DESPITE the fact that America is a fast-food nation writ large with outlets selling junk to go on practically every street corner, there is a huge swathe of the population who demand (and get) only the very best.
It is also true that, while you don't have to look far in the United States to find an American without a passport, if you visit practically any city in Europe, you won't have to search high and low to find an American. This, despite the parlous state of the dollar which means that, for them, travelling to a country like Scotland is not exactly cheap at the moment.
Bearing in mind that the travellers are, for the most part, drawn from that group of Americans who are most demanding of quality, I was gobsmacked when I leafed through the visitors' book (yes, a new one on me too) at Wedgwood, the third restaurant in three years to try its luck at the one-room site at the top of Edinburgh's Canongate.
Each page of the book was covered with gushing praise from the most notoriously difficult-to-please customer base on earth, interspersed with equally ecstatic words of approval from locals. But it was the Americans that interested me, primarily because Wedgwood could never be described as a budget option, and for them to heap such praise on a meal that would cost close on 200 for two constituted a genuine compliment.
It transpired that, because the restaurant, which opened two months ago, is down the road from the Radisson Hotel, more than half of its customers are American - about a third are English and a tenth Scots. All had the same high opinion of the place. And it was one that, by and large, I shared.
The good impression started even before we ate. Although we were half an hour late, the staff didn't seem at all perturbed, nor were we rushed to order. That was a good job because virtually every dish on the large menu was so enticing, it was fiendishly difficult to make a decision. In the end, I started with the tiger prawn, tomato and vine leaf lasagne, while Vicky plumped for the tuna roulade with wasabi caviar.
Both dishes were visually stunning and, although ambitious, not overblown. The four warm rolls of tuna contained coriander, lime and chilli, and if that wasn't enough of an assault on the tastebuds, the addition of the wasabi and soy sauce certainly was. Surprisingly, the whole thing not only looked great but tasted magnificent too, even taking into account the occasional mind-blowing concentrations of chilli. My 'lasagne' wasn't what I'd expected; it was more of a stack containing four prawns, vine leaves and tomatoes, all held together with home-made mayonnaise. Again, it was a simple dish parcelled to perfection.
After a palate-cleansing shot-glass stuffed with raspberry, lime sorbet and topped up with ginger beer, it was on to the main courses. My enormous and succulent chunk of roast fillet of pork came with creamed cabbage, black pudding, grilled pancetta and a slice of potato fondant, but was horribly short of the Madeira sauce, which initially appeared to be there for mainly decorative purposes. Once I'd remedied that old bugbear (I should have asked for some more pancetta, too, because that added a welcome extra layer of flavour), this proved to be a very solid dish that I would happily order again.
I'm not sure the same would go for Vicky's roast duck, which was beautifully cooked but, once again, woefully short on sweet-and-sour plum sauce. Presented as six small dice, it also came with a tower of sliced-and-diced vegetables dominated by peppers, a combination that clashed with the subtle flavours of the duck. It was a dish that tried just a little too hard.
The same could be said of my pudding - the gelatine-packed pannacotta having set far too hard, even if it was almost rescued by the addition of a dark, rich bowl of warm chocolate sauce. Vicky's chocolate-and-beetroot cake was too dense and rich for her, but perfect for me, while the coconut ice-cream was packed, contrary to the assurances of our otherwise faultless waitress, with slivers of desiccated coconut, so I got to have that too.
If that sounds like a gripe, it isn't. With a welcoming and relaxed staff, a good wine list and a menu that hit the spot, it's not difficult to see why Edinburgh's American tourists take Wedgwood to heart, even if the diner who wrote that the place "had redeemed her faith in Edinburgh's restaurants" should perhaps get out a little more.
Vital statistics Wedgwood 267 Canongate, Edinburgh (0131 558 8737,
www.wedgwoodtherestaurant.co.uk)
Out of pocket Starters £5.25-£8.35 mains £10.95-£18.95 Puddings £4.50 Cheese £6
Rating 7/10
The full article contains 821 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
