Edinburgh Food Show: Discover some of the city's best Spanish street food and paella

A portion of paella is served up from the Leith Walk pop-up venue. Picture: Ruairidh Mason

In the second episode, YouTuber and videographer Ruairidh Mason starts the day with a bottle of Estrella Damm lager to get in the mood for a Spanish experience before searching for Edinburgh’s best paella.

The journey takes him to Leith Walk’s iconic police box to sample some Spanish street food.

The pop-up venue near the corner of McDonald Road has been rented by Lovely Paella – a small catering and food trader company specialising in Spanish food that was founded about a decade ago.

Mr Mason learns about the venue’s variations on paella – from seafood to vegan and even a chicken version, replacing the more traditional use of rabbit.

Turmeric, smoky paprika and salsa verde are among the special ingredients added to the seafood paella to produce a “delicious portion” for Mr Mason to sample.

His takeaway paella – “a portion of rice as densely packed as a black hole” – is topped with a sizeable prawn, completing the videographer’s lunch.

The pop-up venue on Leith Walk. Picture: Ruairidh Mason

Mr Mason credits the size of the portions as he tries the paella while relaxing in the spring sunshine on Leith Links.

The videographer’s quest to find some of Edinburgh’s best dishes – for all price ranges – coincides with the country re-emerging from lockdown and is a celebration of the city’s food scene.

Hospitality venues across Scotland such as cafés, pubs and restaurants have been allowed to reopen, along with tourist accommodation.

Non-essential retail outlets and close contact services such as beauty salons have also reopened.