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Edinburgh has very many very good restaurants and other eating
places. The following list is just a selection of a few that local
people have found worth going to. Many of the following places are
around the Appleton Tower area. South Clerk Street, Nicholson Street,
South Bridge are really all the same street that changes its name (an
Edinburgh specialty). They are just one block east of Appleton
Tower. Other places are in Forrest Road and George IV Bridge, just 5
minutes north-northwest of Appleton Tower. The Royal Mile (which
changes its name from Castlehill to Lawnmarket to High Street to
Canongate to Abbey Strand) is about 10 minutes north of Appleton Tower
and also has many restaurants. Finally, 5-10 minutes to the south of
Appleton Tower, running parallel to South Clerk Street, is Buccleuch
Street (changing its name to Causewayside) which also has some good
places.
A map with some street names is here.
The following distinction between restaurants and lunch places is
somewhat arbitrary: most places serve both lunch and dinner.
[ Places that are within 5 minutes walking distance of the conference
venue (Appleton Tower) are marked with a *]
Restaurants
- *Annpurna, 45 St Patrick Square, 662 1807
-
An inexpensive and good vegetarian South-Indian restaurant. Passing it
the smell will pull you inside.
- Atrium, 10 Cambridge Street, 228 8882
- Post-modern decor and cutting-edge cuisine: "International Scottish" is an inadequate
label for truly original cooking.
A seriously arty hangout in the Traverse theatre building.
- Blue Bar Cafe, 10 Cambridge Street, 221 1222
- In the same building as the Atrium. Stylish pine decor and stylish food.
- La Bonne Vie, 49 Causewayside, 667 1110
- A very happy marriage of French cuisine and Scottish produce eaten in a snug venue.
the perfect dinner a deux. Book in advance.
- Scalini, 10 Melville Place, Queensferry Street, 220 2999
- In this small restaurant you will find some of the best Italian food available in
Edinburgh. The wine's pretty good too, and the grappa is fantastic. You will pay a
little more but it's definitely worth it. Non-smoking.
- Grain Store, 30 Victoria Street, 225 7635
- Scots-French cuisine with great interior and great food.
- *Suruchi's Innovative Restaurant, 14A Nicholson Street, 556 6583
- Good Indian food often comes with free advice from the waiters
- *Ayutthaya, 14b Nicolson Street, 556 9351
- One of the few Thai restaurants in the George Square area, and very good, too!
- The Waterfront, 1c Dock Place, Leith, 554 7427
- Interesting French-influenced Scottish cooking - seafood features heavily. Always at
least one veggie choice. The restaurant in a bright conservatory full of vines is generally
busy, and the bar is particularly popular in summer due to outdoor seating by the
quayside with a few of the old buildings of the Shore and the newer tonka-toy Scottish
Office - now "Scottish Executive" building.
- Polo Fusion 503 Lawnmarket (top of the High Street)
- Excellent fresh food Scottish/French restaurant with interesting
green decor
- Tapas Tree, 1 Forth Street, 556 7118
- Really good Spanish Tapas Restaurant
- Pataka Restaurant, 190 Causewayside, 668 1167
- Small and friendly Indian restaurant, with Rennie Mackintosh decor; a
local favourite
- Le Marque (Causewayside)
- Good food at still-reasonable prices, and a great still-life painting of the resident toy
elephant.
- The Jasmine, 32-34 Grindlay Street
- Well recommended Chinese restaurant frequented by theatre buffs
- *Nicolsons, 6a Nicolson Street, 557 4567
- Recently
redesigned interiors and menu, now very upmarket. You can't sit here
all morning with one coffee writing your bestselling novel any more!
Stop press: Apparently redesigned again and you can just have a nice
coffee once more!
- Howies, 75 St Leonard's Street, 668 2917
- French/Scottish, cheaply priced set menus, and usually cheerful with it.
- *Phenecia, 55-57 West Nicolson Street, 662 4493
- North African/Spanish cuisine, this restaurant has a great advert in the form of an
open door in summer - stand outside and inhale to get a flavour of what's on offer.
- *The Tower Restaurant, Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street
- Scottish cuisine, wonderful views from the tower of the fabulous new museum building
- expensive though, and reports suggest the food is not the toppest-notch you might
expect.
- *Chapterhouse, South College Street, 668 4466
- This is the restaurant of the University catering arm, offering inexpensive set lunch and
dinner menus.
- Chez Jules, 29 Cockburn Street, 225 7007
-
Very nice, very French and not for vegetarians.
- Pancho Villa's, 240 Canongate, 557 4416
- An excellent and rather inexpensive Mexican - some say the best in Edinburgh.
- Banns, Hunter Square, 226 1112
- Exclusively vegetarian, but the food is so good not even the most
ardent carnivore would notice. Follow well-stuffed enchiladas and meat
free haggis with calorie-loaded cakes: it wouldn't do to be too
healthy now would it?
- Black Bo's, 57 Blackfriars Street, 557 6136.
- Luridly decorated restaurant serving imaginative veggie
fare. There's a bar next door if you really can't be bothered to move
anywhere else. Expect to spend over a tenner for two courses.
Looking For Lunch?
- *Barcelona, Buccleuch St
- Cafe Bistro with an all day menu and a big glass frontage from which to watch the
world go by - outdoor tables very popular in summer. Cheapo option is a huge plate of
soup. If you're economising, don't order beer!
- Bleu, Victoria Street
- Lots of starters but no main course in this moderately trendy,
good-value nouvelle cuisine restaurant..
- *Pigs Bistro, West Nicolson Street
- It's there but nobody has owned up to trying it - if you do, tell us what you think.
- *Maxies Bistro, 82 West Nicholson Street 667 0845
- The menu changes daily: look out for Dublin prawns and dangerously good puddings.
- Cafe 1812, 29 Waterloo Place, 556 5766
- A cut above most French luncheries: Service that would shame the Marx brothers.
- *Caffe Sardi, 18-20 Forrest Road, 220 5553
- Small Italian restaurant always busy at lunchtime so get there ahead of the rush if you
can. Inexpensive set 2 or 3 course lunches with some really interesting choices tucked
away on the menu.
- *Church Cafe, Nicholson Square
- This is in the basement of a church (look out for the yellow sign)
with good and cheap home cooking. It's run by volunteers and they have
student discounts. E.g., a soup with a filled roll comes at an
unbeatable £1.15. Tea and sweets are also cheap.
- Creelers, Hunter Square, 220 4447
- Heaven. Seafood fresh from their own Arran farmhouse smokery, and mussels so good
you'll never want to eat them anywhere else. If you don't like seafood there are other
options available including veggie dishes. Mid-priced bistro and expensive restaurant
menus available.
- *De Niro's, 140 Nicolson Street, 662 4185
- Popular with students and usually busy, OK for a quick lunch. They own the bigger "Ti
Amo" down the road too.
- The Engine Shed Cafe 19 St. Leonard's Lane 662 0040
- Worth tracking down. Tucked behind St Leonards police station, this place serves
healthy but tasty lunches. (Between Pollock Halls and Appleton Tower.)
Cheap with it.
- Good Year (Chinese), Argyle Place, 229 4404; 62 Radcliffe Terrace, 667 7532;
40 Queen Charlotte St, 555 6968
- No fuss, no frills, just paper tablecloths. The Marchmont branch is a firm student
favourite. Ideal for large parties - bring your own bottle(s).
- The Hawhouse, 44 Candlemaker Row, 220 4420
- Lively, colourful Mexican with an excellent menu. Ideal for either parties or candle-lit
smooching. Jugs of Margarita too. And yes, the staff are friendly, but not that friendly
- it's only a name.
- Jackson's, 209 High Street, 225 1793
- Scottish with a Gallic touch, Jackson's specialises in game: as decor and food. Although
dinner comes in at £20-plus, there's an excellent lunch for £6.25.
- *Kalpna, 2/3 St Patrick Square, 667 9890
- Vegetarian Indian restaurant which is an Edinburgh institution. Lunchtimes are usually
a very inexpensive (£5) all-you-can eat buffet; in the evenings the prices go up slightly but
the food is absolutely delicious. Veggies, do not miss!
- *King's Balti, 79 Buccleuch Street, 662 9212
- First-class curry house. Rugby lads please note: you can bring your own beers.
Everyone else, go somewhere else.
- Khushi's, 16 Drummond St, 556 8996
- Dirt cheap Indian grub, if you don't mind eating in what looks like a roadside diner.
Favourite student haunt for those who can't really afford to eat out. Also does take
away. BYOB. But not very veggie.
- Le Sept, Old Fishmarket Close, 225 5428
- Stylish French restaurant, and definitely worth a visit. Feeding trendies and stray
tourists.
- *Susie's Diner, 51 West Nicolson Street, 667 8729
- If you liked the food at Glastonbury, you'll love this: veggie burgers, rice salads and a
zillion fruit juices. And at night there's occasionally the odd chap with a guitar, so you
can think about getting a pint in from the Peartree across the road.
- Pierre Victoire, 10 Victoria Street, 225 1721; 38 Grassmarket 226 2442, 8 Union Street
557 8451
- Like mushrooms, "P V"s sprout up everywhere. Good French food production-line service.
- Wigwam, 64 Thistle Street, 225 6127
- Hidden deep in the New Town, this is a grade 'A' steakhouse, with serious bits of dead
cow on offer. Enchiladas, tostadas and big puds too. The catch? New Town prices:
well over a tenner a head.
- *Cellar No 1, 1 Chambers Street, 220 4298
- Cavernous wine bar, a popular unwinding spot for Uni staff in the
vicinity. And on Wednesday nights there's salsa!
- *Negociants, 45-47 Lothian Street, 225 6313
- Bistro popular with the student crowd from over the road, serving staff with attitude.
- *Iguana, 41 Lothian Street, 220 4288
- Another fairly studenty spot, see above.
- Valvona & Crolla Cafe, 19 Elm Row
- It's worth going here just to take a look at an Edinburgh institution - but not on a
Saturday morning. V & C is famous in Edinburgh as a very upmarket delicatessen
stocking hundreds of delicious but rather expensive foods. The cafe on the other hand
sells reasonably priced and mouthwateringly good food - on Saturdays there is always
a queue so try it on another day!
Sandwich Shops
There are several sandwich shops just across the road from Appleton
Tower (eastwards) such as Nile Valley (African), Olympic Sandwiches,
Picnic Basket (just around the corner next to Pigs Bistro), and some a
little further away in Forrest Road (north) and on Buccleuch Street
(south, Brazilian Sensation, Renaissance of Food). Sandwiches are
generally between £1.50 and £3.00.
Coffee shops
- *Black Medicine (opposite Old College)
- New, trendy, expensive
- *The Elephant House (George IV Bridge)
- This is a wonderful place. The back room has a view of the castle
and big tables that everyone shares. Also serves food.
- Metropole, 29 Newington Rd
- Very close to Pollock Halls, this is a quiet, airy, non-smoking
coffee house in an old bank. Read all the newspapers and try the
delicious pecan pie.
- Cafe Rouge, 43 Frederick St
- A genuinely French cafe in Edinburgh's New Town. Slightly posh,
lots of space. Their food is also good.
- Seattle Coffee Co
- Excellent West Coast American coffee shops, famed throughout the world. They are located at
- Waterstone's Book Shop, 123 Princes Street (west end) (228 3610): books,
newspapers, and an unbeatable view of the castle
- Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre, 85 George Street (624 8596)
- 123 Lothian Road, 229 4899. This is actually now Starbuck's.
- Kaffe Politik, 146 Marchmont Road, 446 9873
- Coffee with style
- *Elephants and Bagels (Nicholson Square)
- A spin-off from the Elephant House with supposedly really nice bagels.
- *Festival Theatre (by Old College)
- Try their scones! Coffee comes with free refills at
£1.10. Plenty opportunity for people watching through the huge
glass front.
- *California Coffee Co
- Not a coffee house but a
takeaway, strategically located at Edinburgh's old police boxes: Northeast corner of
the Meadows, St. Patrick Square (these two are between Pollock Halls
and Appleton Tower), and the Northeast corner of the Royal
Infirmary. A new coffee experience with 1000's of varieties such as
Latte, Mocchachino, Espresso. Other good coffee takeaways are the new
Coffee carts in Rose Street and George Street
Mini Guide to Pubs
Edinburgh is not short of bars - these are a few suggestions if you want to find
somewhere a little bit out of the ordinary.
Royal Mile area
- The Jolly Judge, 7a James Court
- This little bar is in a small "close" off the part of the Royal
Mile called the Lawnmarket, near the junction with George IV
Bridge. Like a tavern in the middle ages, it occupies the basement of
a tenement building, and the painted beamed ceiling of the bar
reflects Edinburgh mediaeval decor. It serves a good pint but is not
big on bar food.
- The Bow Bar, 80 West Bow
- This bar is on Victoria Street about opposite the brilliant
Mellis's cheese shop. It may look a little off-putting due to the
bare floorboards and minimalist seating arrangements but here's
where in the centre of town to get really good real ale and a great
selection of malt whiskies.
- City Cafe, 19 Blair Street
- Down the hill from the Ibis hotel, try this superchilled heavily-chromed home of the
trendy. They do good food, the service is a little slow sometime but hey, you've got a
fish tank to watch (and a pool table).
New Town Area
- Cafe Royal, West Register Street
- At the East end of Princes Street stands Register House - if you venture up the narrow
lane beside Burger King, past
the Burlington Arms (itself the home of reasonable beer but rather shabby) you will find
the Cafe Royal - you want the ground floor bar which you will recognise by its tiled
interior and huge round central bar. Very popular as an after-work stopping off place
and the seating is limited but try it if you can get in the door.
- Broughton Street
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Forget Rose Street, this is the liveliest and most interesting street of pubs - the chic
Outhouse; loud Basement; particularly recommended are the Barony Bar and the Cask
and Barrel near the bottom of the street. You can also check out Mansfield Church
across the road at the bottom, a deconsecrated building now a part-time cafe/bar and
nightclub and buzzing during the festival, the only venue in Edinburgh with spectacular
murals by pre-raphaelite Scottish artist Phoebe Anna Traquair.
- Cumberland Bar, 1-3 Cumberland Street.
- Squeaky floors, fruit machine and muzak -free zone, excellent beer and whisky and a
reasonable wine list -oh yes, and a beer garden. Get there early in summer.
- Young Street
- Behind Charlotte Square, this little street contains two pubs of
note. The Oxford bar at no 8 is not for everybody's taste - old
creaky furnishings, slices of rugby post on the wall, regulars grouped
round the tiny bar watching sport, and no-nonsense service, are the
order of the day. A haunt of booksellers and the odd writer. The
Cambridge at no 20 is less eccentric, does decent beer and has live
folk music now and again.
Tollcross/Bruntsfield
- Bennett's Bar
- Bennett's bar is a local for the King's Theatre across the road, actors and stagehands.
The public bar is the place to sit if you can, remarkable for its elaborately etched
windows and a bar that looks as it's not been altered much since Victorian times.
- Cloisters
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- The Golf Tavern, 31 Wrights Houses
- Another old-fashioned pub off Barclay Place looking on to the links - a pleasant, cool,
relaxing space for a drink; and if you're nippy enough you can hire putters to play a
round on the green outside.
- The Canny Mans, 237 Morningside Road
- This pub plays up as hard as possible to its reputation for eccentricity - musical scores
as wallpaper, strange antique objects suspended from the ceiling; however, not always
the most welcoming of places to customers with any eccentricity of appearance!
- Leith
- The Shore area of Leith is home to numerous good pubs - the rough & ready Oyster Bar
(with a more sedate restaurant area) - good for bar snacks ; the venerable Malt and
Hops; the Shore (also a popular restaurant); the Waterfront (see above) ; and also
"The cruise ship" which is a permanently moored floating bar, average food/drink but
an appealing setting, commonly referred to as the Floaty Boaty.
The Scotsman (main Scottish newspaper) has a City guide
including restaurants, bars, clubs, green areas, shopping, travel etc.
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