Restaurants

Restaurants

Restaurants
Expensive

Forth Floor
The top floor of Harvey Nichols is devoted to food and drink, with a food hall, stylish bar, informal brasserie and the smart Forth Floor restaurant. The views from both brasserie and restaurant are spectacular, out towards the castle and over the Forth to Fife. Contemporary Scottish food is served, with vegetarian options always available.

Harvey Nichols, 30–34 St Andrew Square
Tel: (0131) 524 8350
Website: www.harveynichols.com

number one
Within the dramatic setting of the landmark Balmoral Hotel, number one is serious destination dining. The city centre's only Michelin star, the restaurant also has three AA rosettes. Executive chef Jeff Bland uses the best Scottish produce to create world-class cuisine. The surroundings are sophisticated, the wine list superb and the service flawless.

The BalmoraI, 1 Princes Street
Tel: (0131) 557 6727.
Website: www.restaurantnumberone.com

Ondine
The latest addition to Edinburgh's fine-dining scene, Ondine generated immediate excitement thanks to the reputation of its head chef, Roy Brett. Its menus are driven by traceability and seasonality; the restaurant works closely with the Marine Stewardship Council to ensure that its seafood is as sustainable as possible. Guests can sit at the horseshoe-shaped Crustacean Bar and watch the chefs preparing fresh shellfish.

2 George IV Bridge
Tel: (0131) 226 1888
Website: www.ondinerestaurant.co.uk

Restaurant Martin Wishart
This acclaimed Leith restaurant well deserves its Michelin star and is consistentlyhighly acclaimed. Popular with local celebrities, the restaurant serves mouth-watering creations with a firm nod across the sea to France. The décor is simple and cool; the 17-page wine list has a good selection from Old and New Worlds. Serious foodies will want to opt for the six-course tasting menu.

54 The Shore, Leith
Tel: (0131) 553 3557.
Website: www.martin-wishart.co.uk

The Atrium
Situated in the same building as the Traverse theatre, but under separate ownership, the Atrium offers sophisticated, contemporary and distinctive Scottish cuisine, using ingredients bought directly from small, local suppliers such as Peelham Farm, specialists in British native breeds, and the artisan cheese-maker Humphrey Errington. Service is unobtrusive and friendly, while the wine list is exceptional in its range.

10 Cambridge Street
Tel: (0131) 228 8882.
Website: www.atriumrestaurant.co.uk

The Kitchin
One of Leith's three Michelin-starred restaurants, Tom Kitchin's eponymous restaurant is heavy on high-quality Scottish ingredients: fish, game, beef, wild mushrooms and soft fruit. Service is sublime and the wine list is exceptional. Seasonality and sourcing are as important to Kitchin as intricate sauces. Perfect for anyone looking for a culinary treat. A six-course tasting menu is available.

78 Commercial Quay, Leith
Tel: (0131) 555 1755.
Website: www.thekitchin.com

The Plumed Horse
Leith's newest Michelin-starred restaurant, the Plumed Horse also has three AA rosettes and won the Scottish Restaurant of the Year award for 2009/10. Inventive dishes, beautifully executed, are the hallmark of chef/proprietor Tony Borthwick. The dining-room is small and intimate, hung with paintings by local artists. The good-value midweek suppers offer a choice of meat or fish main courses, while a six-course set dinner menu is available at weekends.

50-54 Henderson Street, Leith
Tel: (0131) 554 5556.
Website: www.plumedhorse.co.uk

Café Andaluz
This tapas bar on fashionable George Street is beautifully decorated in the southern Spanish style, with lots of tiles and blue-and-white ceramics. The tapas menu is wide-ranging; meat and fish main courses are also offered, as is a selection of paellas. The wine list, although exclusively Spanish, is extensive.

77B George Street
Tel: (0131) 220 9980.
Website: www.cafeandaluz.com

Centotre
Impeccably prepared and presented Italian food is served in the beautiful surroundings of a converted New Town house. The menu includes classic Italian meat and fish dishes, a variety of interesting pasta sauces, excellent pizzas and home-made ice-cream.

103 George Street
Tel: (0131) 225 1550.
Website: www.centotre.com

David Bann
One of Edinburgh's longest-established and smartest vegetarian restaurants, David Bann serves genuinely interesting vegetarian and vegan dishes which ought to keep even committed carnivores happy. The surroundings are stylish and the service professional, light-years away from the beard-and-sandals stereotype.

56-58 St Mary's Street
Tel: (0131) 556 5888.
Website: www.davidbann.com

Howies
There are four restaurants in this small Edinburgh chain, spread around the city centre and all in architecturally unique buildings. All share the same ethos of high-quality local produce at affordable prices, but each has its own menu. There are always interesting vegetarian options. All the meat and game at Howies is Scottish and all the chicken and eggs are free-range.

10 -14 Victoria St, Grassmarket
Tel: (0131) 225 1721.
Website: www.howies.uk.com

Stac Polly
This small local chain has three branches around the city, all offering modern Scottish dishes in attractive surroundings with tasteful tartan touches. The food is beautifully prepared and presented, while the staff are friendly and helpful. In season, the menu features Scottish game, such as venison and pheasant. Stac Polly's signature starter, filo pastry parcels of haggis with plum sauce, has many devotees, as does its extensive whisky list.

29-33 Dublin Street
Tel: (0131) 556 2231.
Website: www.stacpolly.com

Bell's Diner
Small and popular Stockbridge restaurant which has been satisfying Edinburgh's yearnings for burgers for nearly 40 years. Steaks and veggie-burgers are also available, but it is the char-grilled beef-burgers, with their various savoury butters, which are the real highlights in this unpretentious, simply furnished place.

7 St Stephen Street
Tel: (0131) 225 8116.

Kalpna
Kalpna is one of Edinburgh's longest-established and best-known Indian vegetarian restaurants. It is small, simply decorated and unpretentious inside, but the food (all of which is vegetarian) is delicious and inspired. Specialities include huge South Indian dosas, thali set meals and vegetable-stuffed potatoes. The Kalpna lunchtime buffet is very good value and, correspondingly, popular.

2-3 St Patrick's Square
Tel: (0131) 667 9890.
Website: www.kalpnarestaurant.com

Pani Solińska
Like many other British cities, Edinburgh has been enriched in recent years with a new Polish community. Pani Solińska is one of a number of restaurants which have sprung up to share Poland's cuisine with curious locals. Borsch, bigos and pierogi figure on the menu along with less familiar traditional meat and fish dishes. The vodka list, as one would expect, is lengthy and full of surprises!

73 Broughton Street
Tel: (0131) 557 6900
Website: www.panisolinska.com

Rendezvous
Edinburgh's oldest-established Chinese restaurant has been serving good, reliable Scottish-Chinese cuisine since 1956. It offers the full range of traditional meals – sweet-and-sour, chow mein, kung po and so forth – as well as some more unusual noodle dishes. Chinese beer is available on draught. The Rendezvous lunchtime buffet is particularly good value, especially on weekdays.

10a Queensferry Street
Tel: (0131) 225 2023
Website: www.edinburghrendezvous.co.uk

The Mussel Inn
An informal bistro, with some tables outside on Rose Street. The restaurant's signature dish is big pots of mussels, prepared in various ways and served with crusty bread. The mussels and oysters served in the Mussel Inn are cultivated in the waters of Scotland's west coast and northern isles. The wine list is short but well-chosen for the seafood menu, with several offered by the glass.

61-65 Rose Street
Tel: (0131) 225 5979.
Website: www.mussel-inn.com