TASTEMAKER: The Best Restaurants & Bars In Edinburgh
It's time for another Tastemaker/Packet Postcards hybrid. This month, it's an *extremely* well-researched list of the spots I love to eat and drink at in the Scottish capital.
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This isn’t just a destination guide about a place I love. I’m half Scottish, my granny lived just outside Edinburgh, and I still have family in Morningside, so I’m lucky to head up fairly regularly. (It’s the one place I could see myself moving to if I ever left Brighton.) As a teen, my sister and I would often spend half terms and summer weeks with Granny, and we’d split our time between roaming the two-floor Topshop on Princes Street and eating club sandwiches at The Dome, a bar and grill in a former bank. If the trains were running late, we’d kill time in all-day, art-deco café Tiles, where Granny would have a G&T and I’d go for a can of Irn Bru and bag of Mackies crisps.
These days, most trips still revolve around where we’re going to eat, and it can be hard not to just return to my old haunts every time. From the top of the Royal Mile all the way down to the shoreline, here are my favourite places to eat and drink in Edinburgh… plus two restaurants I have saved for my next trip.
RESTAURANTS
Noto
I adore Noto, so when some Brighton friends of mine secretly eloped in Edinburgh, I had to send them here when they let the cat out of the bag by asking me for a special restaurant they could toast the occasion at. Afterwards, they said it was the best meal they’d ever had. It’s run by Stuart Ralston, a Scottish chef who spent a lot of time cooking in New York before he returned home to open Noto. NYC’s Asian influences made an impact on him and are evident here – and that’s why I love it. The first time we visited, we had his excellent riff on sesame prawn toast topped with katsuobushi, those wonderfully salty smoked fish flakes that dance and writhe when placed on something hot. The restaurant’s signature dish – North Sea crab meat swimming in a shell full of cultured butter sauce, accompanied by seaweed brioche for mopping – is never taken off the menu for a reason. I order it each time we visit, and it’s always the thing people can’t say enough about if I’ve told them to eat there. Last year, Stuart opened a French bistro called Vinette and a cocktail bar called Vivien below, both of which I can’t wait to check out later this year.
Eleanore
Roberta Hall McCarron is another Edinburgh chef with a mini empire of all-hits restaurants. If you’re heading up, make sure to book into at least one of her hotspots – Ardfern and The Little Chartroom are side by side in Leith while Eleanore is at the top of Leith Walk. I love the wine bar vibes of Ardfern, but I think Eleanore is my pick of the trio. It reopened after a refurb last month, transforming into more of a neighbourhood bistro, having dropped its tasting menus in favour of standalone dishes such as hake with langoustine bisque and pink fir potato, oysters with rhubarb ponzu and hot sauce, and chocolate mousse, served tableside. I’m looking forward to seeing its facelift in person.
The Palmerston
The Palmerston is a great spot for a long lunch in the West End. It sounds and looks a lot like a pub from the outside, but is actually a bistro in a former bank. I love the wood-panelled interiors (and matching wooden toucans above the door), bold green paint choice and the large-format modern paintings that line the walls. I love the menu even more. We started with truly memorable bread and butter (the servers’ shirts even proudly shouted about this) and fried pigs head croquettes (very St John), before splitting a ragu that was absolutely showered in parmesan (a good thing). Finally, we opted for a perfect marmalade steamed pudding with homemade custard. If you are in the mood for more of a pub atmosphere, the rival Oxford and Cambridge bars are nearby. Old school in every sense, they’re a fun slice of Edinburgh’s past.
Civerinos Slice
If you’ve visited Edinburgh a few times or happen to be there when it’s heaving with tourists during August’s festivals or December’s Hogmanay, Portobello is a lovely, quieter neighbourhood to explore. Down by the sea, it’s full of independent shops such as the wonderfully designed Portobello Bookshop (which has a tempting selection of cookbooks) and fresh pasta emporium Aemilia. Right on the seafront is Civerinos Slice, one of six Civerinos pizza restaurants in the city. As its name suggests, this one serves enormous triangle slices alongside its signature Detroit-style deep-dish offerings. While the latter are great (we split a double pepperoni with hot honey between three of us), the comically large, foldable slices – topped with Italian-style sausage, pepperoni, rosemary, black pepper, parsley, whipped ricotta, parmesan and garlic oil – were magnificent in both flavour and scale. Another top off-the-beaten-track takeaway by the sea is the Fishmarket chippie in Newhaven. The haddock and chips are outstanding.
PASTRIES & BREAKFAST
Lannan Bakery + Pantry
I could write an entire post about Stockbridge (maybe I will?). In New Town, it’s rammed full of gorgeous Georgian architecture, the Water of Leith runs through it, and it’s home to the best shops in the city (Golden Hare Books, Jorum Studio, Kestin, Treen and Dick’s are just some of my favourites). It also has excellent places to eat. Lannan Bakery is probably the most famous of them these days. Opened by self-taught baker Darcie Maher in 2023, it blew up thanks to her inventive creations, cardamom buns and its beautiful interiors, to the point where the team has had to draw up some fairly rigid queuing rules. If you’re a pastry fiend, they’re well worth the wait: bakes on the day could include sour cherry, buckwheat and brown butter jaffa cakes; apricot, chamomile and sheep’s yoghurt choux; medjool date and butterscotch buns; plus wild garlic pistou with goats cheese and black olive pangratatto for the savoury fans among us.
The Witchery
Breakfasts at The Witchery are legendary, as they’re served in a baroque dining room surrounded by candles. Right at the top of the Royal Mile, at the castle gates, the hotel is famed for its interiors – think four-poster beds, velvet everywhere and antique furniture (we even had a suit of armour in our bedroom the one time we stayed over). Somehow this all works and a stay here feels in keeping with the 16th-century building rather than overly themed. While breakfast – pastry baskets, heather honey porridge, a full Scottish – is reserved for overnight guests, dinners here take on a similar atmosphere, in dark, wood-panelled rooms bathed in candlelight. The food leans formal and the prices are on the steep side, but it’s an atmospheric experience.
Prestonfield House
Prestonfield House is the sister hotel to The Witchery. It takes what makes the latter special – opulent, OTT decor; a sense of grandeur – and places it in a mansion beneath Arthur’s Seat, the extinct volcano that looms over the city. Prestonfield feels more spacious and brighter than The Witchery, in part thanks to its surrounding fields and gardens. I’m including this in ‘breakfast’ as I had one of the nicest room service wake-up calls here – we ordered a lorne sausage bap with brown sauce and a smoked haddock omelette between us, which was just the fuel we needed before hiking up to Arthur’s Seat that morning. Don’t forget to say hi to the hotel’s two highland cows, Toffee and Treacle, while you’re there.
Valvona & Crolla
If you’re after edible souvenirs, head down Leith Walk to Valvona & Crolla, an Italian deli that’s been selling meats and cheeses from Milan for over 90 years. It’s easy to spot: there’s a statement trio of Italian, Scottish and UK flags above the door. Inside, you’ll be greeted by floor-to-ceiling shelves of tins, sauces and olive oils, while cured sausages and pots and pans hang from the ceiling. Last time I was there, I bought a V&C x Maisie of Morningside mug, which makes me smile anytime I use it (Aileen Paterson’s Maisie the kilted kitten books were a staple in most Scottish 80s/90s childhoods). Unsurprisingly, it’s a great spot to pop in for an espresso and cannoli.
Storries Home Bakery
Close by, there’s another non-negotiable stop-off for me: Storries Home Bakery. Extremely no-frills (this is no Lannan), this is a grab-and-go bakery that sells Scottish baked goods, from lamb stovies to scotch pies and shiny vanilla slices. I always try to build in time on my final day to nip in to buy scotch pies (deep pies filled with mince and onion) and macaroni pies (the same, but loaded with macaroni cheese) to eat on the train or have for lunch the next day, heated up and eaten with baked beans and brown sauce. There’s no website, but the address is 279 Leith Walk. With its yellow and red exterior – and a loaf of bread painted above the door – you can’t miss it. If you’re leaving via Edinburgh airport, build in time to visit Patina, a brilliant bakery that serves handrolled doughnuts and the best ham and cheese croissant I can remember.
BARS & COFFEE
The Milkman
We got the sleeper train up to Edinburgh in September 2020. Because of lingering Covid rules, we were confined to our bunkbeds the whole trip, so didn’t get to enjoy the fun of midnight cocktails in the bar car, then – once at Waverley – we were ejected earlier than advertised. It was 6am on a Wednesday and nothing was open, so we sat on a bench in Princes Street Gardens with our bags until The Milkman opened at 7am. As it’s close to the station, it’s now become a ritual to head there first. The coffee is extremely good and I love bagging the window seat, watching everyone trek up Cockburn Street towards the Royal Mile. Elsewhere, I also love Lowdown, a minimalist basement serving technical coffees on George Street, and Triple-Tri on York Place.
The White Horse Oyster Bar
One of the first martinis I ever tried was at The White Horse Oyster Bar. It occupies the oldest inn on the Royal Mile and is a gorgeous seafood restaurant. I’ve only ever been into the bar, where we tend to sit up at the windows and order Rockpool martinis (a mix of Tito’s vodka, fennel-infused sauvignon blanc, sea salt and extra virgin olive oil) and a plate of Islay oysters before heading off for dinner elsewhere. That’s still the way I’d do it now as it’s a lot of fun, although the buttermilk cod and monkfish satay on the restaurant menu do sound tempting.
Devil’s Advocate
Across from The Milkman and up some steep old steps you’ll find Devil’s Advocate. Like most cities, every time I visit there’s a handful of hot new bars and restaurants to visit, or old favourites have sadly closed. Which is why I always make time for at least a quick drink in Devil’s Advocate, a fun 300-bottles-strong whisky bar in a former Victorian pump house. I find it pleasingly familiar: there’s always haggis bonbons on the bar menu and its twist on a Rusty Nail, made with Glendronach 12yo, Highland Nectar liqueur and cardamom bitters, always hits the mark. Other old-faithful cocktail bars I rate for a pre- or post-dinner drink are Panda & Sons, Lucky Liquor Co and Bramble.
The Sheep Heid Inn
This recommendation was given to me by cocktail maestro Ryan Chetiyawardana (aka Mr Lyan) a few years back and I’m so grateful for it as it fast became a favourite. In the small village of Duddingston on the edge of Edinburgh, it’s a fun pit stop as part of a lovely two-hour walk from Holyrood Park, up to Arthur’s Seat and down to Portobello beach. As well as having a suntrap beer garden, there’s a free two-lane skittle alley, which takes competitive pub games to a new level.
Plus two at the top of my wish list for next time…
Stockbridge Eating House
I’ve wanted to eat here for years, but it’s either been closed or fully booked the last few times I’ve visited. Opposite all those Stockbridge shops I mentioned before, it’s deceptively branded as Bell’s Diner from the outside. Inside though, it’s all smart café curtains, white paper tablecloths and candlelight – with a menu that speaks to me. Current dishes include monkfish cheeks with tartare sauce, and smoked eel with bacon and mash. Plus I have to shout out the set lunch menu, where £14.95 gets you a plate of bread, olives and saucisson, bavette with café de paris butter,
duck-fat chips and salad, plus a pot au chocolat.
Lyla
I’m coming full circle by chatting about Stuart Ralston again. One of his newer spots is Lyla, found in a magnificent townhouse on the Royal Cresent in New Town. It’s a more formal affair than Noto and Tipo, his Italian place, with tasting menus that focus on Scottish seafood and are served in different parts of the townhouse throughout the meal. Last year, Lyla won a Michelin star, its bar is beautiful and it has four lovely bedrooms. It really does look like the whole package.
Thank you for reading and subscribing to Crisp Packet! Coming soon: a playlist for spring, April’s Tastemaker + a selection of recent hotel stays.
You’ve inspired me to investigate the sleeper train - and go hunting for those mac n’ cheese pies!
So many things I could say but my heart needs to know where your multi-hued dog emblazoned scarf is from, please Heather?