Fantastic affordable French cuisine

This is an intriguing English Tudor-style building in central Edinburgh. We’d been wanting to visit for a while and last year we had a great meal in the Le-di-vin winebar next door in the same quaint building, so now it was our turn to try the restaurant upstairs for lunch – La p’tite folie, or “The little folly”, or perhaps more correctly “The Little Madness”!

Our initial thoughts were that things didn’t seem that mad! There was no Mad Hatter’s tea party, no sign of Heston Blumenthal and the tables were all laid out nicely.

We were quickly greeted and taken to our table by the window which was letting in a good amount of pleasant sunshine.

We were brought the menu; the 2 Course Lunch menu is a mere £10.95, and without asking we were also given a fresh sliced baguette with our favourite Lockerbie butter, mmm.

To start…

Sweet potato, coconut and chilli soup

The soup of the day was a very nice mildly spiced Asian-inspired soup served in a large bowl – a proper soup portion size!

Ham hock with apple

Refreshing sweet fruit contrasting with the chunky meaty terrine with a fresh, crisp and refreshing side-salad and light mustard sauce, and very nice it was too!

Our mains…

Lamb navarin

One of my favourite things about French cuisine are the stews and this was a hearty lamb and veg stew. It looked great and tasted great! Proper winter food and just what I needed after a night-out drinking! The potatoes on the side were especially delicious.

Steak

A large meaty steak done medium-rare. Nicely seasoned with just enough salt, nice salty frites too and served with another fresh side-salad.

To finish we decided to skip dessert and relax with a white coffee each, which were both strong.

Conclusion

Fantastic French food in pleasant relaxed surroundings in a lovely building – the 2 Course Lunch is £10.95 and for the level of food on offer this is excellent value (having steak as your main takes this up to £19.50). We’ve eaten in a few French restaurants recently and this is some of the best French cuisine we’ve ever had!

Service was quick; staff were polite, helpful & friendly throughout and the toilets were clean but small and basic. Access to the upstairs restaurant is through a narrow turning staircase from the wine bar below so it may not suit anyone with mobility problems but I’m sure they’ll accommodate in the ground floor area. We didn’t have any wine on our visit but they have an impressive looking wine list.

Well placed in an accessible location on a quiet cobbled street in Edinburgh’s New Town just off the hustle & bustle and buses and perhaps, one day, trams of Princes street. It’s an ideal place for a business lunch.

We visited La p’tite folie on Randolph place where Edinburgh’s New Town and West-end meet, but they also have a more central restaurant on Frederick St. Both are open for lunch and dinner 6 days a week (closed Sunday).

Find out more and book online here: http://www.laptitefolie.co.uk

}