La Favorita provides an excellent family dining experience, delivering high quality food, a genuinely warm, inclusive atmosphere and good value for money.
“Family” can be a dangerous path for a restaurant to walk. It easily conjures up images of being ostracised to the draughty breeze-block extension of a pub with a few token toys, or some hideous purpose-built chain featuring a menu which begins and ends with fishfingers and chicken nuggets.
The problems of “family” restaurants in the UK are primarily down to culture – children were never traditionally considered part of the eating out experience, so when their presence is to be included, it’s either an awkwardly crowbarred addendum or a wholesale import of an established US concept.
La Favorita avoids both of these traps by neatly sidestepping the established British restaurant norms and harking straight back to the Italian modus operandi, whereby most dining is assumed to be a family activity, and the bigger the family, and the greater the selection of bambini of all ages, the better.
Of course, being Italian, Favorita has the traditional menu on its side, and its range of pizzas (arguably the best in Edinburgh) and pastas needs only an adjustment of portion size to squarely meet the needs of smaller diners (kids’ pizza or pasta, drink and ice cream - £6).
My most recent visit was on a Sunday afternoon, when the family theme is turned up an extra couple of notches with the presence of a clown-cum-magician (an irresistible draw for my six year old daughter). As always, the staff created the friendly, inclusive, convivial atmosphere, joking with customers, taking photos and even going as far as offering a high chair for my daughter’s stuffed companion.
La Favorita claims to have the only wood-fired pizza ovens (two new ones have just been installed) in Scotland, and manages to deliver perfectly thin crispy bases every time, and offers an eclectic range of toppings beyond the normal fare — my personal favourite being the house special pizza, an apparently award-winning creation, featuring smoked salmon, prawns, cream cheese and caviar (£11).
However, to characterise Favorita as just a pizza and pasta joint would be to do it a great disservice, as the menu also features an extensive selection of more sophisticated Italian fare more suited to adult tastes, such as the delicious fillet steak wrapped in pancetta with chicken liver pate and a Madeira sauce (£20.45) or the herb crusted swordfish steak (£11.95). There’s a pretty comprehensive (if slightly pricey) Italian wine list too, with both whites and reds starting at around £15.
Whilst La Favorita might have to take second place to other local Italians, including its own sister restaurant, Vittoria, when it comes to an intimate evening meal for two, nowhere in town does better pizzas or a better job of turning the experience of taking your kids out to eat from an ordeal to a genuine pleasure.