I’ve been to Kyloe a couple of times before, once to have their Sunday BBQ, and the other to taste their 2016 Christmas Menu. Both times the service has been excellent and having seen many an appetite-whetting picture on Instagram, I was looking forward to trying their a la carte menu.

Entrance to Kyloe is through The Huxley, which incidentally, is a great place to eat itself. It took them a little while to find our booking but we were soon ascending the stairs to Kyloe ready for our fill of red meat. Half way up we were reminded that our table would be required from us in around two hours, this was on top of the reminder in our booking email. If I’m honest it felt a bit much. If you’ve already been told two or three times prior to even sitting down that your exit will be required at a specific time, you begin to wonder how welcome you are. I do get that restaurants need to turn tables, but I think the timing of reminders needs to be carefully thought through as to make it clear, but not give the impression of there being a rush. After our host stopped by another table of guests whom she knew to say hello (a little awkward for us as we had to sort of hover), we were seated at our table. It was one of the ones in the centre of the floor where I always think it’s difficult to enjoy the meal as there’s lots of traffic around you, if you’re booking for yourself, ask for a booth or window seat.

Following our drinks order a waiter came over with the meat board (pictured above) and delivered quite an in depth guide to the different cuts available and the best cooking time for each. I really enjoyed the information, although I looked around and some looked a little squeamish, so it might not be everyone’s cup of tea.

A generous loaf of focaccia and what tasted like a red pepper hummus was set down for us. I really appreciate some freshly cooked bread at the beginning of the meal, it was a nice way to begin.

We decided to order steak to share so considered skipping starters altogether but decided that for the purposes of this feature we should have one to share. We ordered the Crispy Marinated Lamb’s Shoulder – this was served as two crispy patties with tzatzki. We needn’t have worried about portion size as it was small enough not to spoil the appetite. The lamb was lovely and soft with plenty of flavour. This was a nice starter that I would order again.

The guide at the beginning encouraged us to try something different. If we’re sharing we’d usually have chateaubriand, as often that’s the only cut available, but at Kyloe there are three sharing steaks: Côte de Boeuf (£47.50), Sirloin on the Bone (£53), and Chateaubriand (£57.50).

We settled on the Côte de Bouef and weren’t disappointed, it was beautifully presented (with a side of whole peeled prawns) and cooked as we had specified.

The sides at Kyloe are indulgent and there’s plenty of them to choose from. In fact, we had less struggle selecting our steak than the sides we wanted, which took a lot of discussion and negotiation. We eventually chose: Panzanella Salad, Spring Onion Mash, Beer Battered Onion Rings, and Red Cabbage, Carrot and Onion Slaw.

After all that food we were pretty stuffed so opted for the lightest dessert on the menu, Fruit Terrine served with blackcurrant sorbet, mint yoghurt, rye biscuit. The terrine and sorbet were nice enough but the mint yoghurt needed some sweetness as it reminded me a lot of an Indian raita, especially with the unsweetened rye biscuit with it.

Overall the food was really tasty and the service (after the welcome) was what I have been used to in the past. It’s not cheap, but good steak never is.

Kyloe
Location: 1-3 Rutland Street, Edinburgh, EH1 2AE
Price: Starters £4.75-£9 , Mains £16.50-£31 , Desserts £4-£5
Good for: Steak