Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Edinburgh
Hardens guides have spent 31 years compiling reviews of the best Edinburgh restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 78 restaurants in Edinburgh and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Edinburgh restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Edinburgh Restaurants
1. Wedgwood
Scottish restaurant in Edinburgh
267 Canongate - EH8
Bang on (and partly under) the Royal Mile – Paul & Lisa Wedgwood’s contemporary Scottish establishment (est. 2007) is “consistently of very high quality”. The menu (à la carte or tasting) makes the very best of local, seasonal produce – an approach which Paul explores in popular guided foraging tours.
2. Aizle
Scottish restaurant in Edinburgh
The Garden Room in The Kimpton Hotel, 38 Charlotte Square - EH2
This former Newington fixture decamped to the Garden Room at the Kimpton Hotel in July 2020, with early reports suggesting that “the new premises are smarter and suit the food well”. “You might have seen their head chef, Stuart Ralston, on 'Great British Chef' this year, but it's the most welcoming and comfortable place – feel free to wear shorts – whilst the food is superb”. Showcased in a six-course tasting menu entirely baked, fermented etc. in-house, dishes are “quite involved” (one reporter’s meal ran as follows: “Daikon and trout in a wonderful clear tomato consomme; wild halibut with peas, sea vegetables and a cream jus; scallops with pickled lettuce and a poached onion or lamb three ways; a strawberry and sheep’s milk pre-pudding; sorrel, chocolate and fudge and then petits fours”).
3. Gardener’s Cottage
British, Modern restaurant in Edinburgh
1 Royal Terrace Gardens, London Road - EH7
2021 Review: “The menu is fixed and you sit at one of three large tables with others” at this quirky venture, which occupies a stone cottage in Royal Terrace Gardens. You get what you’re given from a mystery tasting menu on which sustainability is to the fore, with many of the ingredients grown by Charlie the gardener. On practically all reports the food is well-rated, and they must be doing something right having last year now opened The Lookout (see also).
4. The Stockbridge
British, Modern restaurant in Edinburgh
54 St Stephen's St - EH3
“Attentive service and perfectly cooked dishes” win praise for this traditionally decorated, picture-lined basement serving Scottish cuisine.
5. Rhubarb, Prestonfield Hotel
Scottish restaurant in Edinburgh
Priestfield Rd - EH16
“You are greeted by peacocks and a Highland cow” at this former private estate, where you “dine in a historic room” that’s been done up to the nines. “Staff are very relaxed for such a sublime interior” and the food’s pretty good too. The owner is James Thomson, who owns Edinburgh’s Witchery, and his lavish-verging-on-kitsch design DNA is evident in both venues.
6. Number One, Balmoral Hotel
British, Modern restaurant in Edinburgh
1 Princes Street - EH2
“One of Scotland's finest” – the “super club-like” basement of this landmark hotel has long been one of the city’s main culinary attractions, providing a splendid mix of sophisticated decor (especially given that it’s subterranean), alongside “excellent service, luxurious tasting menus and high-quality wines”. Former Northcote head chef Matthew Sherry took over at the stoves in 2021 and devised new three- and seven-course menus focused on Scottish produce.
7. The Café Royal Bar
Fish & seafood restaurant in Edinburgh
19 West Register Street - EH2
“Super fish and seafood” are served in considerable style within the “glorious surroundings” of a beautifully preserved Victorian interior at this atmospheric city-centre venue.
8. Hawksmoor
Steaks & grills restaurant in Edinburgh
23 West Register Street - EH2
“Melt-in-the-mouth meat the whole way” wins ongoing support for the Scottish outpost of this famous, zeitgeisty steakhouse chain – a big, 185-cover operation housed in the imposing former HQ of the Bank of Scotland. That said, it inspired less feedback than we expected this year.
9. Bonnie & Wild’s Scottish Marketplace
Scottish restaurant in Edinburgh
St James Quarter, 415-417 St James Crescent - EH1
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.
10. Dishoom Edinburgh
Indian restaurant in Edinburgh
3a St Andrew Square - EH2
“The only chain restaurant that is truly interesting” – so say local fans of this hit venture, now with eight branches nationally, which draws inspiration from the vintage Parsi cafés of Mumbai; for those who haven't yet succumbed, their bacon naan in particular can prove “a revelation”.
11. Wahaca
Mexican/TexMex restaurant in Edinburgh
16 South St Andrew Street - EH2
“Tasty Mexican street food” at this “buzzing” chain still wins over plenty of supporters, who swear by its “fresh, wholesome, family-friendly” grub (ideal for “when you’re on the hoof”). Others, though, complain that “the menu is getting a bit tired” and the “flavours can be a bit hit and miss outside the standard dishes”. Financial losses during the pandemic forced the chain to close nearly half its branches and sell a majority stake to South African billionaire Dick Enthoven, owner of Nandos. Founded in 2007 by former MasterChef winner Thomasina Miers and Mark Selby, it now has 10 remaining branches in London as well as venues in Brighton, Cardiff and Edinburgh.
12. The Ivy on the Square
British, Traditional restaurant in Edinburgh
6 St Andrew Square - EH2
As per its siblings, this Ivy spinoff combines a “lovely”, art-filled location (in this case overlooking St Andrew's Square), some “very good” if slightly ordinary food, and prices “on the expensive side” – but, like its siblings, no one seems to mind too much.
13. Sushisamba
Fusion restaurant in Edinburgh
W Hotel Edinburgh, St James's Quarter - EH1
Due to open in 2021 (or possibly 2022), the UK's third branch of glossy and lovely (and expensive) Sushisamba at the second ever W hotel. This one will be part of the vast St James’s Quarter redevelopment. The restaurant will be on the rooftop of the distinctive 'ribboned' building.
14. The Spence at Gleneagles Townhouse
Scottish restaurant in Edinburgh
39 St Andrew Square - EH2
The iconic sporting estate is launching its first ever city spinoff in Autumn 2021, taking over the old Bank of Scotland headquarters in New Town, and offering 33 bedrooms, a private members’ club and an all-day restaurant. This last is located in the former banking hall – from the visuals shared the look will be one of august, traditional beauty but, in a sign of modernism. the food offering is focused more on brunch than it is on afternoon tea, apparently.
15. Creel Caught
Scottish restaurant in Edinburgh
Bonnie & Wild Marketplace, St James Quarter, 415-417 St James Crescent - EH1
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.
16. Howies
Scottish restaurant in Edinburgh
29 Waterloo Place - EH1
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.
17. La Garrigue
French restaurant in Edinburgh
31 Jeffrey St - EH1
“Excellent cooking and a beautiful spot” in Edinburgh’s Old Town make Jean-Michel Gauffre’s stalwart, which celebrates its 21st anniversary this year, “well worth a visit for the rich food and wines of the Languedoc”. (The proprietor – and his kitchen – put in a particularly impressive lockdown performance, with “superb” home deliveries and a “truly interesting and readable newsletter”: so “now we’re allowed back into restaurants with a glass of wine, I’ll be back at La Garrigue with a considerable new respect”.)
18. Angels With Bagpipes
British, Traditional restaurant in Edinburgh
343 High St, Royal Mile - EH1
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.
19. The Lookout by Gardener's Cottage
British, Modern restaurant in Edinburgh
Calton Hill - EH7
“Spectacular views over Edinburgh” and “subtly flavoured” modern bistro fare are twin incentives to visit this eye-catching cantilevered structure, partially suspended over Carlton Hill – “a must for any visitor to this beautiful city!”.
20. White Horse Oyster & Seafood Bar
Fish & seafood restaurant in Edinburgh
266 Canongate - EH8
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.
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