Edinburgh restaurant recommendations
 

Would anyone be willing to recommend a few really good restaurants in Edinburgh? We eat absolutely everything, have no food allergies, etc.

Thanks!

When my son and I were in Edinburgh two years ago we had what he still refers to as the best Indian meal he's ever eaten. The restaurant was called Iman's. It was just up the road from our B&B so it was convenient for us. But, as it was about a 15 minute walk from the Royal Mile, it might not be so convenient for you.

We also enjoyed a quick lunch on the Royal Mile at Wannaburger:
www.wannaburger.com

It's very touristy and you have to expect a wait but the fish and chips at Deacon Brodie's (also on the Royal Mile) is pretty good.

Just a few ideas to get you started but hoping you'll get lots more!

From my trip report:

Three [restaurants] stayed in my mind: The first one was in a vegetarian restaurant (http://www.hendersonsofedinburgh.co.uk/ --$70) that was a throwback to the early days of vegetarianism. Even the lasagna tasted as if it had tofu, as if a traditional lasagna could not be vegetarian--although since it advertises that it offers vegan dishes, that may have been the problem (they need lessons from Millennium in SF). The live jazz duet (guitar and double bass) provided pleasant background music. Our friend had simply put in her mind that the restaurant sounded good, but it was a disappointment. The Blue Parrot Cantina’s 49 St Stephen Street ($138 for 5) food had been adapted too much to the local palate. But the best meal we had in Scotland when taking account the food, the ambiance and the service was The Stockbridge Restaurant ($77) (http://www.thestockbridgerestaurant.com/ ). We found it because the local neighborhood held a flower/garden competition and the first prize was a meal at that restaurant. Given the neighborhood--New Town--and the probable income levels, we figured that the restaurant must be quite good to be offered as a first prize, and it was.

Check out Timeout.com - lots of sneakers on the ground of their writers so you should be able to get good recommendations. Definitely find a decent Indian place (we found one right outside the Castle on Johnston Terrace, don't recall the name) because chicken tikka masala is the national dish of the UK.

The only place I specifically recall is Tippoo Sultan, but that's not particularly good - it was just close to our Guest House and I'd just read Sharpe's Tiger so the Tippoo of Mysore struck a chord.

Thanks so much for these suggestions. We love Indian food, so we'll definitely try to find a good one. The Stockbridge looks great as well.

Has anyone tried The Kitchin? It was featured on one of Tony Bourdain's shows from 2008, and it looks really interesting. I'm so glad to see that it's apparently still doing well.

http://www.thekitchin.com/kitchin/home

enjoyed our pre-theatre dinner here

http://www.petitparis-restaurant.co.uk/

Loved The Kitchen. Wonderfully creative food; cool, eclectic environment; and excellent service. I highly recommend it.

The Creel, Just off the Royal Mile near the Ibis hotel - excellent fresh seafood and if they have celeriac soup be sure to order it

David Bann's also near the Royal Mile and what a vegetarian restaurant should be but usually is not. No tofu palace here. Most likely will need reservations.

Urban Angel has excellent very fresh food, good prices and is popular with folks in the neighborhood. Try the vegetarian haggis - a contradiction in terms but very tasty.

For a fun evening, Sandy Bell's Pub, also near the RM. Local musicians jam there nightly around 9pm. Scottish folk type music mostly.

Try the Kalpna for good Indian food. I like Dogs, and the Brasserie at the Scotsman and Vincaffe- and too many others to mention, really

The Witchery is at the top of the Royal Mile and is very good

www.thewitchery.com

I've also eaten at Rhubarb, a very enjoyable experience.

http://www.prestonfield.com/Dining-R...estaurant.html

The Kitchin is very good but a bit away from the centre in Leith

http://www.thekitchin.com/kitchin/home

These three are all what our US friends call "high end".

The Witchery is indeed excellent,with high end dinner prices to match. The prices are far better if you go there for lunch. You will need a reservation either time. The service there is extraordinary.

BS2 brings up a good point - the high end restaurants will likely have lower prices for lunch and you can make that your big meal for the day and explore Edinburgh at night, which can be interesting considering all the Closes and hidden passages (tours tend to be good for this, even with the contrived scare tactic at the end).

What do you mean by 'really good' (Michelin starred ?), what sort of food do you like and where are you staying ?

Here are some of my favourite places to eat in Edinburgh, roughly in descending order of price.

If you want gourmet, there are now 5 restaurants with one Michelin star, 3 of them in Leith (the old docks area, now semi-yuppified & with lots of restaurants & bars by the river). They all do an array of menus including set tasting menus and cheap(er) lunches.

Martin Wishart's in Leith is the best IMO and is fantastic, especially if you have the six course tasting menu, also available in a veggie version. It's a modern take on classic French cuisine using the best of Scottish produce, very high class, service very correct but friendly and unstuffy. Book 2-3 months in advance for weekend dinner, less for weekday dinner and lunch. IMO should be 2 stars.

The second starred restaurant was Number One in the Balmoral Hotel in the city centre : food nothing special IMO, ambience is more formal & traditional.

The Kitchin, also in Leith, opened in July 2006 & got a star in January 2007 – some going ! It's really good but IMO not as good as MW. Ambience & food more modern & trendy with the odd wacky ingredient.

The Plumed Horse, also in Leith, also really good and a bit cheaper than the others.

The most recent Michelin star went to 21212, just outside the city centre on Royal Terrace. This is the most wacky and is strictly for very adventurous eaters. (This is a review of almost exactly the meal we had at the same chef's previous restaurant - http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandsty...rink.shopping1). Expensive.

Martin Wishart has recently opened a more mid-priced 'posh brasserie' type place in town, The Honours, our one visit so far was great and we are looking forward to going back.

If you want 'modern Scottish', Stac Polly on Grindlay Street used to be good, but I've read mixed reviews in the last year or two. Also branch on Dublin Street. (actually, one of these has closed now I think but not sure which.)

French : La Garrigue on Jeffrey Street is a small French restaurant specialising in cooking of the Languedoc where the chef-proprietor is from, as are all the wines. The food & the chef are both lovely and the ambience is correct but relaxed. If you sit near the window there is a view of Carlton Hill & its monuments.

Also L'Escargot Blue on Broughton St is very good, L'Escargot Blanc on Queensferry St quite good.

For Italian, La Partenope on Dalry Road was wonderful - the best Italian food (especially seafood) I've had outside southern Italy - but it changed hands and I haven't been since, although the menus still look similar. The former chef-proprietor has a newish place called Bella Mbriana – I've only been once and it was very good but (disappointingly for me) not so heavily seafood-biased. Al Dente on Easter Road is vg especially for fish

David Bann's is the best vegetarian, quite modern and interesting food, reasonably priced.

For a pub lunch the King's Wark in Leith is vg and good value, and I can also recommend it for Sunday breakfast (served 11-3). (Also does good beer.)

My favourite very reasonably priced place is The Dogs (as mentioned by Sheila) on Hanover Street. It's good down to earth gastropub style food and is incredibly good value. The last time I went (in the evening) there were 2 of us and we had 2 starters, a main course designed for 2, 1 pud and a bottle of wine and it was £46 !! And they have a lighter daytime menu with nothing much over £5 !!! Lunchtime mains are smaller but enough at that time of day, and the fish, chips & mushy peas are ace. The same owner also has an Italian, Amore Dogs, and a fish place, Seadogs, but Seadogs isn't so good and Amore has recently changed is menu and doesn't look as interesting (or Italian). The Underdogs bar is very nice in a comfy, beat-up, not-too-trendy kind of way and also has a modest food menu.

Cheap fastish food - Gourmet Burger Kitchen on George Street, the Mosque Kitchen on Nicholson St & Palmyra on Nicholson Street for chicken or feta shwaerma (sp?).

I've never had good fish & chips from an Edinburgh chippie but it's usually OK in food-oriented pubs, plus see the Dogs above.

With apologies to other posters, my take on some of the suggestions above :

- Deacon Brodies - very touristy, not particularly nice pub, there are a lot better

- Henderson's is indeed a throwback to the 60s, OKish but fairly bland and not as cheap as you think it's going to be

- Petit Paris - can be quite good, can be disappointing

- the Creel has closed and I didn't rate it much anyway - DH cooks fish more interestingly !

- Bella Italia is a crap chain so I can't imagine why it would be in anyone's top 10 list

- the Witchery and its sister restaurant the Secret Garden are mainly aimed at tourists, the surroundings are lovely, the food is very good but overpriced

- Time Out is London-based so not sure how relaible their Edinburgh recommendations are likely to be.

If you want recommendations for any other specific types of cuisine, please ask.

Caroline-Edinburgh you have a very insightful post. I am sorry the Creel has closed. Whether or not one cared for the way the fish was prepared, it was worth a visit for the celeriac soup alone.

Do you have an opinion of Urban Angel? We quite liked it.

Hi basingstoke2 (do you live there ? I used to work there, for Mercantile Credit)

Have to admit I didn't have the celeriac soup, and my attitude to the Creel is probably also coloured by my encounters with its very rude owners on their fish stall at the farmers' market.

I hesitated to comment on Urban Angel as I haven't been to any of them for a while. I went to the original Hanover St one maybe four or five times, and liked it quite a bit, but haven't been for probably 2 or 3 years. I went to the Forth St one once, about 18 months ago I think, and it was nowhere near as good - on that occasion, anyway.

We are rather spoilt for good places to eat here ! Plus DH started cooking 3 years ago so we don't eat out as much as we used to :-)

We enjoyed The Witchery - just feel into it for lunch after touring the Castle and thought it was adorable. I was say the food was good - not great. And we ordered defensively (simles things are most difficult to ruin). But I didn;t think the price was that high either.

caroline_edinburgh,

No, I don't live in the UK at all. I took the name from the G&S "Ruddigore" where the saying "Basingstoke" is used to calm Mad Margaret. I played in pit orchestras for most of them and Ruddigore is a favorite.

Hi basingstoke2 - how interesting ! Much more interesting than living in Basingstoke !

I wanted to thank everyone again, especially caroline_edinburgh, for these recommendations. Unfortunately, I did not see caroline's post until after we had returned home, but will definitely keep all of those in mind for our next trip. We had an amazing week in Edinburgh, and cannot wait to return.

One restaurant that I can highly recommend is Cafe Marlayne on Thistle Street. It was recommended to us by a former resident of Edinburgh who has recently moved to England. We had appetizers of mozzarella and pesto with parma ham, and salmon with cucumber creme fraiche; for dinner we had sea bass and sea trout. Everything was fantastic.