Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in City Of Edinburgh
Hardens guides have spent 32 years compiling reviews of the best City Of Edinburgh restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 45 restaurants in City Of Edinburgh and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing City Of Edinburgh restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured City Of Edinburgh Restaurants
1. Number One, Balmoral Hotel
British, Modern restaurant in Edinburgh
1 Princes Street - EH2
Chef Matthew Sherry has now had a year at the flagship dining room of this Edinburgh landmark, which manages to be “incredibly grand and imposing” for somewhere in a windowless basement (“the tables are all so far away from each other!)”. Long known as one of Scotland’s foremost restaurants, ratings here haven’t skipped a beat despite Michelin having removed its star on the retirement of Jeff Bland. Service still “runs like clockwork”; and on the basis of the high-quality reports we receive (one such: “we have been for dinner twice in the last six months and had the seven-course set menu with matched wines both times… expensive but worth it”) the Tyre Man owes them their star back some time soon.
2. Aizle
Scottish restaurant in Edinburgh
The Garden Room in The Kimpton Hotel, 38 Charlotte Square - EH2
“A lovely setting in the atrium that’s not too formal and with a pleasant buzz” sets the scene at Stuart Ralston’s bright, glass-roofed hotel dining room (he and his team moved on from a previous venture of the same name in Newington a couple of years ago). All reports acclaim “outstandingly good and inventive cooking” from the six-course menu (going up to £105 per person in 2023 from £85) and “friendly service”.
3. The Stockbridge
British, Modern restaurant in Edinburgh
54 St Stephen's St - EH3
Jane Walker & chef Jason Gallagher run this traditional venue in Stockbridge, which is praised as an “intimate and special” place with “well-prepared food, plus efficient and professional service”. The only gripe this year? “some dishes seemed a bit too experimental”.
4. Navadhanya Edinburgh
Indian restaurant in Corstorphine
88 Haymarket Terrace - EH12
2019 Review: This contemporary four-year-old near Haymarket Station very consistently produces imaginative ‘nouvelle Indian’ cuisine of superior quality.
5. Pizzeria 1926
Pizza restaurant in Edinburgh
85 Dalry Road - EH11
2021 Review: “From the owners of nearby Locanda De Gusti” – this three-year-old sibling is praised for its “authentic Neapolitan pizza” and at a good price too.
6. The Palmerston
Scottish restaurant in Edinburgh
1 Palmerston Place - EH12
This year-old venture in a converted bank – restaurant, bar, bakery, coffee shop and butchery – “has taken Edinburgh by storm” with its “very unfussy and robust cooking, relaxed atmosphere” – and its excellent in-house baked goods. The “shabby-chic premises belie stunning prep and cooking” from ex-Spring chef Lloyd Morse, who has teamed up with ex-Harwood Arms GM James Snowdon. Top Tip – “on no account depart without buying one of their loaves”.
7. Dumplings of China
Chinese, Dim sum restaurant in Edinburgh
60 Home Street - EH3
2022 Review: “Really good, cheap Chinese food” is the order of the day at this “fun” two-year-old, featuring whitewashed brick walls and a long, refreshingly unusual menu that incorporates the headline event alongside BBQ dishes, noodles etc.
8. Dean Banks at The Pompadour
British, Modern restaurant in Edinburgh
Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh - The Caledonian, Princes Street - EH1
“A superb location, where the chef's culinary skills are effectively displayed” – Dean Banks is succeeding where others have failed in this plush and “romantic” dining room, dating from 1925. Culinarily speaking, it’s in a similar ambitious vein to his St Andrews venture, Haar, and even a reporter who thought it is “maybe a bit pricey” concludes that “the quality of food and the high standards effectively make this a no-brainer to visit”.
9. Grazing by Mark Greenaway
British, Modern restaurant in Edinburgh
Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh (The Caledonian), Rutland Street - EH1
2022 Review: “In the Caledonian Hotel (Waldorf Astoria)” for the past couple of years, in a space previously occupied by the Galvin brothers, Mark Greenaway's hyped modern English and Scottish venture may be a little ill-named (it's less about sharing plates than heftier options) but receives feedback that’s notably sound, including for the “fab” puds and “well-presented” Sunday lunch.
10. Kanpai
Japanese restaurant in Edinburgh
8 - 10 Grindlay Street - EH3
2021 Review: “Tasty, freshly prepared sushi” and “friendly service” can be found at this “very popular” Japanese: a stylishly minimal operation near the Lyceum Theatre – from the team behind Sushiya.
11. Timberyard
Scottish restaurant in Edinburgh
10 Lady Lawson St - EH3
The Radford family’s Victorian warehouse conversion remains “relentlessly inventive and delicious”, a decade after they were among the first to bring the lessons of ‘new Nordic’ cuisine to Scotland, with foraged or pickled ingredients presented in industrial-style premises. Head chef James Murray (ex-Lyles, Le Manoir & Nur in Hong Kong) joined the team last year. Natural and low-intervention wines are also an important part of the experience. Even a diner who felt “the food is overhyped” said “what an amazing place!”
12. Scran & Scallie
Scottish restaurant in Edinburgh
1 Comely Bank Rd - EH4
“Everything is spot-on” at this “lively” and “inventive” gastropub from a top-class chef – “we love it, and it’s great to take international visitors as it showcases Scottish produce”. With its “good pies and loads of local beers”, the place “doesn’t forget it’s a pub” – but the “wonderful, skilled cooking” makes it “more than just that”. He might not like to hear this, but “we enjoyed this far more than Tom Kitchin’s main restaurant”.
13. Chaophraya
Thai restaurant in Edinburgh
33 Castle St - EH2
2021 Review: “Excellent views from the conservatory” – including possibly “the best view of the castle, if you get the right table” – are incentive enough to visit this branch of an eight-strong Thai chain. It also delivers “surprisingly good and inexpensive food”.
14. Rico's
Italian restaurant in Edinburgh
58a Castle Street - EH2
“Amazing Italian cooking using Scottish produce – impeccable – and with outstanding service” inspires excellent feedback on this stylish and moodily decorated New Town site. It was opened in mid 2021 by Stefano Pieraccini of the Rocca Group in premises vacated by Martin Wishart’s The Honour (RIP).
15. Contini George Street
Italian restaurant in Edinburgh
103 George Street - EH2
This “busy and atmospheric” restaurant with “reliably excellent pasta dishes” (plus, unusually, ‘full Scottish breakfasts’) was opened almost 20 years ago in a former banking hall by Victor Contini, whose family has brought their Italian heritage to bear on the Scottish food scene for more than a century. The venue’s success has led to further openings, at the Scottish National Gallery and in Cannonball House, next door to Edinburgh Castle.
16. Nok's Kitchen
Thai restaurant in Edinburgh
8 Gloucester Street - EH3
“Beautiful Thai food just off the main Stockbridge thoroughfare is well worth a detour”, according to fans of this “friendly and professional” operation in a seventeenth-century townhouse. Since late 2020, it has also had a sibling near the castle.
17. The Witchery by the Castle
Scottish restaurant in Edinburgh
Castlehill, The Royal Mile - EH1
“Definitely an experience” – James Thomson’s “glorious” 40-year restoration of a 1595 merchant’s house next to the castle makes a “totally unique and intimate location” for a candle-lit meal, either in the wood-panelled dining room, filled with leather furnishings and hung with tapestries, or in the ‘Secret Garden’. The “atmospheric setting” is “perfect for a romantic dinner” so long as you “don’t expect too much gastronomically” from the traditional menu – and there is a “killer wine list – sorry, Wine Bible”.
18. The Rabbit Hole
British, Modern restaurant in Edinburgh
11 Roseneath Street - EH9
2022 Review: “Good all round” – this popular and well-priced Marchmont venue keeps a local crowd happy with the French-accented dishes sent out by its owner-chefs, a Sicilian/Canadian couple who live nearby. A proper two-course lunch costs under £20, which adds to the appeal.
19. Café St-Honoré
French restaurant in Edinburgh
34 NW Thistle Street Ln - EH2
“Tucked away in a back street off George Street” you’ll find a little corner of “Left Bank Paris preserved en gelée” – serving “divine French bistro food” that’s “just right for a romantic tryst”. “This long standing restaurant continues to show others that great ingredients well prepared shine through”, while demonstrating “outstanding commitment to local small suppliers”.
20. Purslane
British, Modern restaurant in Edinburgh
33A St Stephen Street - EH3
“Every course is delicious and made with meticulous care” at Paul Gunning’s small venue in a Stockbridge basement. In the evening the choice is between a 5-course and 7-course tasting menu, and it provides “excellent value (especially at lunchtime with the set 2-course and 3-course menus)”.
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