Restaurant of the Week: Ransacked Black Oven, 27 Marshall St, Edinburgh

The Ransacked Black Oven team started their culinary venture on two wheels, taking their wood-burning black oven to festivals and markets, before opening a permanent location.

Location

Just a short walk from the Festival Theatre, you’ll spot the eatery nestled on a corner just off Potterrow. Perfect for theatre-goers and students alike.

First impressions

The light, bright and airy dining room is filled with pretty touches, including faux fur rugs on the wooden chairs and antique salt and pepper grinders on the tables.

Service

First-rate. We visited on a busy Saturday night, but our waitress could not have been more accommodating or helpful, especially when it came to explaining the menu.

Menu

The Persian and Middle Eastern-inspired menu is filled with a variety of fragrant, spicy and delicately balanced dishes. The kitchen aims to end service with as little waste as possible, so the varied menu is made fresh daily – which was clear when we tasted our meals.

Taste

Our group of four chose to share some light bites to start, opting for the falafel sharing board with a portion of sweet chilli jackfruit wings. The portions were very generous, but we still managed to finish every morsel. For our mains, we ordered a marinated flat iron steak served with potatoes and Persian cabbage coleslaw, a baked za’atar aubergine with roasted carrots and lentils, chargrilled lamb steak, and a Lebanese-style pizza with pesto, roast tomato and artichoke. Fresh, aromatic and flavoursome, we were blown away by every dish. And the two rounds of expertly shaken cocktails went down a treat, too. Perfection.

Ambience

Friendly and casual, the dimly lit dining room is perfect for date night, as well as big gatherings.

Price

The bill came to £155 for four, including two cocktails each and a half litre of house red. Very reasonable.

Toilets

Downstairs, modern, clean.