Jolly, Edinburgh

Last December, on a cold Friday night I went along to Tub's brother's birthday meal in Edinburgh. I love the capital city at night, especially at christmas. It has this great atmosphere and makes visiting a real treat.

After a battle through roadworks and heavy traffic, we first visited Le Monde in George Street, a classy bar with several themed levels which also offer meals. We were only stopping for a drink and seeing as Tub's parent's paid, I have no idea of how much it cost, although, I do imagine it would be quite expensive compaired to the average price for a pint. As it was a Friday night, the bar was bustling. It had a trendy, after-work feel about it and we struggled to hear ourselves over the loud chart music.

After about an hour, we headed to the restaurant for our meal. We were eating at Jolly, an Italian place near the Playhouse. On first arriving I have to admit both the exterior and interior left a lot to be desired. This was hardly the Ivy, but I suspected the food may make up for the grubby feel about the place.

Inside it was busy and tables were crammed together tightly into a small dining area. A wood burning oven was visable from our table and I watched the chef spinning the dough around in the air then popping it into the oven to create the most fantastic smell. I think it was at that moment I was convinced I just had to try the pizza!

For starters, most of our party ordered minestrone soup. I passed on a starter, opting to keep room for my pizza but did order a large glass of sweet white wine, which was delicious.

Not long after the starters were finished, the mains arrived. Tub and I both picked the half pizza half pasta deal, having pepperoni and lasagne. The meals arrived on plastic plates (I kid you not!) with a sloppy serving of lasagne next to half a slice of the thinnest pizza I have ever seen.

Unfortunately, the lasagne was very dissapointing. The presentation was enough to put you off (think thrown-onto-the-plate-without-a-care, school dinner style) and tasted like they had chucked the ingredients into a blender and poured it onto my (plastic) plate.

As you might have guessed, I am really passionate about lasagne. I refuse to buy ready made ones from supermarkets after growing up with my mum's homemade ones and if I'm honest, I found Jolly lasagne to be a major insult to lasagnes all over the world.

However, the pizza, well that was another matter. As i mentioned it was the thinnest, most delicate dough I have had the honour of laying my eyes on, topped with a perfect measure of tomato sauce underneath a layer of melted mozarella. The taste was, I assure you, as brilliant as it sounds. An absolute true taste of authentic Italy that has enticed me back to Jolly many a time since.

Despite the bad lasagne experience, I cannot stay mad at Jolly when they are making pizzas that good. When I venture into Edinburgh I can often be found ordering a pizza from Jolly. For a 12" Margarita it costs around £7 to take away and for 14" about £9. This is quite expensive in my opinion, but worth every penny for that freshly wood-burning oven taste. Be warned though, they tend to serve them unsliced (not good if you've forgot to pack a knife and fork!)

The general cost from what I have been told was around £6 for the pizza-pasta dish. There are other varieties for example spaghetti bolognase. A soup starter was about £3.

Since that night in December, the outside of Jolly has been revamped and looks great. I haven't been inside since, but if you do go remember to book in advance and don't let the dodgy decorating put you off. The staff were friendly and efficient and the overall experience was that of a pleasant one that I will repeat soon.

Food 9.5/10 for the pizza, the pasta was a poor 5/10
Price 8/10 considering it was the middle of Edinburgh
Service 8/10 Nice, friendly and did their job well

Jolly
9 Elm Row
Edinburgh