
David and I were back in Edinburgh for just 24 hours last week, as we went on a food and drink adventure. We finished our trip with a stay at one of Edinburgh’s most stylish and luxurious hotels, The Glasshouse.We began this trip to Scotland’s capital city, with a special visit to The Printing Press* – the restaurant and bar that’s part of The Principal Edinburgh George Street hotel. The opulent bar specialises in classic and inventive cocktails, and has a superb Bar Scran bar menu to enjoy when you’re needing food to soak up all that alcohol.
David and I were treated to a cocktail masterclass with the head barman, followed by a yummy lunch. We got to make 3 cocktails each and even got to go behind the bar. We started off with making The Printing Press’ version of our favourite cocktails, and ended the experience by making a cocktail that The Printing Press designed themselves to be a sensory spectacular.
David is a major whisky fan, so it was inevitable that his two favourite cocktails centred around this spirit. He got to make a classic Old Fashioned (whisky, bitters, brown sugar & orange oil), and learnt a new tip of rubbing the orange peel around the edge of the glass as well as twisting it over the surface of the drink to release oil droplets. The second cocktail he made was another staple – a Boulevardier (whisky, vermouth, Campari & orange oil).
I went for a lot more cheesier favourites – a Strawberry Daiquiri (strawberry puree, rum, lime juice and sugar syrup), and a Pina Colada (rum, coconut rum, coconut milk, coconut cream and pineapple juice). The Pina Colada was incredible and was my favourite cocktail of the day.
The last cocktail that we got to make was from The Printing Press’ fairytale-inspired cocktail menu. The George’s Marvellous Medicine cocktail is just as inventive and quirky as Roald Dahl’s classic story. It contains Absolut Raspberri Vodka, Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur, cranberry juice, lemon juice and Monin Candy Floss Syrup. It even changes colour from pink to blue as it is served, and tastes exactly like sherbet Love Hearts.
We then went for a delicious lunch from the Bar Scran menu. I had the very cheesy and creamy Mac ‘n’ Cheese with a sides of Fries, and David had a hearty Burger with Fries. We finished these off with a heavenly and beautifully stodgy Sticky Toffee Pudding with Vanilla Ice-Cream.
We then took a stroll down to our hotel for the night – the stunning, 5-star The Glasshouse*. It’s only a couple of minutes walk from Edinburgh Waverley, sonis right in the heart of all the action. It’s quite neatly tucked away between two huge imposing buildings, so the hotel’s size is disguised until you go to explore inside.We were treated to a beautiful suite (the Glenfiddich Suite) for the night, which opened out onto the roof terrace. The living room and bedroom were open-plan, and divided by just a cool wooden sculpture. The TV could be spun around 360 degrees so that you could watch it from the bed or from the sitting area.
We were welcomed to our suite with a bottle of Prosecco on ice, and a selection of sweet treats such as French macarons and Scottish tablet.
The decor in the suite was all very chic and modern, with an emphasis on wood. The bathroom had a huge bath, his and hers sinks, and a luxurious, powerful walk-in shower. I loved that the toiletries were all Aromatherapy Associates too – a favourite beauty brand of mine.
Our suite was just along the corridor from the stunning and decadent The Snug bar. A dimly-lit, stylish space that houses the hotel’s collection of over 100 whiskies, for guests to try, as well as a full bar, and inventive bar snacks menu with a Scottish twist.
David went for a whisky flight, so that he could try a few different drams. There are five whisky flights available that vary in price dependent on how rare the whiskies in it are. There is also a large range of unique whisky cocktails, but I went for the only one that didn’t contain whisky, the Appletini.
We has these drinks pre-dinner, so we tried out a couple of the bar snacks too – the Haggis Bon Bons and the Black Pudding Sausage Rolls.
After this, it was time to head for dinner outwith the hotel. We were booked in to try Scotland’s only Indian Seafood restaurant – Konkana*. They specialise in currys and Indian-spiced dishes containing crab, lobster and prawns etc. The staff were very friendly and happy to talk through anything on the menu.
I went for the Chilli Squid starter, which was calamari in a spicy batter. I was really impressed by the portion size of this starter. David went for the Shahi Salmon, which was tandoori salmon. He was a bit surprised that this wasn’t hot, but enjoyed the delicate flavours anyway.
We then had a curry each, served with breads and coconut rice. I went for a non-seafood option, their Lamb Shank. This was tasty (it’s marinated for 24 hours) and the lamb just melted off the bone, but the sauce was a lot spicier than I thought it would be – almost too much for me.
David had the Crab Banjara – a light, very delicately spiced crab coconut curry with tempura prawns, and he really enjoyed it. You could still pick up the flavours of the seafood as they weren’t overwhelmed by lots of Indian spices.
We then jumped in a taxi back to our hotel and settled into bed to do some face masks and watch Danny Dyer’s Right Royal Family.
These experiences were all provided on a complimentary basis for review, but all opinions are my own.
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