By Gaby Soutar

Copyright scotsman

There’s no more denying that summer is over. My sandals have been packed away, and I am resigned to the season of mellow fruitfulness. Don’t worry, I’ll get over it. At least I can get my chunky jumpers out, and start padding myself out for winter. The first step in developing those insulating spare tyres involves a visit to Edinburgh’s Nor’ Loft. “Where’s that again?” asked my other half, when I told him we were visiting. Fair enough, I do think this destination – in the four-star Market Street Hotel, opposite The Fruitmarket Gallery – is a bit of an overlooked gem. That’s a shame, as the seventh-floor bar, with its coombed ceilings, roaring fires and Scottish colourist prints, boasts eyrie-level Princes Street views that are bookended by the Scott Monument and The Balmoral. They usually serve breakfast, sharing platters and small plates, but we were here to try their newly launched Cheese Fondue, at £72 for two people. It’s available until the end of October on Fridays and Saturdays from noon until 5pm and Sundays to Thursdays from noon until 7pm. I think this is a very cute alternative to afternoon tea, for those who prefer savoury to sweet, and, of course, fromage also pairs very well with their speciality of champagne. The drinks menu features Ruinart, Bollinger, or Perrier-Jouet, among other varieties, but we went for a couple of glasses of their biscuity Laurent Perrier La Cuvee Brut (£13.50 a glass) and waited, with frantically squeaking ravenous-mouse-level anticipation, for the feast to land. And what a lot there is. Our eyes were like deely-boppers, when the bowls of dipping accoutrements arrived. We had three little bowls containing stubs of meat – plectrums of pale pink Bavarian sausage, and a bouncy salame picante, as well as cubes of a soft and bacon-topped country terrine. (There’s a vegetarian version of the menu available, which swaps the meat for stuff like olives and veggie sausages). There was a large portion of crispy rosemary roast potatoes, plus four index-finger-length spinach and feta filo pastry cigars. That’s as well as two crunchy plaits of garlic bread, and assorted fruit and veggies that includes slices of tart Granny Smith apple, celery, cucumber and carrot batons, cherry tomatoes, endive and a Mr McGregor’s garden’s worth of halved radishes. Then, served in a black cauldron, the plunge pool of buttery yellow melted cheese. It’s a smoked Scottish cheddar, said our server, and it’s blended with Menabrea Italian Alpine beer. We each got a wooden-handled fondue fork. Let the dooking commence. Hubble bubble. At first, I thought we’d never get through even half of these offerings, but it’s strange how much space is in the dairy compartment of one’s gastrointestinal system. The thick cheese clung satisfyingly tightly, like a static polyester dressing gown, to every crudite or clod of meat. It was so good that it made me sad that there are so many fondue sets in charity shops. They’re the equivalent of Staffies in every dog rescue. So easily surrendered, yet they hold so much promise. We ate as if we were just back from an exhausting day on the piste, even though I wouldn’t even know how to apply skis to my feet. The meaty things, once dunked, were a protein rich salt fest that felt very naughty and OTT. He enjoyed the simplicity of the tomatoes coated in cheese, I liked the apple and the crispy endive boat dippers, but I also made short work of the soft-centred tatties. The only thing we thought might be lacking was fluffier, more absorbent bread, or something pickled, but you can’t have everything. Still, we kept going, and the pool of cheese kept getting shallower, and hotter, as the hard-working tea-lights flickered underneath. We had to tap out at the point when there were still quite a few radishes, celery sticks and sausage stubs left. Finishing felt like an impossibility and I did ask our server if anyone ever manages to dispatch everything. Not usually, we were told, but sometimes people will order extras of their favourite things, like the spinach and feta cigars. Anyway, if you do, you deserve a trophy. This is a lot of food. It’s also an unusual treat to make autumn feel a little bit more appealing. Out with salads, and in with delicious stodge. Summer is no more, but I can live with that now. Nor’Loft, Market Street Hotel, 6 Market Street, Edinburgh (0131-322 9229, www.marketstreethotel.co.uk) Read more: “I took my family to Edinburgh’s newest pizza restaurant, and they were so impressed” Read more “I had lunch at Edinburgh’s newest and best Japanese restaurant and it was pure magic” Read more: “I tried the new £39.50 lunch in Edinburgh’s most elegant dining room and it was a proper treat” Read more: “The gorgeous East Lothian bakery that’s opening in time for autumn”