Loanhead Restaurant Guide

Conor Toomey’s “outstanding food continues to surprise and delight” all who experience his “excellent” three-hour no-choice tasting menus (at £150 per person), while there is “good interactive service” and the “wine pairings are the best ever”. The only criticism is directed at the dining room, which is “a little sparse” – with diners saying that cuisine of this monumental quality “deserves a better setting than a glorified shop”.

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.

This “marvellous” seafood bistro beside Edinburgh’s Meadows from chef Phil White and FoH Rachel Chisholm pleases guests with “carefully prepared food” – “and if you get a seat at the window you see a mile of green space with a volcano in the distance (inert), in the middle of a capital city”. Top Menu Tips – “lovely hake, and the octopus was cooked to perfection”.

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.

2023 Review: This “buzzing and reliable” home-grown homage to New York-style pizza sells its “great” versions by the slice – “the slices are enormous and one will suffice most people” – in four outlets with a “quirky vibe and music (American rock and hip-hop)”. “Their motto is branded on every cup and menu: ‘Death Before Dominos’!”

This spin-off from the famous Glasgow original “never fails to hit the spot” with its “terrific” Indian cooking, served in tapas-sized portions to taste and share. It’s “great for lunch after a visit to the Dovecot Studios”, a contemporary tapestry gallery next door in Edinburgh’s Old Town.

2021 Review: This “stylish and relaxed” Italian wine bar and restaurant occupies a basement in the Old Town, and provides a “guaranteed night out” with “high-class food” and in particular an “excellent wine list” – “under the masterly direction of maître d’ Silvio Praino”. Part of the Vittoria group owned by a branch of the Italo-Scottish Crolla clan, it celebrates its 10th anniversary last year.

2021 Review: “Get the best seats in the place” (at the back, which offers “beautiful views” of the castle) to make the most of a visit to this city-centre staple, also turning out “enjoyable” cuisine of a modern European bent.

2021 Review: “Making other fine dining establishments in town look somewhat staid, out of touch and overpriced” – this April 2018 newcomer is “superb”, and some would say “the best restaurant to have opened in Edinburgh in recent times”. “A charismatic space” with “splendid service” – “the reference on its website to ‘progressive Italian dining’ is accurate” and the modern cuisine is “outstanding” – “go downstairs to see the kitchen in action”. To match the fine cooking there’s “an exceptional, mostly Italian, wine list”.

Just off the Royal Mile, this aubergine-hued stalwart café (est. 2002) is one of Scotland’s best known veggie/vegan haunts, owing to its “imaginative dishes” that deftly incorporate influences from the Mediterranean to the Pacific and subcontinent; “pleasant service” adds to its appeal.

Credited with introducing the principles of ‘new Nordic’ cuisine to Scottish ingredients, the Radford family’s converted Victorian warehouse (originally built as a props & costume store) impresses all who visit with its foraged or pickled produce and low-intervention wines. Last year it celebrated its tenth anniversary and opened a spin-off wine bar/restaurant, Montrose House, in the Abbeyhill area. The entry-level option for dining here is a five-course tasting menu for £95 per person.

Run by Marcelline Levicky, this lovely “small bistro” in the New Town is a real longtime favourite owing to its “well-presented” Gallic dishes that don’t make too much of a dent in the wallet (its two-course lunches and dinners ringing in at £17/£27 per person respectively).

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.

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.

2021 Review: “Another venture from the Valvona family, in the premises that used to house Khushi’s (RIP)”. Tony Crolla has transformed this former Old Town church into a “large and buzzy” £3 million fish ’n’ chip restaurant (Scotland’s largest). Early feedback cites “very good fish ’n’ chips and friendly, prompt service”. Top Menu Tip – deep-fried Mars Bar!