Otro review

About the venue

If you haven’t been or heard of Otro before let me enlighten you. Sister restaurant to New Chapter, another Edinburgh favourite, Otro is located in Edinburgh’s West End, and occupies a corner spot, which was once home to an Indian restaurant, the Indian Cavalry Club. It has since been transformed and for you interior design lovers, this place is certainly a feast for the eyes.

Now a gorgeous Scottish Bistro, the walls are painted a deep navy blue and adorned with French themed art. There are also little accents throughout the venue which give the place a real French bistro feel. The setting is relaxing, we have a window seat looking out to the gorgeous west end,  and some buzzy jazz music has just started playing. The waiter David arrives with the menu and I’m so ready for my Sunday roast.

The food and drink

Looking at the menu I knew right away I was going straight in with a three-courser. I opted for the venison ragu fritters with parmesan custard, and pickled walnuts to start and I was not disappointed when they arrived. The presentation was picture perfect and they tasted just as good. The fritters were crispy and the parmesan custard was like a cheesy creamy mash, that complemented the fritters well. Regarding the drinks, there was a wide selection of wines and cocktails on offer, but as I was driving I settled for water instead. Maybe for the best as I might have been carried away.

Then it was time for the pièce de résistance, the roast! Melt in your mouth roast beef, crispy Yorkshire pudding, fluffy duck fat roast potatoes, and seasonal vegetables. This was exactly what I needed on a gloomy Sunday afternoon, the roast was filling and full of flavour, and I would even go as far to say ( I can’t believe I’m saying this), it beat a Netflix Sunday any day!

We all get some food envy when we’re dining out and I have to mention my friends smoked haddock course which I had a bite of as well. Served with creamed leeks, hash browns, poached egg, and mustard buerre blanc, this dish was not as heavy as the roast but equally as tasty.

The dessert

Now if you know me, you’ll know I’m a sucker for a dessert. Pastries, doughnuts, anything with salted caramel and I’m sold. So when I saw a caramel and chocolate mousse with hazelnut meringue, and salted caramel ice cream on the menu I knew I had to have it. As you can see it was a mammoth dessert and they added some extra pieces of chewy honeycomb which I didn’t expect (RESULT!). The dessert was sweet, and mixed with the hazelnut meringue and ice cream it was rich and decadent. I had some difficulty finishing it (due to the devouring of my roast) but it was too good to waste.

My final thought

Overall I’m so glad I ventured out to Otro for the Sunday roast as I was not disappointed. The food exceeded expectations, the service (thank you to our waiter David) was impeccable, and I left feeling full and all warm and fuzzy inside. If you’re tempted by the Sunday roast at Otro you can enjoy two courses for less than £20 and three for just £24.95, which for the quality is an absolute steal.