A new venture with the bow-wow factor

Restaurant review

THE DOGS

110 Hanover Street, Edinburgh (0131-220 1208)

THE Bill

Dinner for two, £34.45, excluding drinks

I'VE JUST BEEN TO THE DOGS. For a while I was totally bemused by the name of Dave Ramsden's new gastropub in the New Town. Then I told someone I was "going to The Dogs" and the penny dropped. Silly me!

Ramsden, one of the capital's best-known and innovative restaurateurs, has a thing about catchy names. There was (Fitz)Henry in Leith, which he once described as a good place to take a mistress. I adored the décor: part brothel, part chic Manhattan loft. Ramsden is always stylish; always path-breaking; never Edinburgh. Perhaps that's his problem.

He started out in the rock business, managing then launching a small record label. When that dream faded, he began at the bottom in catering – washing dishes – and found his real vocation. Along the way he picked up a lot from Jeremy King and Chris Corbin, the brains behind iconic London eateries such as Le Caprice and The Ivy. By his late thirties, Ramsden had become "pretty unemployable" (his own words) because of his intense perfectionism. There was nothing left to do but start his own restaurant.

(Fitz)Henry lasted seven years. The menu – a take on classic French with the odd ostrich steak thrown in – was usually excellent, though the occasional change of chef disrupted the flow. Despite critical acclaim, the Leith experiment closed at the turn of the millennium, largely because Edinburgh diners would not leave the city centre. These days, of course, Leith has become a centre for high-end restaurants. Ramsden has a habit of being ahead of his time.

Undaunted, he moved into the centre of town in 2000, opening Rogue, a huge, Conran-esque eatery. The stunning circular design was more what you'd find in Barcelona than Scotland. People commented they could not locate the loos because the giant doors were so perfectly integrated into the wall. But Rogue was primarily about food. Ramsden's vision was to make eating "more accessible, easier and hopefully more fun".

The result was a menu that perhaps covered too much ground – everything from bangers and mash to classic French. Ramsden wanted a New York ambience where a young couple could be eating a pear and Gorgonzola pizza (a Ramsden favourite) while at the next table paunchy bankers were devouring a four-course meal with fancy wine. Alas, this democratic idyll did not prosper. Edinburgh remains too socially stratified and too woefully conservative in its eating habits; while – dare I say it – the prices at Rogue were a bit too much for the pizza crowd.

Thankfully, you can't keep a good restaurateur down and Ramsden has reappeared with what – finally – might be a winning formula. His new place was formerly the Tijuana Yacht Club, a garish, second-rate Tex-Mex. In an even earlier incarnation, it was the gregarious Edinburgh Wine Bar. The Dogs could not be in a more customer-friendly location.

The new restaurant has a clean, relaxed décor but with a characteristic Ramsden touch – a gigantic photo of his old dog, Phret, now in canine heaven. It is exactly the sort of place you can drop in to for a quick lunch, an after-work drink or an impromptu meal. Already there is a buzz about the place that suggests The Dogs will achieve the eclectic social mix that Ramsden tried and failed to create at Rogue. "What I envisage for The Dogs," he explains, "is a restaurant that will be fast, furious, fun and noisy."

The menu is a gastro take on simple Scottish ingredients: decent bread, offbeat soups, house pies, sustainable fish, and local meat. The prices are also modest – this is not Rogue.

For starters we had the pan-fried duck livers with roasted garlic, bacon and chicory (£4.50) and the mushroom and garlic barley risotto (£4.50). I especially liked the barley risotto – smooth, creamy yet full of plump goodness. The duck livers tasted deliciously earthy. The standard of cooking was way above that of a normal pub.

For mains we had the boiled salt beef, carrots and herb dumplings (£8.50). I'm a fan of dumplings and these proved light, tangy and (mercifully) a far cry from the concrete lumps of dough that restaurants frequently serve. The limp carrots, however, were a bit of a disappointment.

In need of basic comfort food, I tried the skirt steak with chips (£10.50). Skirt is a cheap cut of beef from the cow's belly – the diaphragm muscle, to be exact. It has an intense flavour and is fat-free, but it needs special attention when cooking. Traditionally, it is used in Cornish pasties.

Using a cheap cut such as skirt is perfect as a way to keep prices down while tempting the customer with something new on the palate. But the trick with skirt is to whip it off the grill before it gets over-cooked and tough. Alas, mine was a smidgen over-done.

For dessert The Dogs has a small but clever choice: the lemon posset (£2.50) and the marmalade bread and butter pudding (£3.95) particularly caught our attention.

As you'd expect with Ramsden, the wine list is broad yet full of interesting finds. There is an intriguing English Pinot Noir made in Kent (£29.90). The price range is very affordable to middling.

If life is going to the dogs, you know where to go. sm