Edinburgh Restaurant Guide

“The finest selection of oysters and mussels”, “exquisite seafood platters”, “Scottish game”, “champagne and whisky”, “a cracking wine selection with some big hitters” – all of it served in the “beautiful setting” of an ornate Victorian bar. No wonder that “it’s a busy place”, so you “need to book ahead”.

“Mouth-watering steaks” from both sides of the border and seafood from the Scottish coasts are the draws to the northern capital’s outpost of this powerhouse carnivorous chain, and the grand hall of the former Bank of Scotland HQ makes a “magnificent setting for top-notch food”. While the feedback is positive, there is less of it than we might have anticipated this year.

2022 Review: Launched in July 2021, Scotland’s largest food hall (and Edinburgh’s first) features a range of chef-led food stalls and restaurants. These include The Gannet East, Creel Caught, Erpingham House, El Perro Negro, east PIZZAS, Broken Clock, Joelato, Salt & Chilli Oriental and CHIX. Also houses Inverarity Morton’s boutique bottleshop.

“Top-quality food a country mile from your average curry house”, inspired by the Parsi cafes of Mumbai, keeps the sole Scottish link in this nine-branch chain extremely busy. “I usually go for independent restaurants but Dishoom has been consistently excellent and maintained lovely service over various dinners this year”. The only real problem is a veto on evening bookings, which makes it “difficult to get into – in four attempted visits I have only been able to get in once! The queues are half-way down the street. Worth it, though!”

“A fun, cheerful Mexican atmosphere” and “enjoyable, fresh tasting” street food dishes can still make “an excellent standby” of this stalwart chain, which has 10 sites in London nowadays. “Even if nothing on the menu is going to wow, its consistent quality and value are reassuring”, with ratings and popularity starting to regain their historic high standing since a majority stake was sold to Nando’s owner, Dick Enthoven, a couple of years ago.

With its attractive and convenient setting overlooking St Andrew’s Square, this iteration of the Ivy generates a reasonable number of reports but somewhat limited enthusiasm – “fairly average food which tends to be expensive for what is now a chain restaurant”.

As of October 2022, the UK’s third branch of this luxurious and expensive wagyu-to-sushi brand is still ‘Coming Soon’ on the website of the vast St James Quarter development, whose rooftop it is to inhabit… as it has been for ages now.

With 33 bedrooms, the first-ever spin-off from the world famous sporting estate finally opened in June 2022 (it was originally scheduled for 2021) in the former HQ of the Bank of Scotland, complete with an all-day restaurant under the cupola of the former banking hall that’s relatively casual for this grand address. In July 2022, Gaby Soutar of the Scotsman paid it a visit, declaring the food offering as “casual, but with luxurious tweaks. Birthday food”. All seemed generally very satisfactory, although the review stops short of being an out-and-out rave.

2022 Review: MasterChef: The Professionals winner Gary Maclean opened his first restaurant in summer 2021 on the fourth floor of the Bonnie & Wild Marketplace: Edinburgh's first food hall in St James Quarter. The menu champions sustainable Scottish seafood, with the ‘award-winning Arbroath Smokies’ a signature dish.

2021 Review: David Howie Scott’s flagship venue at the foot of Calton Hill celebrates its 30th anniversary last year as a purveyor of inexpensive Scottish classics. The odd reporter feels that it’s “nice enough, but not the stand-out it could be”, but that’s within the context of pretty solid ratings overall. There are two spinoffs in Edinburgh and one in Aberdeen.

Since 2001, Jean-Michel Gauffre’s bistro has been a “friendly and welcoming” feature of the Old Town, serving a “delightful southern French/Mediterranean menu, and in particular the authentic cuisine of Languedoc” with “regional wines” to match.

2021 Review: Owned by the Crolla family (who started Valvona & Crolla, Scotland’s oldest deli and Italian wine merchant – see also), this sixteenth century fine dining spot is a beacon on the otherwise touristy Royal Mile owing to its “well-cooked and well-seasoned” Scottish fare and “good value Sunday lunch”; for a truly intimate dining experience, try ‘Halo’, upstairs, which seats just four.

“Is this the most amazing restaurant space in Edinburgh, if not Scotland?” – “perched high up on Calton Hill and looking down on the city” from a striking cantilevered structure – “who could resist the irresistible view of the Rose of the North?”. The bistro-style food is “thoroughly excellent” in some accounts – in others it’s “great... but not as good as you want it to be, when you really want it to match the amazing setting”.

2021 Review: The oldest trad boozer on the Royal Mile (est 1742) has now been reincarnated as an oyster and seafood bar – the name switching connotation from the equine to the maritime. It has won immediate high ratings for its “outstanding” crustacea.