Amy Falconer finds the new season menu at One Square packs a punch

Amy Falconer devours delicious comfort food at One Square

Looking out to Festival Square and the castle beyond, the glass-fronted brasserie in the Sheraton is known for its modern Scottish menu but with new exec chef Shaun Woodhouse at the helm, things are looking even more exciting.

The new starter menu is varied with shellfish, inventive vegetarian dishes and that good old Scottish classic lentil and smoked ham hock soup all vying for attention. We plump for the Scottish shellfish with Thistly Cross cider and shallots, £10, and the confit chicken and mushroom roulade, £8. A huge bowl of steaming mussels adorned with a mighty handsome langoustine arrived; the sweet, rich cider sauce mopped up with still-warm-from-the-oven sourdough. The roulade is delicate in flavour, with a heady mushroom ketchup adding a punch of earthiness to the dish.

Next we go for the One Square beef burger with bacon and cheese, dill gherkin and béarnaise sauce in a toasted brioche bun, £15.50, and the Charolais Scotch fillet of beef served with red watercress, beer salt and dried onion with a peppercorn sauce, £34.50, plus sides of twice-cooked hand-cut chips, £4, heritage potato mash and chives, £4 and spring cabbage with chilli and garlic, £3.50. The burger is delicious with its smoky chargrill flavour but the star of the show is the fillet of beef. My oh my, it’s good - perfectly seasoned, chargrilled and cooked to medium rare. 

We finish with Isle of Mull cheddar and Lanark blue, served with oatcakes, quince jelly and fresh fruits, £10.50, and the pistachio and dark chocolate pot with rhubarb, pistachio and citrus, £8.50.

1 Festival Sq, EH3 9SR, 0131 221 6422, onesquareedinburgh.co.uk