Edinburgh is a particular highlight for those who love eating out, being the best-provided dining conurbation outside the Smoke. So just in case you’re planning a trip to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August – we shine the spotlight on dining in Scotland’s capital. From hot new restaurants to old favourites, trendy street food to finding the perfect breakfast (of perfect hangover cure!) we’ve got your visit to this beautiful city covered…
For modern fine dining
One of the best additions to Edinburgh’s thriving restaurant scene, Norn opened to much press adulation last year. It is located near The Shore in Leith (also home to Tom Kitchin’s restaurant and Restaurant Martin Wishart). Run by chef Scott Smith and wife Laura, the tasting menu changes every day depending on what the local suppliers have delivered that morning and the team have foraged. Dishes are matched with the natural wine list.
The street-food market
This street food market launched earlier in the year and is really off the beaten path, but well worth a visit. It started on a monthly basis, but is on every Saturday now over the summer from 12noon until 10pm – food vendors change but you’ll usually find Harajuku Kitchen and their amazing gyoza there as well as Barnacles and Bones and The Marshmallow Lady. There’s locally brewed beers and music – family and dog friendly.
The bar and beer garden
This hip bar and restaurant is located between Tollcross and Bruntsfield and serves great food and even better cocktails. But once the sun comes out everything moves out the back to their secret beer garden. From the street you would have no idea that the bar plays host to a buzzing, boozy sun trap! Throughout the summer they serve drinks from a garden shed cum bar with different events on Thursday – Sundays.
The Evening Spot
Tucked down a traditional iron wrought staircase beneath L’Escargot Bleu on Broughton Street is one of the most relaxing spots in Edinburgh for a glass or two of wine accompanied very nicely with some superb cheese and charcuterie boards. The converted living room has retained its familiar and welcoming atmosphere with staff to match. A great place to get away from the Festival crowds!
The Breakfast
Smoothly modish, understated and irrefutably hipster, Checkpoint, which is housed in a former church, is the freshest restaurant to hit Bristo Place in years. Serving food from 9am to midnight, the internationally influenced menu, crafted by Head Chef Phil Lynch, offers diners incomparable breakfast options. They’ve inspired the conventional Scottish menu with a little Asian flare, and even put a spin on the typical morning roll; ‘Philthy Rolls’ are a must at Checkpoint. The menu changes seasonally and is built on a philosophy of sociable dining – featuring tasty small bites, as well as single and sharing size dishes.
The Hangover Cure
No trip to Edinburgh is really complete without a few local libations, so you’ll need somewhere really good up your sleeve for a restorative brunch the next day. Located near Arthur’s Seat this Scottish BBQ joint is perfect post a bracing walk. It is open from 11.30 am until they sell out, usually between 6-8 pm. It’s un-fancy counter service but when you have a platter of melt-in-the-mouth BBQ’d meat (brisket, ribs, pulled pork, burnt ends) in front of you you’ll soon forget the basic surroundings. Plus there’s home-made Irn Bru BBQ sauce!
The Old Favourites… Edinburgh’s top 5 restaurants according to our 2016 survey
A “consistently great, neighbourhood bistro” in Morningside, where “the best ingredients are treated with respect” to create some “stunning”dishes, served very “professionally”. There’s an “unbelievably good-value set lunch, but à la carte shows how well they can cook if you want to trade up” (and “it still won’t break the bank”).
