Edinburgh
Malvarosa

Malvarosa

262 Portobello High St, Edinburgh, EH152AT, EH15 2AT, United Kingdom

Tapas • Spanish • Ice Cream • Chocolate


"Malvarosa is a relatively new challenger to the Portobello High Street. It brings tapas much closer to my house, and for that I thank Malvarosa. And indeed, I thank and praise it highly, for not only does it bring tapas closer, but it brings gooood tapas closer. The service last night was excellent, great banter with the guy front of house (Vegetarian? What kind of monster are you? I think in Spain, I might be burned as a witch (I jest, I jest . You are made to feel welcome, and not rushed, even when the restaurant were heaving, we were one of the first to arrive and one of the last to leave, supping on tasty sangria and enjoying a good catchup. To the food the menu is quite small, but not in a bad way just don't go in expecting a book of tapas. Malvarosa keeps it succinct but there is still a good amount of choice across meat, fish and vegetable spectrums. Patata bravas good, smoky paprika flavour with a good kick, although could do with a bit more of a hit of the sauce on the potatoes. A warm ensalada of broad beans, artichoke and spinach was delicious (also available with meat, the Spanish vegetarian option, hur hur hur . I'm still enjoying the thought of chickpeas, spinach and sultanas a tagine y style tapas which I couldn't get enough of. I could go on I'll admit, I forgot to ask my dinner date how the meat dishes were so I can't comment on those. I was too busy enjoying mine to think of anything else. For dessert, we tucked into chocolate cake (super rich, bit too heavy for me, with a stomach already groaning from our mains and flan (I got the last one hurrah! flan had a bit of an odd texture, so a little less enjoyable than I had hoped for. Overall, Malvarosa is a lovely place to spend an evening catching up with good friends. No rush, no stress, just good food and good times."

Martin Wishart

Martin Wishart

54 The Shore Edinburgh, EH6 6RA, United Kingdom

Wine • French • Coffee • British


"Went for the lunch, rather than tasting menu so was pleasantly surprised to find that the amuse bouche (and bread actually came with 6 or 7 different simple, but tasty, flavours for an immediate sense of variety to start. Somewhat more of a traditional vibe with lots of marble, very formal waiters (it took a few attempts to confirm that one amuse bouche was basically just a hash brown, rather than whatever convoluted name it was introduced as , mirrors and an ever so slightly colder feeling atmosphere. But the decor is still fresh and, importantly, comfy. Great service from the waiters who never let our water run dry, and were always on hand. However somewhat disappointing that after specifically asking for the return of the drinks menu once, it went missing again. Compounded by the inability to make a White Russian which I asked for, partially hoping one could be made and partially having had my drinks menu whisked away, so I had to guess! Perhaps the lack of White Russian was not such a bad thing, as when we got hot drinks after dessert, they were served with milk that was close enough to it's use by date that it curdled into lumps floating in the coffee! Having said that, a swift apology and replacements followed quickly, and I suppose it's not necessarily reasonably to expect everywhere to have a well stocked bar that can cater to White Russian cocktails, milk that is fresh and the hazelnut flavour I requested for the hot chocolate (it was still good, without Food was faultless, with terrifically simple flavours (gespatcho, tappenade, tomato salsa, crusty bread etc. to start and more complicated flavours for main (pork jowl and to finish (chocolate opera cake"