Edinburgh, Scotland Hotels and City Guide

Edinburgh - Restaurants

Dining - Local Cuisine & Customs

A vast selection of eateries is scattered throughout the city, catering for all tastes, pockets and styles. Good restaurants are within walking distance of Princes Street and the Royal Mile.

Many restaurants serve sophisticated international cuisines, but also try the traditional and nouvelle versions of classic Scottish foods: salmon, venison, black pudding (a kind of sausage cooked with an animal's blood), cullen skink (a rich haddock soup), Loch Fyne herring, and, of course, spicy haggis, usually served with neeps and tatties (mashed turnips and potatoes).

Oatmeal biscuits, local cheeses, and malt whisky (with any course) finish off a meal. If you still have a little space, there are handmade chocolates, often with whisky or Drambuie fillings, and shortbread. The Scots have a sweet tooth so sticky buns, lardy cakes, pancakes, scones and shortbread biscuits are served at breakfast and tea-time.

And if you're up to it, try a chippy (fish and chip shop) and experience such Scottish delights as deep fried pizza, deep fried hamburgers, deep fried Black Pudding, deep fried haggis and deep fried Mars bars. Yes, ‘chip pan’ fires are quite common in Edinburgh!

Top Restaurants

The Witchery by the Castle
Castle Hill
The Royal Mile
Tel: (0)131 225 561
£45

Situated in a 16th century building on Castle Hill, James Thomson’s The Witchery is one of Edinburgh’s finest restaurants consisting of two dining rooms and a garden terrace. Gothic in style, the main dining room is sumptuous with draped tapestries, plush red leather seats, a gilded ceiling and oak-panelled walls. Its annex, The Secret Garden, is decorated with brass candlesticks, stone statues and a series of painted doors depicting the tale of Edinburgh’s wine trade with France. The food can only be described as divinely delicious.

Rhubarb
Prestonfield House Hotel
Priestfield Road
Tel: (0)131 225 1333
Special offer: 3-course dinner £30

James Thomson’s latest fine dining venue is the opulent, ornate Rhubarb restaurant at Prestonfield House, built in 1687 as the grand baroque home of the Lord Provost, which nestles in 20 acres of parkland under Arthur’s Seat, just a short drive from the Royal Mile. A long tree-lined avenue leads to the front door. Peacocks strut across green lawns while Highland cattle graze in this idyllic setting.

To dine at Rhubarb is an unforgettable experience. Start with a drink in the Whisky bar on the ground floor or the Tapestry Room hung with 17th century Mortlake tapestries and furnished with luxurious sofas and gilded furniture, or the Leather Room, both up an old worn stone staircase.

Rhubarb restaurant consists of a pair of matched Regency oval rooms, one hung with the ancestral portraits of the Dick-Cunyham family, the other described as ‘divine decadence’ (Tatler), ‘a kaleidoscope of gilt and ormulu’ (The Sunday Times). Old-gold and burgundy silk covers the walls, great chandeliers give off a gentle candle light with the glow of table candles reflecting in the bay windows. Black-kilted staff serve you. And the food is indescribably delicious.

The Italian, Stuart and Garden Rooms offer private dining.

Tower Restaurant
Above the Museum of Scotland
Chambers Street
Tel: (0)131 225 3003
£35

James Thomson’s rooftop restaurant completes his three dining destinations. It has great views of the city skyline and an outside terrace for a possible balmy Scottish evening. ‘Minimalist luxury’ is the style - wood floors, white ceiling, velvet hangings, polished tables, suede chairs. The food is modern Scottish: Argyll oysters, Angus beef, venison, lamb, local seafood, duck, vegetarian dishes and more but remember to leave room for irresistible desserts.

The Kitchin
78 Commercial Quay
Leith
Tel: (0)131 555 1755
Lunch and dinner, Tue-Sat
£42

Tom Kitchin was awarded a Michelin star in January 2007, the youngest Scottish chef to do so. Have a drink in the cool cocktail bar. The restaurant is decorated with silver silk leaf-patterned wallpaper, dark wood tables, fresh flowers and candles. Softly lit, it has an intimate ambience. From nature to plate, only seasonal delights appear on the menu. This is a slick, stylish yet relaxed, restaurant where modern British food with French undertones is served with panache.

Vin Caffè
11 Multrees Walk
St Andrew Square
New Town
(0)131 557 0088
Mon-Sat 8am-late, Sun 11am-5.30pm
£10 - £20

For quintessential Italian food and wine in modern surroundings, this is hard to beat. There is a café/delicatessen on the ground floor with a restaurant upstairs. It belongs to the Contini family who own Valvona & Crolla, the city's revered Italian deli. Classic black and white silent films add to the atmosphere.

Urban Angel
121 Hanover Street
(0)131 225 6215
Mon-Thurs 10am-10pm, Fri/Sat 10am-11pm, Sun 10am-5pm
£14 - £18
This relaxed semi-basement eaterie serving organic food, is a trendy haunt for lunching ladies, suits and students. Décor is sparse. Eat simply - soup and couscous salad, or heartily - pork loin and clapshot mash. The cakes are excellent.

Iglu
2B Jamaica Street
New Town
(0)131 476 5333
Two-course lunch, £12.95.

Tucked away at the end of a cobbled lane in a residential street above a cosy bar displaying contemporary artworks, this simple little restaurant offers unfussy food (mostly organic and local). The menu changes daily and might include Arbroath smokie fishcakes and wild boar saddle chops as well as Scottish cheeses and home-produced liquors.

Tipping

Hotels in Edinburgh, Scotland