spanks's Qype profile

I visited Malvarosa for the first time on Friday and it was a complete delight.

It appears to be run by Spaniards. I booked my table by emailing them - which always endears me to restauarants. They were very accommodating when I changed the number of people for my booking - and then didn't chastise us when one of our party didn't turn up.

It's also - and this gets lots of brownie points in my book - BYOB. £3 corkage. And they even brought us cava glasses for the cava.

The food is fabulous. Principally tapas but imaginatively done. No chorizo in red wine here. They have chorizo with cider, the de rigeur patatas bravas but a less common potatoes with garlic dish and then a whole array of fish, flesh and vegetable alternatives.

We had a seafood paella that was plump with mussels, some other shell-y things and king prawns. A lovely hake stuffed dish, chorizo of course, tortilla with chorizo, aubergines with manchego cheese and lovely fat olives.

They have an impressive choice of desserts for a Spanish restaurant. And it's all delivered with a charming sparkle that make this new addition to Portobello's High Street a great fun night out.

It's all very good value for money. We paid £20 a head as a party of five with the paella, plenty of tapas, desserts, coffee and several corkage charges.

Do try it. They deserve to do well.

I absolutely agree with the rest of you.

This is a delightful little place that I've been longing to try for ages. I happened to get the chance to try it on Monday night - and couldn't have been happier that I did.

I ate an exceptionally nice pork and squid in red curry paste with pineapple dressed salad dish with their very lovely sticky rice.

The owner did a really rather superb sales job. His wife does all the cooking. He clearly just talks it up. She doesn't use any MSG. She cooks with entirely natural ingredients - a lot of citrus fruits to get the right strength of flavour. The result is a delicate and incredibly subtely flavoured treat.

The only pity about the place is they don't serve beer. But this is easily fixed as they welcome BYOB. So go prepared and you'll be enchanted.

What a gorgeous little addition to Leith's Shore!

This place is a proper little slice of Manhattan in Edinburgh. More cupcakes than you can shake a stick at along with giant slabs of grown-up cakes too. A rather stupendous chocolate guinness cake was on the menu for my most recent visit.

They don't confine their offering to sweet things. They have plenty of coffee choices, a fine selection of herbal teas, cosy hot chocolates or cold and fizzy things. And their savoury pies are a rare treat. Huge wedges of pastry cases packed with wholesome vegetable goodness. A chunk of this plus the side salad and you'll be perfectly set up for the rest of the day.

The tea room itself is replete with vintage loveliness. You'll feel a little more civilised just having sat there for half an hour sipping your Earl Grey.

I'm delighted to welcome Mimi's to Leith. Long may she bake there.

This is the most gorgeous little shop I've seen for a long time. It describes itself as a gallery / studio / quirky homestore and it's packed with perfectly quirky bits and pieces that are universally delightful.

Gorgeous greetings cards, unique pieces of jewellery, unusual printed tea towels and pieces of clothing, quirky pieces of furniture. It's a proper Aladdin's cave of vintage, recycled, reinvented loveliness.

I bought handfuls of greetings cards and a very cute little pin badge there. But expect to return for many more visits in the near future to hoover up more of their lovely stock.

It's a great location, a handful of steps up from Portobello beach. A perfect weekend (or weekday) afternoon's pottering place. Enjoy!

Questo è un hotel delizioso in una location formidabile. Se non siete stati a Killin, ne vale la pena! Non ho soggiornato nell'hotel ma il cibo del bar era ottimo. Una selezione ragionevole di birre, e l'ora del te era fantastica. Ho mangiato degli ottimi funghi impanati e uno stufato, più buono di quanto si possa immaginare. Andate a godervelo. Ottimo cibo in una bellissima location a prezzi buonissimi.

Amo questo hotel. E' eccezzionale per quel che paghi. E' 90£ per una doppia standard per una notte e la stanza è piena di adorabili piccoli tocchi, come l'accesso internet gratuito, noleggio DVD, biscotti di pasta frolla,acqua e cosmetici. La mia cosa preferita è la paperella di gomma sopra l'asciugamano nel bagno. La birreria è adorabile. Non ho provato la sauna ma domani provo la piscina. Grazia Apex. Sono un grande ammiratore!

Un sitio viejo y extraño. No voy a ser malo porque fueron lo más amables que se podría ser con alguien. Ahora mismo estoy escribiendo esto con el portátil del hotel, así que se merecen la puntuación más alta en lo que se refiere a servicio al cliente. Pero para ser un hotel boutique principiante, la atención a los detalles tiene sus huecos. Me encontré un papel en el suelo del baño, descuidado. Una preciosa bañera con patas de garra, pero no baño de burbujas. No había cable de internet, así que no me puedo conectar (¡aunque puedo con su portátil y el wifi del hotel!). Una preciosa habitación de diseño que casi parece Malmaison, ¡pero hace mucho frío! No hay ese directorio con maravillosos servicios del hotel que nunca usaré. No hay agua en el cuarto excepto la del grifo. 115 pounds la noche. Son tan increíblemente amables. La comida del restaurante es deliciosa. Pero eso sí, por ese precio me rallaría si fuera yo quien pagase.

C'est un hôtel assez curieux. Je dis ça sans méchanceté vu l'excellent accueil que j'ai reçu... j'utilise d'ailleurs l'ordinateur portable de l'hôtel à l'instant, preuve de l'amabilité du personnel envers ces clients. Mais pour un hôtel qui se veut être de luxe, il y a beaucoup de petites choses à revoir. J'ai trouvé un mouchoir dans ma chambre (manque d'attention), on ne peut pas prendre de bain à bulles dans la baignoire prévue à cet effet, il n'y a pas le câble pour se connecter à Internet (à part en utilisant le portable de l'hôtel en WiFi), ma chambre ravissante (dite "design") donne l'air d'être dans un palace mais il y fait très froid ! L'hôtel n'a pas une liste de services offerts dont je ne me servirai jamais. Il n'y a qu'un robinet d'eau tiède dans la chambre. Le tout pour 115 livres la nuit. C'est un hôtel très, très, très agréable, et les plats sont un vrai régal. Mais pour 115 livres, j'en attendrais un peu plus si c'était moi qui payais la note.

Me encantan los City Inns. Estuve el fin de semana, antes había ido a ver a las hermanas en Londres y Bristol. Es un hotel que te pasas y a buen precio. Como Malmaison en los buenos tiempos. Compartí cuarto con mi amigo borracho y luego resacoso y el personal no podría haber sido más servicial. Aunque me molestó algo cuando llamamos al servicio de habitaciones por tercera vez a las 4 de la mañana para pedir algo de comida saludable. Los colchones son duros y buenos. Edredones de verdad en vez de sábanas. Mini bar bien preparado con Budvar y Bombay Sapphire. Chocolates complementarios. Y una vista impresionante del Clyde y su precioso nuevo puente. Un gran desayuno y una comida encantadora en la terraza al sol el día siguiente. ¡Lo disfruté y les doy mi enhorabuena!

J'adore les City Inns. Je suis resté dans celui-ci pour un week-end, et j'avais déjà testé ceux de Londres et Bristol. C'est un hôtel d'enfer et d'un excellent rapport qualité/prix. Comme Malmaison au bon vieux temps. Je partageais une chambre avec mon amie saoûle puis avec la gueule de bois, et le personnel n'aurait pas pu être plus arrangeant. Même si on a pu sentir un soupçon d'irritation quand on a appelé le service de chambre pour la troisième fois à 4 heures du mat pour se renseigner sur les options diététiques pour les repas. Les matelas étaient agréablement fermes. De vraies couettes plutôt que des couvertures. Un mini bar très bien fourni, avec du Budvar et du Bombay Sapphire. Chocolats offerts. Et une vue éblouissante sur la Clyde et le magnifique (plus ou moins) nouveau pont. Un super petit-déj et un déjeuner délicieux sur la terrasse ensoleillée le jour d'après. Profitez-en bien et transmettez mes compliments !