany than anything else, but a bad winter in 1979 devastated crops and it has since suffered a popularity slump after being associated with the cheap and cheerful Liebfraumilch and Piesporter so prevalent in the 80s.
Finally I had to get a Riesling, but with the selection so limited I went for a historic and local reference instead, and chose the Justus von Liebig 2006 Rüdesheimer Riesling from the Rheingau. This is a commemorative bottle celebrating the 200th birthday of famous German chemist Justus von Liebig, after whom the University of Giessen is named and who also founded the company who created OXO! This set me back $11.
While none of these wines are for aging I’m hoping they will at least provide some pleasant drinking within the next year.
The next day saw a long drive up the autobahn to Bremen. Here we were staying in the very elegant Hotel Munte am Stadtwald next to the main city park and woods, close to the University. It was late when we arrived so we only had a light meal and a couple of glasses of wine to wash it down. I was determined to continue on the German red theme and ordered the Grossbottwarer Wunnenstein, 2005 Trollinger, 12% abv, from Bottwartal-Kellerei. I hadn’t even heard of Trollinger before, not having seen any on the shelves of the wine-stores back home, but it is also known as Schiava Grossa in Italy and is rumoured to be able to produce full bodied wines. Unfortunately this one failed miserably as any form of red, but I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway once I had mentally re-categorised it as a rosè, as which it was one of the best I’ve had! The deep ruby colour matched many a Spanish Rosado, it had a light berry nose and a Strawberry & Cream flavour to match.
If the manufacturer had marketed it as a dry rosè I’m sure it would win many fans, unfortunately this was the last nail in the proverbial coffin for my investigation into German reds, it had been 2 days and I needed something dry and full bodied. Before finishing that night I ordered a glass of South African Merlot, the Lourensford Five Heirs 2004 Merlot. W.O. Stellenbosch, 14.5%. Smooth and rich it just what was needed.
For the final night in Bremen we went to Del Bosco Trattorria, the Italian Restaurant in the Hotel. To my delight the menu contained one of my must have foods when I go to Germany, pan-fried calf-liver with onions (Kalbsleber mit zweibel), preceeded by a fantastic baked artichoke with prawns in a tomato sauce with grilled cheese topping.
We decided to stay Italian for the wine and went for the Masi Campofiorin 2004. IGT, Veneto. This is a Double fermeted Valpolicella Ripasso, made from Corvina & Molinara varieties, and is from a classic producer from the region - I’d had their Costasera Amarone Classico a few years ago which was an experience that has guaranteed a lifelong love-affair with Amarone. The ligher Campofiorin was a delicious and fruity accompaniment to the meal and the perfect red wine to finish a visit to Germany!
I have to say that, following this trip, my opinion of German red wines has not improved. Of the 4 main varieties used, Spätburgunder, Dornfelder, Portugieser and Trollinger, it is the first two that can (and I have to assume do) produce the more full bodied wines the British and American markets generally like, however locally the lighter reds seem to take preference and with these on offer I will stay with Riesling (or Silvaner if I can find it).
Greybeard, December 2007/ January 2008.
Japanese food seemed a good idea for a late Thursday lunch towards the end of a busy week and Kyoto a relatively new restaurant and is part of the Tokyo Sky nightclub in the shopping centre. We found it by accident as we were heading for another restaurant in the centre but it was closed for a private function – I’m glad it was!
The menu has a wonderful selection of sushi, sashimi, soup, noodles and main dishes and we went through it at least twice to try and whittle down the candidates. Meantime we ordered a superb Graham Beck Cap Classique, the South African Méthode Traditionelle sparkling wine. This was their non-vintage Brut, a very drinkable Pinot Noir Chardonnay blend coming in at a restaurant price of £9 ($18).
We watched the Japanese sushi chef at work for a few minutes until the first dishes arrived and I never cease to be amazed at the level of skill involved in quickly preparing good seafood. I’d already heard about the good match between sushi and Champagne, and this South African equivalent was spot-on for the food (it wasn’t bad on its own either!).
The Tempura prawns and Kyoto’s speciality spring rolls with dips were wonderful, while a combination of different sushi and sahimi made up the rest of our meal. I especially liked the Unagi nigiri (grilled eel) and the melt-in-the-mouth Salmon sashimi. The wasabi was really potent, an added bonus!
Seafood is popular in South Africa, and the quality is excellent - in Fourways itself (which is an offshoot of the Sandton suburb of Johannesburg) there must be at least 6 decent sushi/sashimi restaurants to choose from, whereas back home we’re struggling to reach that number in my whole region, which has a far greater population and area. This was the second time I’ve had Japanese food in this country and both times the food has been far superior to anything I’ve had in the U.K.
The bill for two of us, including the fizz, came in at about 350 Rand, less than £26 ($52) which makes me a little sad, since in the UK you’d typically pay double the price for something not as good. My local guide Caroline made a note of returning soon with her friends.
Greybeard– November 2007.
My hostess Caroline had told me Tony’s Spaghetti Grill was a regular haunt of hers and, even though it was a Wednesday night, the atmosphere was buzzing and the tables full. This may have had something to do to a second night of rolling power outages in the surrounding residential areas, something being seen more and more as the South African Power Grid doesn’t seem able to keep up with demand.
Pasta and Pizza dominated the menu, a good selection of Italian favourites. For wine we went for a dry Boschendal 2007 Blanc de Noir Rosé (32 % Merlot, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon,21.5% Shiraz, 16.5% Ruby Cabernet, and 7% Pinot noir). This promised to be a good complement to the range of food we were browsing through.
I had a bowl of mussels to start with, as earlier in the week I’d passed up on something similar and ended up with a disappointing salad instead. Here the shellfish weren’t quite as good, but still tasty.
The surprise of the evening was the main course. I’d plumped for a baked Calzone Tradizionale - ham, pepperoni, mushrooms, olives and cheese. It arrived on the table and it was ENORMOUS! I cut into it and melted cheese oozed out revealing thick strata of the various ingredients. It was delicious, each mouthful giving a slightly different flavour combination, I especially enjoyed the ones where black olives dominated. The Rose did go remarkably well with this and we happily finished the bottle, but alas the Calzone defeated me – I had to request a doggy-bag and took it back to my hotel (where it provided a hearty snack the next evening!).
The meal came to about 300 Rand (£22.50, $45) and was well worth it. The restaurant is fun and lively, the staff are friendly and attentive and the food & wine was good. I envy Caroline as she lives nearby and can pop in here whenever she feels like.
Greybeard – November 2007.
Verdicchios is in the Montecasino shopping and entertainment complex, a kitschy replica Tuscan town, in Fourways, just north of Johannesburg. There’s a pleasant bar and café atmosphere on the ground floor but it’s in the slightly formal downstairs section, resembling a castle cellar, where we were seated for our meal. The menu is varied and promising, a range of Italian classics with a few local variations.
My local guide, Caroline, recommended a refreshing glass of Buitenverwachting 2006 Buiten Blanc, a blend of Sauvignon-blanc, Chenin-blanc and Riesling, to start off with which was delicious, the Riesling and Chenin adding a nice twist on the oft-too-dry Sauvignon South Africa can produce.
For our starters she ordered Mussels in a Garlic and White wine sauce, while I went for an old favourite, an Insalata Caprese. The Mussels looked delicious as well, the sauce being so thick and creamy that it was more of a soup! South African Mussels are large, flavoursome beasts, I’ve tried them before, and it was with some envy that I regretted my choice. My salad rested on a thin bed of iceberg lettuce, something that is acceptable at home, but not, in my opinion, when you’re dining out. The tomatoes were OK, lacking a depth of flavour I was hoping for but a sprinkle of salt perked them up a bit, however it was the Mozarella itself that was the most disappointing – much drier than it should have been and blander than most I’ve had in the past. The best part was the drizzle of pesto on the top which at least added some flavour. Caroline admitted that salads in South Africa needed some work and I tend to agree!
Main course was so much better. Caroline went for a roasted duck (which she said was excellent) but for me it was the Oxtail that jumped off the menu. This was delicious, plenty of meat on the tail bones and in a rich dark gravy/sauce on a bed of rice and vegetables. A knife and fork was not enough to prize all of the meat from the bones and it was with enjoyment that the bone-sucking began! This was washed down, and complemented, by a spicy La Motte 2004 Shiraz.
For dessert Caroline went for a Crème Brule which disappeared quickly, but for me the star was a glass of South African Port, a 2002 Allesverloren (all is lost). This was recommended by my hostess, as I was unaware that the country even made Port style wines, and was a mere baby, still with noticeable tannins behind the sweet raisins, but showing exciting promise. The wine had hints of Madeira dryness and was a perfect end to the evening.
The bill came to 600 Rand (£45, $90) and is one of the more expensive meals I’ve had in this country.
Greybeard – November 2007.
produced by the Boullault family, near the town of Vallet, this winery proudly reports controlled chemical fertilisation, minimum chemical pesticide use and intervention with non-polluting products.
