It’s a pretty rare thing that the Edinburgh Foody team gets together but this week we managed to find a date. Amy, Kerry, Maureen and I met up at Hey Palu, the Italian bar on Bread Street. It’s true: we don’t just eat, we also drink.
Cocktail flight: what a glorious idea!
Hey Palu is a compact, relaxed space. It’s an Italian bar, inspired by La Dolce Vita and apertivo hour. There is food (cheese boards and charcuterie) but the focus here is drinks. And what drinks! There’ s a good, well-curated wine list which Maureen chose her drink from and a fun and interesting cocktail menu.
Amy sensibly went for the cocktail flight: mini Martini, Negroni and Rum ‘n’ Raisin Manhattan. The cutest things ever and according to Amy very good too. You can get the Rum Raisin Manhattan to go and Amy can see why: it’s a seriously tasty drink.
Palu SPritz: bitter, sweet and long.
I should have had the amaro flight because I’m a huge fan of amoros, the variously bitter concoctions popular as apertifs in Italy. Instead I had a Hey Palu Spritz, strawberry, amaro and prosecco in a refreshing, still somewhat bitter, marriage. I then followed it up with a Nàdar Gin Negroni. Arbikie’s Nàdar is the first climate positive gin in the world. (Go Arbikie!)
So much for the classics – the cocktail menu offers all kinds of other interesting things. Amy went for the Tiramisu, a very impressive-looking drink which does such a good job of looking like its namesake dessert that it’s difficult not to be disappointed by the fact that it’s liquid.
Tiramisu the cocktail: rich with chocolate.
Kerry brough the Nàdar gin to my attention by ordering a Nàdar Gin Pea Sour which was definitely the night’s pretties cocktail. A fresh green liquid topped with bright white foam (from aqua faba, not egg white) prettified with a pea shoot. Adorable! And good to drink too.
Nadar Gin Pea Sour: pretty and tasty.
We enjoyed our team meeting and drinks in Hey Palu. Drinks are served with small snacks like olives or taralli, those crunchy, round savoury biscuits, for balance. The music on the night we were there was delightfully and relaxingly 90s. The atmosphere was cheerful and service impeccable. I look forward to coming back.
Hey Palu
49 Bread Street
Edinburgh, EH3 9AH
Telephone: 0131 285 6752 (they take bookings for tables of six or more)
