ckyle

Hi,

My husband and I will be in Edinburgh for the Tatoo in August. We would like to make dinner reservations ahead of time for at least one of our three nights. We like to dine out and will not mind a splurge if it's a great restaurant. Also - will be looking for suggestions on pubs with Celtic music.


Thanks

Carolyn

janisj

caroline_Edinburgh or sheila will have the best (latest) info for you.

But the Atrium is terrific http://www.atriumrestaurant.co.uk/

The Tower at the top of the Museum of Scotland is very good and has great views http://www.tower-restaurant.com/info2.html

and there is always the Witchery - some <b>love</b> it, some hate it - but no one is neutral. Well, actually not many hate it, but some do think it is over priced and over the top. http://www.thewitchery.com/witch.html

sheila

See, that question's not about the &quot;best&quot; but our favourites- so for me that would be... the Marque Central, I think.

During the Festival the options for Celtic music will be way different to teh norm, so check the Fringe programme, the gig guide on the BBC's Travelling Folk website, and The List magazine. Sandy Bell's pub, and the West End Hotel would be 2 good places to start tho'

ckyle

Thank you both so much ! I will make reservations soon.

Sheila - somehow I think your favorite would turn out to be pretty great...

Take care,

Carolyn

caroline_edinburgh

Hi, just back from 3 weeks away. If you want the best, IMO there is no question - Martin Wishart in Leith. www.martin-wishart.co.uk

Have the 6 course surprise tasting meny &amp; the man himself will cook it all. There is also an option to have a separate glass of wine with each course.

meks

Would agree that Martin Wishart in Leith is very good and well worth a visit.
The others to think about are Maison Bleue in Victoria Street and Creelers restaurant in Hunter Square is excellent for fish.
I would agree that The Witchery is over priced and very much over rated

Spygirl

Hi Caroline-have heard Wisnert's is very good, but also some good French restaurants have moved in? And what about the Mussel Inn? Have not been there, but given that I eat only seafood, I'm sure I'd like this place.

If you are vegetarian oriented-Edinburgh is the place for you-incredible selection, always has had, for veggie folks. One Edinburgh institution I would suggest trying is
HENDERSON'S-on Hanover Street (along with a zillion other pasta/pizza what- have- you-eating places there).

Although this establishment has had its ups and downs on the food scene, it's still going strong, (it was there during my student days) there's a hand-carved wine bar and bistro to boot. Excellent baked goods.

For a proper British (read: Scottish) tea, I'd definitely stop in at the authentic CLARINDA'S TEA ROOMS-on the Canongate, just before you get to Holyrood. -just what you think of when the image of the quaint British tearoom comes to mind-scrumptious home baked scones and tea cakes, also serves light lunches-both locals, and tourists who happen on it, go there.

And for a glamourous venue with spectacular views of the Firth of Forth while dining, (I always opt for dining with a great view-even when the food is not spectacular) I'd suggest HARVEY NICHOL'S FORTH FLOOR- right off Prince's Street in St. Andrew's Sq.- so-called &quot;new British cuisine&quot; (don't laugh-it's quite good-emphasis on fresh and organic-carefully prepared)but that view of the Castle at night! -(for a less expensive alternative to the restaurant, HN also has a Brasserie, but you don't get the great views from there).

www.harveynichols.com/output/Page126.asp

If you should pay a visit to the Royal Botanic Gardens (which I HIGHLY recommend) then you can stop off for a light lunch/snack at their Terrace Cafe-most agreeable.

The food choices are really pretty good in Edinburgh. You'll not starve here-there are a million and two places to eat, packed in a relatively small area.

As far as pubs, well, pretty much just pick one. I don't know about pubs with celtic music, I just know about pubs for drinking, and Edinburgh pubs are mostly just about that. Most tourists do seem to head off to the CAFE ROYAL-as it was featured in that movie &quot;Chariots of Fire&quot; -it's a very pretty Victorian pub, with beautiful stained glass, tiles-AND a quite good neighboring Oyster bar -the Cafe Royal Oyster Bar -to boot. Locals do go here, but it does an understandably heavy tourist trade as well-good brew here.

My favorite pub in Edinburgh has always been BANNERMAN'S in the Cowgate-very ancient building, (the Cowgate is full of pubs and bars-and does get rowdy-it's pretty much always been that way). Bannerman's is a bit like a cave really-not frequented much by the tourist trade. (this was where I did much of my studying at one time!)

The Doctor's pub/bar is another one I like. (with a clock outside stating &quot;time for medicine&quot Very congenial atmosphere, with live bands on the weekend (but I don't think Celtic).

As far as the Witchery restaurant, yes, I suppose one could consider it an Edinburgh institution, (it's been around a long time) but pretty much the only people who ever go there are tourists. The Scots I know wouldn't be caught dead there-nor would I, for that matter.

And to the locals on the board- -is Edinburgh getting too &quot;twee&quot; for its own good? Are there any working class left in the city itself-or is it now impossibly trendy? I try not to compare it to London in this sense because London has always been insufferably trendy and taken with itself-but it does seem to me now that Edinburgh is going the same way. So so pricey and oh-too-hip.

P.S. ckyle-you can't help but be moved by the Tatoo-it's really quite thrilling to watch, no matter how many times one sees it

ckyle

Thanks everyone. These are great suggestions and I will start looking into dinner reservations.

Carolyn

caroline_edinburgh

ckyle: I didn't bother mentioning any pubs as you only asked about ones with 'Celtic' music (I assume you mean what we call folk music ?); but if you want me to list my favourites, just say. Spygirl has listed some good ones; but like she says, says, I just know about pubs for drinking Also since you were only asking for one restaurant for a splurge I only listed the one I consider the best, but here are another 2 favourites I always recommend :-

For Italian, La Partenope on Dalry Road is wonderful. The chef-proprietor &amp; his food are Neapolitan &amp; it's the best Italian food (especially seafood) I've had outside southern Italy. Unusually for an Italian restaurant, in the UK at any rate, even the desserts are home made &amp; very good. They also have a very interesting list of southern Italian wines largely based on little known grape varieties. The ambience is very relaxed.

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 &amp; the chef are both lovely and the ambience is correct but relaxed. If you sit near the window there is a view of Calton Hill &amp; its monuments.

Hi Spygirl. Does La Garrigue answer your Q on French restaurants ? Can't think of any other very good ones. The two Petit Paris restaurants (one on the Grassmarket, one on Queensferry Street) are quite nice in a more basic way, though. The Mussel Inn is fine if what you want is mussels cooked lots of ways, or one of a few other seafood specials. As regards seafood restaurants generally, I say La Partenope is also the best. We used to like Fisher's in Leith but the last time we went it was rubbish, so I think the owners have lost interest since the one in town became successful. I haven't been to the latter for a while but a recent poster here recommended it - but of course you don't get the water views/ambience. I think the Waterfront is still pretty good, &amp; we often take visitors to The Shore (the bar or the restaurant).

And two other veggie places : both Black Bo's and David Bann's do very interesting &amp; innovative vegetarian cusine. BB's is very casual, studenty even, &amp; DB's is smart casual &amp; v. modern.

I don't think Edinburgh could be described as twee or impossibly trendy/hip, apart from (in the latter category) rich young t*ssers' hangouts like the Opal Lounge Anywhere else, it's still OK to go out in old clothes &amp; no make up

SiobhanP

I always felt the mid range food places in Edinburgh were far superior to dublin...theres good eats! I cannot remember all the places but an evening/late place we always went to with friends who were living there was Darios. Its a pizza place with some other Italian dishes I have not seen since I lived near NY. I love the pizza and even my picky mum brought there on a trip and she loved it. It's on Lothian Road herehttp://www.edinburghdirectory.info/entry/darios-pizza-house.html Go one casiual eveeining or after a late night its delicious.

You will love the tatoo. We went 2 years ago and had such a great time it was fascinating and dramaric when the jet flew by and you hear a loud sonic boom. Oh my trick to avoid the queues and hoards of tour busses. Go to the grass market prior to the Tatoo. With your back to the Apex Hotels there is a tall narrow stone staircase beside a cafe. Take that to the top as it brings you just to the side of the Castle entrance and you avoid all the tour bus mobs and waiting for ages

caroline_edinburgh

Hi Siobhan. Must admit I've never been to the Tattoo - not my sort of thing. But maybe you can answer something which has always puzzled me : I believe it is all allocated seating, so why do people queue for hours beforehand ?

Spygirl

Hi Caroline-

Sorry-I didn't see your post, and thanks for the interesting updates on the Edinburgh food scene! I'd love to come back for a visit in the next year and I think I would like the Mussel Inn-'cause I DO like mussels served many ways-and I think Edinburgh would be a good place for nice fresh ones from the North Sea. La Garrigue sounds intriguing as well!

Haven't tried La Partenope- but it's good to know Edinburgh has finally got some decent Italian restaurants, given the crap kind they've always had in the past. (descriptive enough for you?). I wish I could remember the last one I went to out in the West End, which was new when I went and was quite authentically good to boot, but I can't.

Am looking forward to hearing about your Italy trip, and where you went? You've been spending quite a bit of time in Italia lately, no?

P.S. And Caroline-I can't answer your question about the Tattoo, if people know they've got seats to a sold-out event, they probably think they SHOULD queue in order to get to their seats on time, or maybe many are trying to snare a last-minute seat from the no-shows? Not sure.

SiobhanP

Good question Caroline. They seemed to hold people at the gates till opening and then the mobs would slowly enter. If you were in the grass market the tour busses would empty and be hoards of people and even if you got past them you would get stuck in the mob waiting. We just had a coffee and popped up the staircase because we knew it from a prior visit. My friend got married in the church near the top of the steps beside the Castle. Now we may have &quot;cut the queue doing this but I thinbk the tours were encouraged to do it slowly so everyone did not arrive at once and it would be bedlam.

I did not think it would be my thing either but I really enjoyed it and wished i wwent to the later one at night as opposed to the evening one. They had the S. African Military band and they were great fun playing in the jungle and the Chinese Band were pretty good as well. they also had a WW2 boogie boy type tribute. It was an international show as opposed to overtly military. The Scottish pipers were very striking though.

caroline_edinburgh

Hi Siobhan. Thanks for your interesting answer - it does sound more fun than I'd imagined.

meks

Caroline, I think that people attending the Tattoo generally know that there are going to be hold ups and try to arrive reasonably early tto ensure that they are in their seats for the start of the Tattoo. As the police and stewards only allow at any one time, limited numbers to approach the security checks then the queues quickly form. Those who think that because they have a seat and can therfore arrive late often find that they then get caught at the end of the queues and because they have to pass through the security checks they sometimes miss the start of the performance. It seems a catch 22 situation arrive early and you become part of the queuing problem however arrive late and your access is delayed by the queues.

JJBhoy

Siobhan &amp; Caroline - I avoided the Tattoo for years to the extent that I would change channels the minute it came on TV. A few years ago, however, we had relatives over from Canada who were keen to see it &amp; I was reluctantly dragged along with them. Much to my surprise I thoroughly enjoyed it and in fact I’ve been to a few more since. Sometimes the show itself has been of varying quality (for my tastes anyway) but the atmosphere among the crowd has always been really enjoyable.

Caroline - Can I pick your brain? I have friends who are coming through to the Usher Hall in a few weeks time &amp; I was wondering if you could recommend a nice pub nearby for pre-show drinks? I know that there is a pub right outside (Shakespeare’s?) but I would imagine it gets over-run on performance nights. Do you know anywhere else close by that might be a wee bit less hectic?

Thanks,

Jim

caroline_edinburgh

Hi Jim. Interesting to hear of your experience of the Tattoo.

How far do you want to walk between pub &amp; UH, and what are your friends seeing there ? The reason for the latter question is if it's a classical concert, I don't imagine many of the audience will be in the Shakespeare I've only been in there to watch rugby : it's harmless but just a fairly characterless drinking barn. But if it's a nice day, there are some seats outside.

The nearest characterful pubs which I'd really recommend are Cloisters (converted manse, fairly trad, god range of beer, where I met DH !) on Brougham Street; &amp; Bennett's (grand Victorian pub, listed interior, good beer) on Leven Street - but they are both about 10-15 minutes' walk away.

Nearer is the Blue Blazer on Spittal Street (q. small trad pub, mainly old men but nice, good beer )'

Or if they would like somewhere trendy, there's the Traverse bar, in the Traverse theatre just next to the UH - also does food. Or All Bar One on Festival Square (next to the Sheraton) - usual sort of thing but also useful for eating before shows, &amp; has some seating outside. There's also the Filmhouse bar which also does food but that's usually packed.

Do any of these sound suitable ?

SiobhanP

JJbhoy - I did see it on the telly a few years back and they had a group of Maori's doing the Hakka dressed up traditionally. It looked fantastic. I really liked that they had resl fires around the castle and the lone piper opening the ceremony. Its a bit to me like keeping the few traditions we have in the UK and Ireland going. So many pagan traditions here in Ireland have been modernised but it is the only way to keep these customs going like the Puck fairs etc.

I would see it again as it changes each year. My other half got a kick out of the planes flying over.

JJBhoy

Caroline,

Thanks for the reply - to tell the truth I'm not sure exactly what they're going to see but I suspect it will be a classical concert of some kind.

Whatever - the Traverse sounds like exactly their cup of tea, so I'll pass the word on.

Thanks again,

Jim

papagena

ckyle - if you haven't booked yet, Martin Wishart is fantastic and great value. As Caroline said, the tasting menu is the thing to go for. The food and service is as good as you'll get anywhere in the UK (and I'm comparing to the Fat Duck and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay here) and the prices lower.

The Witchery is a fun experience; it is right next to the castle so the location is ideal, and the decor is very atmospheric. The food is good but not in the same league as MW, and there are more tourists (as opposed to serious foodies!).