Edinburgh, Scottish Restaurant Guide

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.

“You’d have to travel a long way to find another dining room as grand” as this sumptuous cupola-topped venue – the eye-catching old Bank of Scotland above Waverley station – which is now part of the first city hotel spin-off from the storied Perthshire hotel (replete with “beautiful” bedrooms, rooftop bar and members’ club). Some 98 years younger than that grand icon, which celebrated its centenary in 2024, the all-day restaurant, which turns out upscale brasserie fare from sharing dishes to a decadent dessert trolley, failed this year to elicit huge amounts of feedback: brunch, previously a highlight, is now once-monthly only, while the other victuals can seem “good but not exciting”, thus “not up to the elevated surroundings”.

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.

“Off the scale for the quality you receive”, say fans of Paul & Lisa Wedgwood’s fixture, which first opened in a basement on the Royal Mile in 2007. Scottish sourcing is a key feature of the menus: both the à la carte, or also the more culinarily exotic tasting menu which provides a ‘Wee Tour of Scotland’ in nine-to-ten courses for £85: dishes such as Sea Trout, new potato, peppers, sea vegetables, and cherry tomato or Avon valley roe deer loin, black pudding & bone marrow, neeps, cabbage, and mushrooms.

2022 Review: In 2021, Gordon Craig and wife Lucy moved their well-rated operation of five years’ standing from Raeburn Place to this new address in the New Town, on the site of Le Roi Fou (RIP). Our feedback remains enthusiastic for its innovative use of British ingredients. “There’s a market menu, which is a steal, and full tasting options if you’re feeling hungrier. Highly recommended”.

2023 Review: “Like a Gallic hug”, chef-patron Fred Berkmiller’s “properly sourced old-school French cuisine” comes packaged with “Gallic good humour, impeccable service and quirky decoration in this wonderfully authentic restaurant”, “now with new wine bar underneath”. Sadly, its nearby sibling L’Escargot Blanc closed down last year after 18 years.

“On a dark winter’s night there is nowhere more romantic than The Witchery” – a rambling, dramatic, candle-lit space constructed from buildings at the gates of the castle that date back to 1595. Once, Auld Reekie’s most famous restaurant address, nowadays it’s not as prominent as some in the City but still a favourite for a special date (so long as it’s of the expense-be-damned variety!). Regulars have their favourite space – be it the intricately wood-panelled room at the front or the rear ‘Secret Garden’. Its traditional Scottish fare was more consistently rated this year although it’s not unfair to say that the cellar – which has 600 bins – regularly eclipses the menu. For the full romantic experience, book one of their incredible bedrooms.

2023 Review: “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).

2024 Review: “The food is of the highest standard” at chef Maciej Szymik’s modern European spot, tucked away in the New Town – “we were lucky to stumble on it”. There’s “only a handful of tables in each room, which gives the feel of quasi-private dining”. “My only real criticism is the portion sizes are too large – it just wasn’t possible to leave room for dessert”.

“Beautiful, austere candle-lit decor” makes the Radford family’s brick-walled warehouse (originally built as a props and costume store) in the city-centre an atmospheric choice as well as a culinarily accomplished one. It is rated on limited feedback in this year’s annual diners’ poll, continuing the high marks of last year, and ongoing reports of “exceptional” meals match its reputation as one of Michelin’s few starred restaurants in the city. The evening five-course tasting menu is £130 per person.

“Love this restaurant – just my kind of place…” is a sentiment shared by many on the merits of Lloyd Morse and James Snowdon’s “busy, bustling” West End spot, whose “superb and interesting meals” make it several reporters’ “absolute favourite in Edinburgh”. Set in “an old banking hall with stone floors and lots of hard wood surfaces, it can get disarmingly noisy”, and natural wine sceptics need to be vigilant. It is, though, “a great place to take a vegan friend”, even though “non-vegan options predominate”. Top Menu Tip – “epic bread and butter”.

Tom & Michaela Kitchin’s upmarket Scottish gastroboozer (est. 2013) is an “excellent” spot that’s “always fun to visit” – and “child-friendly too” (“a saviour” if you are sprogged-up). The hearty grub (“would go back just for that steak pie!”) is “good value”, while there’s a hint of Scandi in the décor, nodding to Michaela’s Swedish heritage. These days, the Kitchin mini-empire also stretches to ‘The Kitchin’, in Leith, and restaurant-with-rooms ‘The Bonnie Badger’, in the coastal village of Gullane, a short drive from Edinburgh.

“Always a must-do when visiting Edinburgh” applaud the many fans of Tom & Michaela Kitchin’s converted warehouse in Leith, which – impressively for a twenty-year-old destination – was the most commented-on restaurant in the Scottish Capital in our annual diners’ poll this year. On occasion, “Tom Kitchen is there and comes out to greet new diners” and a visit is “consistently a treat” down to its “attentive service despite the fully booked restaurant” and “excellent-value-for-money, Michelin-starred food”. That said, its ratings have been higher – they were dragged down this year by a minority who found the experience “overpriced”: the three-course à la carte menu is £130 per person, or there is a ‘Surprise Tasting Menu’ for £165 per person. (Cheapskates go at lunch for three courses for £69 per person). Top Tip – “The menu around game season is unbeatable”.

This old inn by the Union Canal, close to Edinburgh airport, is a “really lovely place to sit and watch the barges go by” while eating “well executed classics” from the superior gastropub menu – and it’s “nice to see seasonal game on the menu, too”.

Aizle chef-patron Stuart Ralston’s third Edinburgh restaurant (he’s since launched fine-diner Lyla) is a bright and airy first-floor New Town spot with striking pale wood décor and “great Italian food” by absolutely all accounts. Conjuring up worrying visions, William Sitwell in The Telegraph’s January 2024 review praised the venue for “snacks I’d run naked through a howling gale for”, but their small plates also attract plenty of attention (and are rounded out by seriously good homemade pasta).

“Just ridiculously delicious food… the snacks alone are a joy” – Stuart Ralston took over the site that was previously 21212 to launch this highly regarded two-year-old, which occupies a “beautiful and simple dining room” on Royal Terrace. The focus is on Scotland’s finest fish and seafood, served (at dinner) as part of a 10-course menu for £165 per person praised in feedback for its “great respect for ingredients and fantastic execution”. Top Menu Tips – “Sample course from a lunch in January – a dry-aged scallop with walnut and razor clam. All the depth, flavour and texture of scallop; walnut crunch; properly tender and edible razor clam (frequently not the case!). Plus a little side tart made from the scallop roe. Gorgeous”.

“An exceptional all-round favourite” – there’s a buzz about this new venue from the owners of Timberyard, and their head chef, James Murray, who have taken over this Victorian pub at Abbeyhill to create a bar offering funky small plates, plus a small restaurant offering a tasting menu for £80 per person. The Times, The Scotsman, The Herald… all have also awarded rave reviews.

“Cracking concept, expertly delivered” – chef Brian Grigor presides over the 12-seat U-shaped counter of this Stockbridge two-year-old, where he delivers a seven-course tasting menu for £105 per person, supported by sommelier Glen Montgomery who looks after the liquid refreshments. Their successful aim is neatly summarised on their website: to ‘showcase the best produce in Scotland, served perfectly in season alongside carefully chosen wines’ and a meal might feature East Neuk Lobster, Loin of Highland Venison or locally sourced Brambles. “Outstanding”.