With time a precious commodity, weekends are special and the perfect time to catch up with friends but with everyone leading such busy lives, it can sometimes be a challenge. Perhaps it’s time to take stock and make time for special people in our lives and share those good times over my favourite pastime, eating and drinking.
Head to Galvin Brasserie for weekend brunch where eggs are the star of the show
As a Bridget Jones singleton, while I may not have been blessed with my own children, I seem to have acquired 8 godchildren over the years, ranging from 6 years to 41 years, who has two of her own (I was a child godmother I hasten to add!).
So an invitation to join Galvin Brasserie, situated at the west end of Princes Street who have launched a new brunch menu, was the perfect excuse to catch up with a fellow godmother, who has decamped to the country (I don’t do wellies very often) and two respective godchildren, who just happen to be sisters but lead such busy lives, with hockey practice, CCF, and frequent trips north to their other house that precious times spent together are few and far between.
With the brunch scene fast becoming the nation’s favourite meal, the Galvin Brasserie has jumped on the band wagon and an invitation to come and try it out was the perfect excuse for a catch up.
Galvin Brasserie has come up with a series of innovative dishes giving the faithful breakfast companion the egg, a new lease of life.
Highlights from the new menu include: baked duck egg, truffle, potato & parmesan (£12.00), which was deliciously sweet with a bed of caramelised onion, mixed with the potato under the baked egg, dusted with parmesan; smoked salmon, fromage blanc with rocket on granary bread (£8.50); the classic, Scottish Eggs Benedict (£8.00); and poached egg, avocado & tomato salsa on rye bread (£12.00). There’s also a range of cocktails and speciality drinks including Champagne cocktails, their signature Bloody Mary and fresh fruit smoothies to enjoy – although sadly, they had run out of the latter by the time we came to dine.
The Big Plate of baked duck egg, truffle, potato & parmesan was beautifully sweet. Beware, portions are very filling
The menu could do with some refining and we were asked for our feedback, so I hope our constructive criticism will lead to a few changes.
There’s a lot of eggs on the menu and they have both small and big plates, which I’m not sure they necessarily need. The Scottish Eggs Benedict would be better described as Eggs Royale, to determine the presence of smoked salmon rather than ham. Thankfully I had checked before, as having a fish allergy, it would have been a big disappointment. They helpfully replaced the salmon with bacon instead and the poached eggs were cooked to perfection.
Small and big plates at the Galvin Brasserie brunch – you won’t leave hungry
The portions are very generous so you wouldn’t necessarily need to have a small plate, followed by a big plate. Their charcuterie and cheese board (£9.00) for example, was enough to happily share between two to three – although our hungry teenager did a good job of demolishing much of it on her own. I would have liked to see some more sweeter options on the menu, such as French toast or a selection of pastries.
The charcuterie & cheese board is a generous portion for one person
And the best bit, every Saturday and Sunday, children under 10 years, eat free from their children’s selection menu. (Maximum of 1 child per adult). My god-daughter was very happy with her fresh fruit salad, burger (which she smothered in Ketchup) and fries and a choice of sorbet and ice-creams.
Kids eat free at the weekends at Galvin Brasserie
The Brasserie is serving the Brasserie Brunch between 12 and 2.30pm at weekends. They also serve a roast Sirloin beef lunch on Sunday with traditional trimmings, which is reasonably priced at £21.50.
Galvin Brasserie de Luxe
Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh – The Caledonian
Rutland Street
Edinburgh EH1 2AB
Tel: 0131 222 8988
Twitter: @galvinbrasserie
Instagram: @galvin_brasserie
