Edinburgh Recommendations

[spanky]

After his (I thought, very decent) restaurant Rogue went to the wall a while ago, David Ramsden went to Monster Mash, which was looking to expand its business. They now have a Mexican joint called Monster Mex on Thistle Street (on the site of the Japanese restaurant, Niji), which apparently serves a mean margarita and is said to be worth the visit. I recommend Monster Mash as well, though you'll need some give in your waistband if you go for the main course/dessert combo.

Cheers

Spanky

[hornet]

I am going to Edinburgh in a couple of weeks and have not seen any recent recommendations for places. Has anyone been anywhere good recently?

[fisherman]

Valvona and Crolla is always worth a visit for good quality Italian, also Kalpna, possibly the best Indian restaurant I've eaten at in the UK, vegetarian only, but don't let that put you off!

[Alan Smeaton]

My favourite restaurant up there has always been Martin Wishart. It isn't cheap, but the food is magnificent. Number One at The Balmoral is also superb.

[ariggsby]

I was there for the first time this spring and had a really good meal at a place called Atrium.

Andrew

[Andy Lynes]

Don't miss The Kitchin.

[naebody]

It has its naysayers, but I paid a visit to The Secret Garden a couple of weeks ago and was rather impressed.

[GeoffC]

Andy is spot on about Kitchin, and excellent value, check out the £20 three course lunch ( http://www.thekitchin.com/lunchmenu.pdf ), how good does "Boar head from the Borders, boned and rolled in bread crumbs, served with a fried egg and crispy ears" sound, and a remarkable number of sub £25 bottles of wines for a one star restaurant. ( http://www.thekitchin.com/winelist.pdf ). I'm reminded of a review of Martin Wishart by Nick Nairn a few years ago where he suggested you should go while you can still afford it and the chef is still in the kitchen (still 50% accurate with Wishart's - great food. but a treat rather than a regular destination).

If you are going to Kitchin you will probably need to book well ahead though as I'm going on Thursday and could only get 6.45, back by 9.00pm, table when I booked the best part of a month ago.

[dellis453]

For a great bistrot, check out Urban Angel,

http://www.list.co.uk/restaurants/everywhe...enue/detail.php

For fish check out the Mussel Inn

http://www.list.co.uk/restaurants/everywhe...enue/detail.php

For very modern Indian, check out Roti.

http://www.list.co.uk/restaurants/everywhe...enue/detail.php

It is always worth booking, especially at weekends!

Of course, don't miss the farmers' market on Castle Terrace on Saturday mornings.

The Kitchin currently has an 8 week waiting list for Saturday dining and is full most nights, so book now for a chance!

Enjoy your visit!!

[Kropotkin]

I had lunch with friends in Abstract last week (connected to the place of the same name in Inverness that was subjected to a TV Ramsay-visitation a couple of years back...) The lunch deal was decent value with perfectly presentable food. It's also a good room and offers the kind of attentive service you'd find at a top-end joint. Memorably, it also has faux-crocodile skin table-surfaces! I'd hoped for Wisharts or The Kitchin but we didn't have time to get down to Leith, so this sufficed nicely. It's also a splendid walk up Castle Hill then down Johnston Terrace from the centre...

[PS]

The last I heard about Abstract was that the chef, who, on the basis of Ramsay's programme, was the main attraction, had upped and left suddenly. I don't know if the restaurant has suffered as a result.

The Kitchin is certainly where it's at at the moment - must try and get in there soon.

On a sad Edinburgh note, Plaisir de Chocolat has turned up its toes due to financial difficulties. I suspect that the rapid expansion they had in the past couple of years (shops in Melrose, concessions in Manchester, Dubai etc) proved too much for the cash flow

[GeoffC]

Just thought I should point out that the - one table left with three weeks to go on a Thursday, in my last post - was down to a table of twelve and Edinburgh University graduation that day (proud mom and pop and little Tarquin's abounded), so it might not normally be that impossible to get into Kitchin midweek. The food was however excellent, and one of the specials was a classic Pig's Trotters Pierre Koffman with mash, not normally a great choice for the end of June but due to the fact it was bucketing down outside almost perfect.

[hornet]

Thanks for the responses. Kitchin is being refurbished over the next couple of weeks and Martin Wishart is fully booked so we will be trying Fishers, Atrium and Olorosso over the course of next weekend.

[Pille]

Valvona and Crolla is always worth a visit for good quality Italian

←

I'd recommend another Contini family business, Centotre, for a leisurely brunch - their Cenerentola fruit cocktail is wonderful, as are their croissants and bruschetti.

And I always try to go back to The Witchery restaurant when in town - it's such an enchanted place, and I've only ever had very good food there.

[nikkib]

Am off to Edinburgh in a couple of weeks and would like to know what restaurants are generally considered to be the best... Thanks

[spanky]

There's an old thread about Edinburgh somewhere. I'm sure some of it still holds up.

Best, as in Michelin-rated: Martin Wishart, The Kitchin and Number One are Edinburgh's one-stars. The first two are down in Leith, which will involve a bus or taxi ride through the construction site of the new tram system. Number One is attached to the Balmoral Hotel, so it's very central. Also, the Champany Inn, a 20-minute train ride away in Linlithgow, just got its first star. As for expensive restaurants, Leith also has The Plumed Horse, which used to be a one-star in the wilds of Dumfries before it moved to the big city--mixed reviews, can't comment myself--and The Vintners Rooms. The Atrium, just off Lothian Road, has a bib, and I would have recommended it v highly, only for the fact that my last meal there was rather underwhelming. I think Ducks at Le Marche Noir in Stockbridge just got a bib too.

Restaurants I like: La Garrigue on Jeffrey Street, for southern French cooking; Centotre, buzzy Italian on George Street (it's now got a sister place in Stockbridge called Zanzero); Bella Mbriana, a Neapolitan restaurant that opened a couple of months ago at the bottom of Broughton Street. Had a very decent pub meal recently at the Cafe Royal Oyster Bar, which you have to go to anyway for the decor. DON'T go to the Voodoo Rooms around the corner. Also like David Bann's as a veggie option.

Cheers

Spanky

[spanielking]

Yo.

If your looking central Edinburgh, Centotre on George Street is worth a look, modern italian/deli, nice milkshakes there! Also along similar lines is the Valvona and Crolla cafe down the side of Harvey Nics is good too. For posh nosh, Leith is best bet, about 1.5 miles out of town. Regular bus service from Princess Street. You have Martin Wisharts and The Kitchin, both Michelin starred. The balmoral Hotel at the end of pricess street has Hadrians Brasserie, not sure what it is like, looks expensive, and their Number One restaurant has one of those star thingys too! Though I don't think they are open for lunch?? One place to steer clear of is The Witchery. Total pants. Its a tourist trap. Everyone will tell you its THE restaurant to go to, but service and food is poor, and if going lunchtime, lacking in atmosphere. Plus total ripp off. The Tower, owned by same group, is better, though I have not been for a few years, and has had a couple of mixed review recently.

If you can travel further afield, the Glasshouse at Eskmills is worth the trip. There was a good looking restraunt reviewed in the scotland on sunday the other week, got a really good review, it was in the old town, off the royal mile, but for the life of me I cant remember what its called!! Thats helpfull, I'll see if I can find out and post back!! Hope this helps.

Oliver

[spanielking]

Found it!!!

http://www.monteithsbar.co.uk/

Woop!

also have a look at

http://www.thenewbell.com/

[nikkib]

thanks for all the suggestions - Martin wisharts in particular looks great!

[Andy Lynes]

Martin Wishart is the consultant chef at Home House http://www.homehouseedinburgh.com/theclub/dining.cfm which is a private members club. However I've checked and the restaurant is open to non-members so might be worth considering.

[nikkib]

Thanks andy - that looks good too....

[Brian]

I had lunch in Martin Wishart and then the Kitchin the following day last November. Both are excellent, though I marginally preferred Martin Wishart. I still think about my rabbit main course!

My other half preferred the Kitchin - I was a little disappointed but I think this is beacuse I was expecting a taste of the Louis XV. You can see the Ducasse inspiration in the dishes, but the ingredients just aren't the same quality as you can get on the Riviera. The value is extraordinary at about £20 (a little less than the Louis XV then!) for the set lunch. The decor is pretty modern (dark wood and no tablecloths etc.), but the room is nice enough and the service is relaxed.

Martin Wishart's food was more modern and exciting in style, though the service, tablecloths etc. were more traditionally Michelin, with a longer and more interesting wine list. Value was also fantastic at just over £20 for the set lunch. The service struck a perfect balance between friendliness and efficiency.

The Witchery is a waste of time and money - very ordinary food, no atmosphere on the night we were there (a Thursday), and fairly hefty prices.

Edited February 6, 2008 by Brian (log)

[nikkib]

Thanks Brian - have decided on Martin Wishart and will see about the others when i get there

[nikkib]

Well i tried to book at Martin Wishart but was told on the first occasion that last orders for lunch were at 12:30 (?) then i had a reply to my email enquiry saying that i could have a table at 1:30. As my flight wasn't due in until 13:00 i decided i wouldn't risk it and instead got a 13:45 reservation which i made (just) at Kitchin. The restaurant was compact (about 40 covers) and fairly "modern looking" with surprisingly trendy music playing in the backgound, and on a wednesady lunch, nearly full (mostly business men.) I started with a glass of the house champagne @ £6.50 and decided on "Octopus" served as a "Carpaccio of octopus served with North Berwick sea urchin eggs, palourde clams, local baby squid, pickled beach mushrooms, young radishes with a caper and lemon dressing" which all sounded pretty good for £12.00. They were out of the sea urchin eggs but i really thought this dish was superb, beautifully presented with a large razor clam, a handful of palourdes still in their shells, tiny picked mushrooms (not much bigger than the capers) baby radishes and celery leaves on top of the carpaccio with a couple of tentacley bits on top. It really was a stunning dish and every bit as deliciuos as it looked. For my main i had "Halibut" at £26.00 which was "Oak smoked wild halibut with sautéed potatoes and grelot onions served with a watercress, pine nut

and citrus dressing" Again, beautifully presented with a thick tranche of halibut atop little sautteed poatoes, whole grelot onions and a generous helping of essntially what was a citrussy watercress pesto with lemon segments around the side of the plate. With my starter i drank a glass of macon chaintre @ £7.00 and for my main a glass of puligny montrachet 1er cru 05 at £14.00 I hadn't really planned on having dessert (far too much eating out this year all ready!) but then they took the cheese trolley to the table next to me... oh dear! A selection of Scottish and French cheese @ £10.50 - they had around 6 Scottish cheese of which i went for the Criffel and bishop Kennedy and a blue (dunshyre?) and a (French) Tomme au marc with a glass of maury £7.00. The service was discreet but friendly and the staff were very knowledgable and eager to offer assistance where necessary. This really was a very good meal, one of the best i have eaten in fact and i would definitely recommend The Kitchin to anyone heading to Edinburgh (Leith)

[spanky]

On Friday night we went to The Dogs, David Ramsden's new "traditional restaurant", which has taken over the Tijuana Yacht Club's old beat on Hanover Street. Mr Ramsden's a bit of a legend on the Edinburgh restaurant scene, and lately I've been having trouble keeping up with the many pies he's got his fingers in. (Over the past few months, I've read he was general manager of The Apartment and its sister restaurant The Outsider; I saw he had a new restaurant called Iris in the old Monster Mash location on Thistle Street; and now this.)

In contrast to one of Mr Ramsden's previous ventures, the late lamented Rogue, The Dogs isn't crisp tablecloths and nice glassware with a luxurious, laid-back vibe. It's mismatched chairs, bare tables dotted arbitrarily about the (smallish) room and paper-napkined wrapped cutlery plonked down in front of you in your water glass. It's busy and, at times, a bit frenetic. The menu is cheap cuts of meat and offal-heavy, with very few items over a tenner; the long-ish wine list has only a couple of bottles over the £20 mark. Theoretically, a couple could eat three courses with a bottle of wine and get out for less than fifty bananas.

The question is: would you want to? On the strength of my meal, I'd say yes. My toothsome ham hock terrine (£4.50) was well matched with some punchy piccalilli, and my main of melt-in-the-mouth braised ox cheeks and horseradish mash (£8.25) was cut perfectly with some pickled walnuts. Others in our party didn't fare so well, however. The wife said that her breast of lamb, though very nice, really needed some kind of condiment, and we felt that the beef rib steak (the most expensive dish on the menu at £19.50) was a wee bit lacking in meat. As for desserts, the lemon posset (£2.50) was declared a winner, while at £4.25 (I think) my rhubarb crumble wasn't really a patch on what I might be able to rustle up of an evening. The service, led by Ramsden himself, was certainly efficient, if somewhat stymied by the obstacle course of oddly angled tables and thrust-out chairs with coats trailing behind them.

The Dogs has only opened, so the kitchen might still be finding its feet. With a bit of tweaking, however, and at these prices, it could be a real winner. Anyway, David Ramsden doesn't need my recommendation: he was turning away people in droves on Friday night.

Spanky