Iggs is not a themed restaurant, far from it. In a city that’s lamentably endowed, Spanish-restaurant-wise, with Tapas bars that open and close rapidly – presumably due to our staid residents’ passing whims – the enduring Iggs continues to evoke memories of Castile, the Basque country and Catalonia, with each passing course.  Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, a new summer menu and concept has been introduced. But more of that later.  Spain is one of my favourite places. I first visited in 1972. And yes, Franco was still hanging on, and his particular brand of fascism did still hold sway. But he was on his last legs. There was just a chance that he might peg it when I was there and I could have joined the biggest Spanish party since el batallón británico tried to save the Second Republic, but I took a wrong turning and hit the bars of Torremolinos instead. And okay, I was young and innocent and, more pertinently, impatient to learn the ways of others.

John is the author of 23 articles including 'Review: Iggs' from June's Leither

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Franco managed to survive my visit, but I was hooked.  Spain, it could be argued, is one place that is less than the sum of its parts.  And that’s not an insult.  It touches on the theories of emergence and irreduction, like the story of the student who tries to find an explanation for the properties of water – why does it extinguish fire when hydrogen burns and oxygen sustains fire?  Well Spain’s like that.  It shouldn’t work, but with its rich history, more idiosyncrasies than Don Quixote’s delusions, and fantastic diversity in its regions, it’s a country all the more interesting the more you explore her.  OK, there’s Shagaluf – but you know what they say about exceptions.

Spanish food too is fantastic, and underrated.  Sometimes you can understand why it’s underrated.  A visit to any plastic tapas bar on any plastic High Street is enough to dampen any Hispanophile’s enthusiasm. But they don’t offer the real Mccoy. Iggs does.  For those of us with failing eyes, however, Iggs can also be quite dark.  Especially if you’re sitting under the only down-light in the restaurant without a lamp, as I was.  Let me say at this point that Sweetness was looking gorgeous that night, as always.  So the proverb atop this review serves no other purpose than my personal amusement (and yours, I hope). But as my eyes adjusted, I could see why some of the diners on this particular Saturday might have welcomed the “romantic lighting”.

And it is romantic.  The décor is all rustic deep yellows, claret and wood, set off nicely with white linen napery and simple candles.  Artwork – for sale, if you fancy a takeaway – adorns the walls.  The staff offer unobtrusive and efficient service, and helped us get quickly into the mood with olives on the house.  Actually, we were in the mood already because we had partaken of Iggs sister next door – in as much as we had a couple of fresh-tasting, properly-chilled Manzanilla: that wonderful, salty, dry sherry made only in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. But you have to be careful when ordering this in Spain because as a friend and well-known drunk of this parish once found out to his cost in Barcelona, manzanilla is also Spanish for chamomile tea. I can still picture his wee face as it arrived. He’d been swinging back in his chair, smugly, having ordered seafood paella in one of the best places in an off-the-beaten-track part of town (his favourite town), sun beating down on his expanding forehead, not a care in the world, awaiting the pleasure. “Life doesnae get any better than this”, he had just decreed. And the waiter brought him a plate of crap rice and a cup of tea. Consternation doesn’t begin to describe it. A magical moment.

The new concept of Iggy’s (owner and well-known-man-about-town) is that they serve the same extensive menu of tapas, with some dishes suitable as main courses, in all three spaces – Iggs restaurant, Barioja and the downstairs Bodega.  You can therefore opt for casual dining, fine dining, or just a few tapas, depending on your mood or fatness of wallet. Flexibility is the key. But Iggy should remember, very few threesomes end happily!  We kicked-off sharing four tapas – Rinones £3.95 (lamb kidneys with potato puree, sage, panceta in a sherry jus), Caballa £5.25 (pan-fried mackerel, pickled beetroot with apple vinaigrette), Atun £4.95 (chargrilled tuna with salsa verde and lentil dressing), and a duck confit with mash and apple jus. This last was offered in the absence of the Cocido (duck and ham soup with fideos) which, had it been on, would have been £3.50. All of them were excellent, with the mackerel the star. (Why do Scotland’s fleets catch more mackerel than any other European country yet we eat much less of it, exporting most of it to our more discerning neighbours? – the Spaniards love it, and it can’t just be down to Picasso’s erotic depiction, can it?)  The lamb kidneys were a very close second but missed out on the cigar because Sweetness wasn’t keen on the smokiness of the panceta – I loved it.

This left us quite sated, so we shared only one main, Presa, which I’d never heard of  Presa Iberica (or pork steak), is a southern Spain speciality from the shoulder of that magic animal. It was accompanied by marinated pork fillet (the two surprisingly different in look, texture and taste), wild mushrooms and apple sauce, and at £16.95, was very good.

Our puds were Tocino de Cielo £5.75 (a flan, much like crème caramel) with orange syrup, and three scoops of home-made ice cream – vanilla, chocolate, and raspberry with crushed almonds; all excellent.  Accompanying booze was a bottle of Albarino at £21.  This wine is rarely sold in Scotland, which is a pity because it’s wonderful.  It hails from the Rias Baixas wine region and I first stumbled across it a few years ago when enjoying al-fresco seafood in an excellent water-front restaurant near Palma – it’s reminiscent of Riesling and Viognier, both of which are also sadly under-sold.  We had the dark, powerful, and raisiny Pedro Ximénez with the puds.  This dessert wine is usually the kipper’s knickers. I say usually, because it didn’t go with the flan: my fault. Stick to having it with cheese.

I’m already over my word quota and risking this nascent career being strangled at birth, so I’ll finish with another Spanish proverb which opines, Barriga llena, corazón contento. Its literal translation: full stomach, happy heart. Its meaning: satisfy desires and ensure compliance. Which pretty neatly sums up this restaurant reviewing lark, don’t you think?

I had actually visited for lunch before the new menu appeared – purely in the interests of bringing you confidence of opinion – and have to say that the two-course lunch then on offer at £15.95 (an extra £3 for a pud) was pretty close to the best value in town.

!ggs Restaurante

15 Jeffrey Street

Edinburgh

EH1 1DR

t. 0131 557 8184

W. iggs.co.uk