I tried a fabulous Edinburgh Festival pop-up restaurant that defied all my expectations
This five-course meal was full of surprises
We used to play a game of trust when we were kids.
We’d blindfold each other, with an old knee sock or something, then take a spoonful of a random foodstuff from the kitchen. It could be nice - honey or syrup, say - less pleasant, like a dod of Marmite, or, more often than not, Whiskas.
Anyway, I blame that trauma, for not being too keen when I see a blindfold on the table at the new Edinburgh Festival pop-up, Trust by Modou, which is situated at the extremely bling cocktail bar Somewhere by Nico on Wednesday to Sunday evenings until August 24.
Still, nobody mentions this accessory, so we just ignore ours. The concept is that there’s no menu to refer to, just a blank sheet, where you write down your thoughts on what you’ve been served. It’s a bit pointless, but Six by Nico are famous for their concepts.
Tonight is slightly different, though, as there’s chef Modou Diagne, of Glasgow’s 111 by Modou and Trust by Modou, in the kitchen.
I haven’t eaten at either of his places, so I have no expectations. However, I have heard his backstory. Originally from Senegal, he lived in Spain, before moving to Glasgow, when he found himself sleeping rough. He eventually managed to bag a job at 111 by Nico in 2014, and worked his way up through hard graft.
Eventually, the owner of the Six by Nico group, Nico Simeone, handed him the keys to the kitchen, and the restaurant was renamed 111 by Modou.
Now, the east coast can have a taste of his food. Even better, it’s just £30pp for five courses, or add a further £28pp for paired drinks, which seems incredibly decent.
That includes a snack - an oozy, cheesy-crumbed and aioli-anointed plank - which we tore into two stringy and satisfying pieces.
Then, the starter arrived, and we began the guessing game.
Spoiler alert, I will be revealing what the dishes are, so if you want to keep the surprise element, then read no further. Or if, like me, your memory is appalling, just trust that you’ll have forgotten by the time you get there anyway.
This thin and refreshingly cold soup was orange-hued - mango? - and topped with crispy bacon-y bits, and a swirl of yogurt, plus rivulets of basil oil. Lovely, and summery, whatever the heck the liquid was.
Our server, Gwen, asked us how we’d got on afterwards, with the ingredient identification. So-so.
It turned out - later, when you’re presented with the actual menu - that it was melon soup. I kind of wish I’d known, to appreciate it better, instead of having to rack my elderly cantaloupe of a brain for the M word to match the flavour.
Next was an easy one - pork - well, ham hough terrine to be exact, along with a rich blob of silky egg yolk jam, a quenelle of pea pesto, and a couple of zesty squirts of crystalline lemon gel.
Not to brag, but we aced this round, and the next. Gwen said we have very good palates. I love Gwen.
That’s except for the fact that we thought the white fillet of fish was cod - the chicken of the sea. Whoever can identify a piece of black pollock needs a gold medal. Anyway, this came with fennel, blood orange gel that was almost luminously bright, and a saffron-y bouillabaisse foam, plus two crispy sage leaves.
The final savoury dish of crispy-edged lamb belly was next, along with a dark aubergine puree, and a caponata-ish mixture of sweet sundried tomatoes and raisins, plus two charred spring onions, garlic aioli and a gently spiced crumb.
There’s an option of a cheese course about now, but we ploughed onto the sugary stuff.
Our last dish was a wibbly plank of panna cotta, with a Schiaparelli pink scoop of hibiscus and mint ice-cream, a blob of hibiscus gel, and a gingery biscuity crumb.
We guessed some of it, but this wasn’t our finest moment.
Anyway, the trust game is an aside. We didn’t have to use our blindfold and we had a wonderful time. Take the concept, or leave it.
It’s just hard to believe that all that gorgeous grub was only £30. You can barely get a main course in this city right now for that price.
So much better than a mouthful of Whiskas.
39a Charlotte Lane, Edinburgh www./trustbymodou.co.uk/edinburgh-popup/
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