Edins is in the Lace Market at 15 Broad St, just across the street from the Broadway Theatre and within easy walking distance from the Lace Market Tram stop. There are quite a few places in this little strip to drink and eat that I have already popped into, including Brew Dog, The Lord Roberts, and the Broadway Café. On the other side of the road are a few more bistros and café and amongst these it was Edins that had caught my eye.

Inside it has a the feel of a European café that could be like any I have walked to in places like Bruges, Lisbon or Porto.The counter is filled with plates of freshly made cakes and pastries, on the wall to the side of the bar are numerous bottles of wine, and hanging behind on the rear wall is the big chalkboard listing today’s Tapas plate options. Below that you can see through into the kitchen where all the magic will be happening. The only thing missing is the old man in the corner sucking on his gitane while drinking a small expresso, and the cat crawling around between your legs beneath the tables.

Outside and Inside Edin’s there was plenty of ‘Chalk Board Action’ listing some of todays specials and Tapas plate options. Some of those specials were particularly tempting especially the “Smoked Haddock and Pea Risotto“, but having not eaten here before we were keen to test out something a little simpler for this first visit before trying a special

Outside on the board they were advertising a lunch special for £4.95 Lunch Menu, so we decided to opt for that. We dug a little deeper and saw that there were just a couple of options for each course available. That is probably why they are able to provide the offer at this price point. I was thinking that if it was good then this was going to be a place to return to.

I had the leek and potato soup as my first course and it was pretty good. Quite tasty, a little bit creamy from the potato, my only mild criticism was that it was a bit too peppery for my personal taste, so I did lose a little of the leek and potato flavours. This might just be my palate though as I am a light seasoner myself. If I was on Masterchef I would probably have Gregg and John moaning about it on every dish. I liked the soup though it was quite a light broth and thinking about it even the strong pepperiness gave the soup quite a hit of spice.

The other option for the starter was the Chicken Caesar salad which seemed to have all the principal components invited to the party. Apart from the chicken, the small bowl was filled with crisp leaves of romaine lettuce, large crunchy croutons, shavings of parmesan cheese, some wedges of boiled egg, bits of olive and some salad dressing probably lemon juice and olive oil.

The Pasta dish was deceptively simple, In the first bite you got the hit of the Tarragon, then in the next mouthful you scoop a little deeper in the bowl and the next bite brought a creamy sauce filled with a light Dijon mustard tang, then further on into the dish and you are pulling out shredded chunks of ham hock and a few small pieces of tomato. I was expecting the hock to make the dish salty but it was not at all, in fact it had a nice subtle ham flavor. With a little bit of parmesan and some ground black pepper added it was even better. It just goes to show what you can do with a few simple and relatively cheap ingredients.

I really liked Edins it has a bit of something for everyone. It is a deli with some yummy looking cakes and biscuits, it does Tapas, Breakfasts, Light Lunches, some delicious sounding specials, and it also sells coffee, wine and beer. As I said pretty much the whole bagful. It is also a really nice comfortable place to stay and ponder for a while. I imagine that you could be here having a coffee while pausing in between shops, a pre theatre snack, a romantic meal for two, or just a leisurely lunch for one while reading the paper or a good book.

I suggest that you try it out, the two course lunch is such excellent value it almost feels to be a marginal criminal activity not too dine here.

As I noted above Edins is at 15 Broad St, just across the street from the Broadway Theatre so pretty easy to find.

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