Edinburghers – Somewhere special to go for a meal?

Taking a friend and his new wife out for a meal in Edinburgh. Want it to be somewhere special but not too outrageously expensive. Any ideas?

The hotel du vin was surprisingly good. Plus they have a cigar hut so you can do a Hannibal impression too.

I was in Edinburgh at the weekend and went to Iris in Thistle St. Don’t go there.

I’ve not eaten there, but there are some good restaurants in Leith. I walked past one which had – on a chalk board – “2 x fish and chips, and Dom Pérignon… £145” !!!!!

Depends what you mean by special, but you will struggle to beat the food at Domenico’s on Sandport St http://tinyurl.com/2dfffef

Petit Paris on Queensferry?

CaptJon – may I ask why not Iris?

Dionika in Canonmills. Excellent spanish restaurant, big portions, great pasionate chef. Can’t recommend it highly enough!

They also do great value 3 course plus a drink lunches for £7.50. I don’t know how he makes any money out of the lunches.

The Tower or Nargile?

indian cavalry club. 8)

Kalpna

MussEd how about the MussEl Inn

Home

……or Fisher’s or Martin Wishart?

If it’s lunch the £25 set menu at the Kitchin is difficult to beat.

Cafe Blue above the Traverse Theatre is very reasonably priced and consistently tasty in the evening. Bijou on Leith Links and Blonde at St Leonards do great unpretentious food and have a good atmosphere.

For something a wee bit more special the Vinters rooms is rather good too.

mmm, this is making me hungry

La P’tit Folie on Frederick Street is very good, with the added bonus of superhot French waitress.

A Room In The West End, underneath Teuchters pub has always been nice and tasty whenever I’ve been in.

Skippers in Leith does amezzin seafood platters, though you need to order 24hrs in advance. The oysters there are lush too.

Martin Wishart’s gaff at the Shore in Leith is VERY nice and does a 4-course ‘taster’ menu + glass of wine for £25 during the day.

Martin Wishart’s is superb, but quite pricey. Le Petit Paris on Queensferry St that someone mentioned above is very good too, though I think the name has changed.

For Chinese or Indian you can’t beat Chop Chop and Ignite, just yards apart on Morrison St.

For Scottish grub, Stac Polly is great, and if (heaven forbid) they are veggie then try Banns.

Chez Jules.
So good that Mrs M & I went back the next night.
Not pricey, bistro-ish, good fun, great food.

Ann Purna

Vegetarian Indian food, reasonably priced and you won’t mind the fact it is vege as it is just plain excellent food.

David Bann’s maybe? Great food, usually great service too (quick and attentive without being servile or hovering)

The Dogs or Sea Dogs. Excellent non-pricey meat and fish fare respectively.

The Dogs or David Bann. Enjoy 🙂

Martin Wishart’s is good, my mate works there at the moment, Tom Kitchen, then there’s 21212 which will be good as Paul Kitchings is very good, I’d check those 3 out.

Make them watch Gordon Ramsay tonight then take them there. I’m sure Julie will have a table.

la garrigue (you may want to book now in case there is a rush)

If you like seafood, go to Ondine- it’s fantastic and I’m going again on Saturday. As above, Wisharts is ace but expensive, as is 21212 and both of Tom Kitchins places. There are loads of good restaurants in Edinburgh though. Oloroso and Harveys Nicks (Forth Floor) are other favorites of ours and have fantastic views over the city Check out the list (list dot co dot uk) for reviews

Stac Polly, there are 3 of them but I prefer the one on Grindley St, incredible local produce, brilliant staff and one of the few decent restaurants that doesn’t mind you actually making a noise and laughing!

The Apartment or The Outsider are also good options and not expensive.

Rhubarb at the Prestonfield has a £30 3-course dinner offer on at the moment – well worth a look at that price.

Loads of good suggestions – too many to choose from really.

I went to the Apartment the other day epicsteve and wasnae impressed. It was closed for renovations and it’s re-opened with a bog-standard menu. The kind you spend 10 minutes looking at because there’s just nothing on it you really like the sound of.
Nice enough in side but I much preferred the old style skewers they did.

Bit of a bummer if they Apartment has changed from their old menu. It used to be our normal place for pre-theatre food.

One day I was in Inverness wearing my Howies T and some guy asked me if I worked for Howies restaurant.
Ya de ya de Ya….Obviously I wasn’t but he went on to tell me how good the Edinburgh restauarant is.

Scottish, seasonal & seriously tasty.

Howies is vile, in all of its permutations. I won’t bore you with why, but they have 3 strikes against them. Don’t do it.

Second la Garrigue very good but you pay for it.

Also, the Mussel Inns are quite good for cheap cheerful.

The Tower is of course the best restaurant in Edinburgh but I have to say that.

There is a french place in the Grassmarket that is surprisingly good for its location, kind of like Petit Paris but less poncy.

As a Scotsman stuck in England (although I moved here when I was 4, so I probably belong here now), I don’t know why you would want to eat anything other than haggis or white pudding suppers, and a bottle of Irn Bru.

You can sit in the car and eat it with the radio on, and you wouldn’t need to deal with all the other restaurant diners.

Because he is asking about Edinburgh McHamish, not Scotland !

MussEd – Member
CaptJon – may I ask why not Iris?

Only based on my experience/meal.

There are too many tables so there was lots of leaning over and bumping from waitresses.
The light above the table kept flickering/dimming (presumably when something was switched on in the kitchen)
The sauce which came with my scallops completely over powered them (although they were perfectly cooked)
The steak was simultaneously overseasoned and bland tasting.
The asparagus was nice though.

Very true hels, a friend once told me he went to a restaurant in Edinburgh and ate haggis stuffed in chicken breast…whats all that about.

What’s wrong with haggis, tatties and neeps?

True McHamish – I was showing some Germans around Edinburgh a few years ago and the best I saw them enjoy a meal was the haggis pub lunch in a pub on Rose St. I guess it was the high offal factor.

Iris is great, the new Howies Cellar is also very good. Went to Angels With Bagpipes and despite having the best food in edinburgh so far the service was so guff I almost walked out. The room in/at/etc crowd are good too but really just go online at the list and see what is in your area and you wont go far wrong. If you’re really wanting to impress Wedgwood is great…. if you can get in!