The Tailend - Edinburgh

What trip to the United Kingdom would be complete without some fish and chips?

On an episode of “No Reservations”,Anthony Bourdain went to The Mermaid, but after asking some locals, most of them had never heard of it.  Probably not a good sign.

I was pointed to The Tailend, not exactly in the city center, as it is located in Leith, but only a 10-15 minute bus ride away.  Despite the location, most of the diners were American, oddly enough.

The restaurant is split up into two section: one a take-out place, and the other half a casual sit down restaurant.

There was a new waitress working the shift who didn’t understand English all that well, so service was sort of slow.  She was super nice and very attentive however.

The shrimp appetizer includes four plump shrimp that were deep fried.  The shrimp were succulent and crisp.  Unfortunately, we had ordered the grilled shrimp but didn’t make a big deal out of it.  A small side salad was served with the appetizer, however it had seen better days as it was very tired looking, with some very wilted and brown pieces of lettuce.  Very few leaves were crisp.  Even the tomatoes were a little over ripe and did not have much flavor.

Shrimp Appetizer

The Fish and Chips are the reason you are here.  A large piece of fish is lightly battered and perfectly fried.  It is super crisp and not at all greasy.  The meal comes with a small side of garden peas or mushy peas, and a huge mound of chips.  The chips are thick cut, and are crisp on the outside, and smooth and creamy in the middle.

Fish & Garden Peas

Chips

The “Chocolate Pudding” is a little misleading, as it is really is a molten chocolate cake.  The cake is moist, but a little dense and heavy with a large river of melting chocolate oozing out of the center.

Chocolate Pudding

 The Sticky Toffee Pudding is a nice large piece of cake, which is a little dense covered with an overly sweet toffee sauce.  The sweetness is reduced by the scoop of ice cream (or whipped cream if you like, I believe) dolloped on top.  It was hard to discern if there were dates or prunes in the cake, but very good nonetheless.  Although this is a rich dessert, it is well worth the calories.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

If you are in search of some good fish and chipsre in search of some good fish and chips, you can’t go wrong with The Tailend.

14-15 Albert Place

Leith Walk

Edinburgh EH7 5HN