Let’s start with a confession: I’ve not been doing a whole lot of cooking lately. I have, however, done a rather ridiculous amount of eating out. Some of the meals have had good justifications – my birthday, I’d just ran a half marathon (sorry, had to sneak that in there!) – but for every celebratory meal there’s been another ‘just-because’ one.

With that out of the way, let me introduce you to the setting of one such meal: Field Edinburgh. I should start by saying that I’ve previously visited Field once before, about a year ago, and absolutely loved it. So, when Ricky and I ventured along to celebrate my birthday on Friday night I had very high hopes.

Field is a tiny restaurant, intimate and cosy; but not so intimate that you feel as though you have to speak in hushed tones. We were greeted warmly by Richard, the Maître D’, immediately setting the tone for the evening: relaxed, informal dining. Despite the relaxed atmosphere, the menu rivals any you’d see at a fine dining restaurant. The dishes are inventive without being pretentious and, as the restaurant’s name hints at, showcase the best of seasonal foods.

Ricky started with the Spring vegetable soup (light and fresh with a hint of pesto), whilst I opted for scallops, cinnamon satay sauce and black pudding. I would never have thought to pair these ingredients together but the thick, nutty sauce married wonderfully with the ever-so-slightly caramelised scallops and rich black pudding.

The mains were where we really struggled to decide, but in the end I settled on smoked duck breast with polenta, apple, pearl onions & cider vinegar beurre noisette. The duck was cooked beautifully – soft and pink on the inside with crispy skin and a light smokiness throughout. I’m not convinced that duck and apple belong on the same plate but, that aside, each element of this dish worked really well together. Ricky’s main of trout, sweet potato dauphinoise, curried mussels and cauliflower was an absolute dream – the fish was flaky and smoky and the curried cauliflower warming and nutty.

Of course, no celebratory meal would be complete without desserts! The cookie dough parfait, cookie and milk sorbet was Ricky’s choice. It was nice, but by this point we’d come to expect more than nice and it didn’t quite live up to the standards set by the preceding courses. I absolutely wolfed down the salted peanut butter choux bun, banana milkshake and nutella ice cream. The choux filling got the balance of sweet and salty just right whilst the nutella ice cream was every bit as rich and indulgent as you’d expect.

We ended the evening with a couple of Amaretto’s over ice – I take it as a sign of maturity that I now love a liqueur after a good meal 😉 All things considered, I would absolutely recommend Field Edinburgh and it has retained it’s spot as one of my favourite restaurants. The menu is fresh and exciting and the food presented beautifully whilst still delivering on taste.

Have you ever visited Field? What did you think?