Reviews

Travel Scotland

The Italian take-away of the award winning fish-n-chip shop L’Alba D’Oro, which is also its next door neighbour. ‘Anima’ means soul; and they call it so because the place specialises in ‘Italian Soul Food’. A cut above its peers; this place is much more than your regular take-away. Great crispy and crunchy pizzas with a number of fab toppings to go with it. Also good for pasta.

The Skinny

http://www.theskinny.co.uk/venue/5431-anima

If the Dolmio puppet family encompass just about everything you know of Italian family cooking, Anima promises that its “soul food” philosophy will re-educate you. With extensive pasta, pizza and grill options, there’s also ample scope for creativity; customers can experiment with a variety of bases, sauces, and toppings for that unrivalled DIY pizza effect without the kitchen carnage, while pasta shapes and sauces can also be mixed and matched. Also worth investigating is Anima’s sandwich section, which uses only their own home-made focaccia, ciabatta and panino breads.

Scotland the Best, Peter Irvine, HarperCollins, 2007

The Best Pizza – Anima: The takeaway pizza section of the estimable fish ‘n’ chip shop L’Alba D’Oro next door. Definitely a slice above the rest…also pasta, great wine to go… this is no ordinary takeaway!

The Best Takeaway Places – Anima: Smart, busy Italian hot ‘n’ cold takeaway. ‘Italian Soul Food’ includes great pizza, freshly prepared pastas, ciabatta, etc. Excellent wine selection, some desserts. An excellent expansion from chips, our soul food – to theirs.

The List 2009/10

http://www.list.co.uk/place/102609-anima/

Just off the foot of Dundas Street, next door to Edinburgh’s most famous chip shop – the award winning L’Alba D’Oro – is Anima. Owned by the same people, Anima fills the bellies of its New Town neighbours and office workers with ‘Italian soul food’, ranging from freshly made pizza loaded with gourmet sausage, creamy gorgonzola or fontina, to toasted ciabatta, salads and steak burgers. Their wallet-friendly lunchtime deals make a filling pit stop – not to mention an excellent hangover remedy – and they offer good quality coffees and cakes for the sweet-toothed. Like L’Alba D’Oro, where you can wash your fish supper down with fine champagne, Anima also has an excellent wine and beer selection, including plenty hard-to-come-by Italian varieties.

  • High point: Comforting, delicious cooking
  • Low point: They don’t deliver

The List 2008/2009

Anima isn’t your average Friday night disco chippy where you shout over the pumping beat to order your salt’n’sauce. In fact, there’s nothing average about this designer Italian takeaway at all. Situated in the heart of the New Town, Anima is a magnificent mouthwatering piece of mozzarella magic. It offers the statutory Italian classics – such as pizza, bruschetta, panini – but the real highlight is the pasta choices. Just choose your own sauce and pasta type (there’s even a wholemeal option). The menu takes a lot of exciting twists and turns, from prawn rocket salad to white chocolate cheesecake. It’s everything you could ever wish for in a takeaway – there’s even a wine list and loyalty card scheme. Sadly, they don’t deliver, but, soaking in the atmosphere, it’s almost easy to forget you’re standing in line.

The List 2007/2008

Sitting next door to its sister operation L’Alba D’Oro, Anima aims to provide ‘Italian soul food’ for its New Town clientele, and accomplishes its mission statement with suitable panache. It’s open for both lunch and dinner, and almost every aspect of Italian cuisine is featured, with a wide variety of pizzas, pasta and panini ranging from the standard to the special. For those looking for a bottle of wine with their meal, Anima holds. While the prices are slightly higher than your average takeaway, the food more than compensates, and there’s a wine list that would put some restaurants to shame. The pasta in particular are made with top quality ingredients, the mushroom ravioli in cream sauce being noteworthy for its distinctive taste. Anima has a loyalty card scheme with discounts, as well as online ordering.

The List 2006/2007

Anima is the sister operation to the popular New Town chippy L’Alba D’Oro, and is handily located next door. The spacious seating area comfortably accommodates at least 20 customers, making the establishment a frequent meeting place for local office workers. Many facets of Italian cuisine are available here, from pizza, pasta and panini to dessert classics such as tiramisu and cheesecake. There is also an extensive wine list. The prices are slightly higher than your average takeaway but the pizza and garlic bread are far from the grease-laden offerings that may be served elsewhere. Moving with the times and keen to secure its customer base, Anima now has a loyalty scheme that gives various special offers and lets members order online.

The List 2005/2006

Anima was never likely to have teething problems. This pizza and pasta takeaway may only have opened its doors in November 2004, but years of operating as an arm of the adjacent L’Alba D’Oro have ensured a ready-made customer base. Now a completely separate entity, the sleek new outlet is packing them in with its simple yet appealing fare. It bills itself as an Italian soul food restaurant, and the menu consists predominantly of impressively light and crispy pizzas and a variety of freshly made pasta meals. It doesn’t stop there, however, as there are tantalising treats such as chargrilled chicken and mozzarella melts or marinated steak strips. At the lighter end of the scale is a range of home-made focaccia, ciabatta and panini. Thanks to stools and broad ledges, you can sit in and watch the world go by.