Argile in Edinburgh, City of

Fantastic concept and even better food, Jack and his team create a wonderful evening. Ingredients and a wine list sourced discerningly makes for a wonderful meal. It’s as formal or informal as you make it and Jack is happy to answer all your questions. I’ve been 3 times now and will definitely be back!

We spent a wonderful evening at Argile enjoying the best tasting menu and wine pairing experience that we’ve ever had in Scotland. On the night we visited the tasting menu comprised eight courses of pescatarian and vegetarian dishes and, apart from our small party of two, the other guests were three friends returning to celebrate a birthday. We opted to take the optional cheese course, a Tete de Moine, which was perfectly paired with a sophisticated and spicy Domaine des Schistes Rivesaltes Solera from Languedoc-Roussillon. Chef-owner Jack Montgomery clearly has French training with strong Asian influences, but brings a distinctive and original twist to his menu at Argile. Each element of the experience was characterised by enormous attention to detail, highlighted through food and menu design, the perfect wine pairings, and the décor of the restaurant. Argile has an open-plan design, which encourages a relaxed ambience and allows guests to watch dishes being prepared and to engage with the chef over his source of inspiration, the origins of the ingredients, and the methods that contribute to such distinctive dishes. These conversations revealed that the deeply rich and earthy flavours of the root vegetable tea (course 2) were a product of holding black garlic at precisely 60 ̊C for 37 days; the rhubarb juice used to cure the hand-dived Orkney scallops opened freshly as we sat watching (course 3) was obtained from a single family farm based in the Yorkshire’s ‘rhubarb triangle’; the butter was made in house and combined with smoked eel and wild garlic hand-picked the same day by the assistant chef in south Edinburgh to create a delightful seasoning for a confit Charlotte potato (course 5); and the buttermilk generated as a by-product of the butter-making was the source of the frozen granita providing texture to the rhubarb-cured scallops in course 3. These highlights reveal aspects of the absolute commitment to using fresh local ingredients and preparing every basic element of each dish from first principles. We left after three hours completely satisfied, better educated, and hoping to return soon. We would highly recommend Argile for a unique and very special dining experience in Edinburgh.

An interesting experience, Good more than Very Good but definitely higher than average...... A total of eight customers can sit round a very tastefully decorated bar watching as the chef and his assistant prepare and serve your meal. The décor is charming and very pleasant. The kitchen area is spotlessly clean and interesting to view. There is one sliding barn style door which takes customers to the small cloakroom with fresh rolled hand towels and high-end soap. Our group of six would have the eight-course set tasting menu with wine-pairing. During the experience we also agreed to add the optional cheese course. All the food was prepared elegantly and what seemed effortlessly, in front of us. We understood how much time and preparation had gone into all the dishes, lots of pre-preparation and helpful discussions from chef. We all left feeling a bit hungry, even with the additional cheese course which was two turns of Tête de Moine. Delicious but so little. The wine pairing was interesting, the wines were not that special or memorable and one bottle was split between seven customers for most pours, it was definitely a wine tasting rather than a glass of wine each. There was little on offer that evening for non-alcohol options. The dinner and experience was about £180 to £200 per head which we felt was quite a high price for the quantity of food we got. The majority of our group did not feel satiated and although there was some nice small bites to try (the smallest portions of food we’ve ever seen), were not overly impressed with the food we consumed. The roast duck breast was tiny, served with one sprig of asparagus. The bread was wonderful and delicious, two small chunks each, served warm and attractively in an oven dish. We did have a lovely evening and enjoyed this new experience, the two staff were pleasant and helpful, possibly a little reserved but all in all it was something new to do in Edinburgh. I think the portions need to dramatically increase, the wine needs to be far superior and larger glasses poured even if this adds to the cost which is currently £65 per head for a small pour each. The atmosphere could be slightly less reserved with more theatre and we'd need more value for money to return and it's missing something spectacular. We wish the guys well.