The Times’s Alba restaurant critic Chitra Ramaswamy has eaten all over Edinburgh, from Marchmont noodle bars to Auld Reekie’s superb Noma equivalent, Timberyard. Here’s a selection of some of her favourite restaurants and cafés in the capital. We’ll regularly update this list, so do check back in to see what we’ve added – and please let us know in the Comments section what you think of our picks. There’s something to suit every budget, with the price ranges organised like so:
£ Less than £50 a head, without drinks
££ £50 to £75 a head, without drinks
£££ More than £75 a head, without drinks
(Correct at the time of entry on this list)
• See the 13 best restaurants in Glasgow
Montrose
From the owners of Michelin-starred Timberyard, this brilliant wine bar and restaurant offers fine dining upstairs and thoughtfully selected vino down below, with excellence and precision throughout.
Set in a handsome Victorian building in residential Abbeyhill, the candles and neutral tones of the minimalist interior foster an almost ecclesiastical atmosphere. The ascetic decor is no reflection on the food though, which is similar in style to Timberyard’s serious and seasonal European cookery, but in a more relaxed (and affordable) setting.
Base yourself in the dining room for the £80 prix fixe menu, or head downstairs for organic wine and punchy small plates. Choosing may require you to google a few things — Trentino lonza? Smoked pork loin, apparently — but you certainly won’t forget what kalettes are once you’ve tried them fried with green Sichuan peppercorns. (A cross between kale and Brussels sprouts, by the way.) Salt cod fritters with fermented chilli are exceptional, and the beef rissoles, made with 100 per cent grass-fed Fife dexters, will make you wish you were 100 per cent fed at Montrose.
£££, 1 Montrose Terrace, montroserestaurant.co
Read Chitra’s full Montrose review
Lyla
Decadent ten-course tasting menus are the order of the day at chef Stuart Ralston’s fourth Edinburgh endeavour. As in his other three restaurants — Aizle, Noto and Tipo — you can expect superlative heights of culinary attainment — with prices to match.
Though Ralston draws on worldly influences and ingredients, from Bavarian Alp blossom cheese to Welsh wagyu, Scottish seafood remains the star attraction; think (and salivate at the thought of) Isle of Skye scallops, poached lobster, wild sea bass and brill, dry-aged turbot and perfectly smoked sea trout.
Residing in a Georgian townhouse on the ritzy Royal Terrace, it has opulent yet refined interiors, with faultless service and a champagne trolley that only the most abstemious of punters could resist.
Every plate confirms Ralston as a chef at the top of his game, with a genius for plating that few can match. Each course is worthy of its own eulogy and the overall experience is one of unforgettable indulgence. Just go with someone who might make the mistake of offering to pay.
£££, 3 Royal Terrace, lylaedinburgh.co.uk
Read Chitra Ramaswamy’s full Lyla review
Ardfern
This all-day café, bar and bottle shop has just won a Michelin Bib Gourmand — and boy, does it deserve it. Roberta Hall-McCarron — a Tom Kitchin protégé who won the fish course on 2021’s Great British Menu — and her husband are the masterminds behind Ardfern, which sits next to its big sister the Little Chartroom in Leith.
Walls of eco-friendly wines, swish timber decor, an open kitchen where you can spot Hall-McCarron cooking your breakfast — this is the most exciting relaxed-dining restaurant we’ve ever been to.
The menu is thoughtful and unfussy, with Lindisfarne oysters, duck rillette and a Sunday roast that has become a thing of Leith legend. No roast potatoes, but Ardfern’s hash browns more than make up for it. It’s simply the best roast beef in town, with vegetables drizzled with honey mustard and a vast Yorkshire pudding.
Open every day, for every meal and excellent coffee and desserts. Come once, you’ll definitely become a regular.
££, 10-12 Bonnington St, ardfern.uk
Read Chitra’s full Ardfern review
Port of Leith Distillery Bar
Towering over Leith docks, Scotland’s first vertical distillery opened in autumn 2023, with a stunning industrial-chic eighth-floor restaurant and bar that instantly became one of our favourite food spots in Scotland.
The building itself — once described by its own structural engineer as “wanting to fall down” — is a certifiable triumph, with fantastic yet contrasting views all around. Situated right on the Leith waterfront, punters bear witness to heavy industry and shipping on one side, while Edinburgh castle dominates the skyline on the other.
Though a distillery could be forgiven for serving food as an afterthought, that is very much not the case here. Its Californian head chef Patrick Whittaker has cooked up a serious menu of small and medium plates that max out on seasonality and general heartiness. The charcuterie and cheese boards are a just-right accompaniment to your wee dram (or three); the ham haugh croquette slathered with buttery hollandaise is another stand out. Make sure to leave room for the sublime desserts, all of which are, appropriately, thoroughly booze-laden.
££, Port of Leith Distillery Bar, 11 Whisky Quay, leithdistillery.com
Read Chitra Ramaswamy’s full Port of Leith Distillery review
Mirin
Formerly Gulp Ramen, this casual Asian-influenced restaurant was rebranded last year as Mirin and the focus shifted towards small plates. Perfectly positioned in the culinary hotspot that is Leith Walk, gladly it is still run by the same charismatic couple, who label their new creations as “deliberately inauthentic deranged junk food”.
Any failure to salivate at this description will be promptly remedied by a closer look at the menu: Shetland scallops with black pudding and gochujang butter ooze rich decadence, while the bacon cheeseburger sandwiched betwixt fluffy bao buns is as delectable as it is heretical.
Don’t be fooled by the “junk food” tag. The ingredients are of the highest quality and great care is given to the execution of each dish. The jewel in Mirin’s crown is bluefin tuna belly, an incomparably soft and sought-after cut that rarely finds its way on to UK menus, while its hand-ripped noodles will have you for ever turning your nose up at shop-bought alternatives.
££, 9 Albert Place, mirin.uk
Read Chitra Ramaswamy’s full Mirin review
Baba
Opened in 2017 by the team behind Ox and Finch in Glasgow, Baba is the place in the New Town for a taste of the Levant. On the corner of George Street and Charlotte Square, Baba sits within the Kimpton hotel, but has a boutique, colourful vibe, with Persian rugs and artfully distressed walls. Corporate, hotelly it decidedly is not.
The food comes mezze-style (think Middle Eastern small plates), with an exceptional baba ganoush and warm pitta bread setting a high standard. Other noteworthy dishes include a haggis merguez, which skilfully blends haggis with spiced lamb in Yemeni zhug sauce, showcasing Baba’s commitment to new, intriguing flavours.
The desserts are famously good, including an olive oil cake with burnt honey, dried apricots and stem ginger that’s well worth saving room for. Despite the opulent setting, Baba’s true charm lies in its consistently exquisite food.
£, 130 George Street; kimptoncharlottesquare.com
Read Chitra Ramaswamy’s full Baba review
Tanjore
Tamil Nadu meets Newington in this great wee south Indian restaurant, owned and run by the charming Ganeshram family. The decor may be slightly worn, but the canteen-style simplicity is refreshingly authentic, livened up, inevitably, by ornate wall hangings and the odd Hindu god.
The thalis (round platters with rice and several veg or non-veg dishes) are superb, but the sambar vada, a soupy stew found bubbling on stoves in every south Indian home, is Tanjore’s real showstopper, a perfect fried lentil and rice flour doughnut (vada) soaking up the juices in the centre of the sauce. Tanjore’s signature dosa is top notch, filled with an intense, hot, curry leaf-laden veg curry rich with “podi” (dry spice mix).
Not for nothing everyone here, from diners to staff, are not just Indian — nor merely south Indian — but very specifically Tamil. There is authentic, then there is Tanjore.
£, 6-8 Clerk Street, tanjore.co.uk
Read Chitra Ramaswamy’s full Tanjore review
Pomelo
Heavenly hand-ripped noodles for less than a tenner. In a café probably not much bigger than your front room. Sound good? Then Café Pomelo is for you.
Exuding a quirky cheerfulness, with artworks on the walls exploring Sino-Scot cultural connections, the café signals its commitment to detail from the off: fresh flowers on tables; jars of sugar syrups infused with elderflower and wild mint by the till.
The standout superstar of a compact but intriguing lunch menu are the hand-ripped noodles, served by the owner in a celestial bowl of umami-rich delights. A just right marriage of thick, wide noodles, fresh coriander, steamed veg and dark, gnarly braised pork, it is a harmonious symphony of spices and aromatic flavours. Its chicken sandwich is a gloriously messy ode to sweet and savoury pleasures. A weekend dinner menu is a slightly more refined small-plates affair.
This then is a superb addition to the Marchmont culinary scene, with everything prepared on site. However, note the website’s warning: “Space in the restaurant is very close and cosy. You may find yourself next to, bumping shoulders and even chatting to the table next to you!” Guaranteed you’ll only have nice things to talk about.
£, 27 Sciennes Road, pomelocafe.co.uk
Read Chitra Ramaswamy’s full Pomelo review
The Little Chartroom
We were big fans of the original version of this fine-dining bistro on Leith Walk — and it has lost none of its gloss in its new grown-up location a little up the road in what was once Martin Wishart’s Cook School. Here, among the indie wine shops and sea-dog boozers of old Leith, the Great British Menu regular Roberta Hall-McCarron is turning out some of the most exciting food in Edinburgh.
The space exudes a modern, effortlessly cool vibe, although the repetitive blues soundtrack may not be to everyone’s tastes. The atmosphere strikes the perfect balance between serious foodie venue and a warm, welcoming bistro. The open kitchen adds an element of excitement, with a chef’s table for anyone who fancies a front row-seat view of Hall-McCarron’s culinary wizardry.
Her evolution in flavour combinations and culinary techniques has birthed a uniquely Scottish, quasi-Scandinavian and distinctly European cuisine. The Little Chartroom’s vision, completely Hall-McCarron’s own, is nothing short of exquisite.
££, 14 Bonnington Road, thelittlechartroom.com
Read Chitra Ramaswamy’s full Little Chartroom review
Skua
Run by Tomas Gormley and Sam Yorke, the dynamic young duo behind the Michelin-starred Heron in Leith, Skua was launched in Stockbridge in the spring of 2023 — and it’s hard to think of a more exciting New Town opening.
The neon signage, twinkling below a children’s bookshop, beckons patrons into a moody basement dining room that’s all vibey black marble tables and candlelit intimacy. Smoke swirls from a Japanese konro grill in the tiny open kitchen where Gormley cooks up his increasingly vaunted storm.
The restaurant’s lean, climate-conscious philosophy is boldly displayed on a blackboard detailing the night’s “86 list”— an inventory of items exhausted on the night. Produce is seasonal, Scottish but with strong hints of Asia and South America. “We’re about big flavours and balance,” Gormley says — you won’t argue.
The cocktail menu, curated the bar manager Seoiridh Fraser, features natural and rare wines, spirits and inventive concoctions. Young, fun, thrillingly good, Skua is set to soar.
££, 49 St Stephen Street; skua.scot
Read Chitra Ramaswamy’s full Skua review
Eòrna
Eòrna is not your typical restaurant. Owned and operated by the chef Brian Grigor and the sommelier Glen Montgomery, this fine-dining Stockbridge establishment offers something extraordinarily intimate, with a dozen covers and a single chef’s table.
Grigor worked under Albert Roux and retained a Michelin star at the Balmoral’s Number One — and boy does it show. His cooking is meticulous and artistic, showing virtuoso flair. From tiny mounds of smoked caviar to joints of Orkney beef sirloin, each dish is a masterpiece in presentation and taste.
The space adds to the allure. Clever lighting ensures that attention is evenly distributed between the kitchen, the sommelier and the marble countertop where the magic unfolds. As Grigor crafts each dish with calm precision, Montgomery’s infectious enthusiasm and storytelling prowess elevate the experience. For Montgomery, who was previously at Restaurant Andrew Fairlie and Heron, each wine is more than a pairing, it’s an invitation to a punchy, lyrical tale.
£££, 68 Hamilton Place, eornarestaurant.com
Read Chitra Ramaswamy’s full Eòrna review
The Palmerston
This grand Victorian bank building (formerly a Starbucks) has been reborn under the skilled hands of James Snowdon and the Aussie chef Lloyd Morse, who has worked at the River Café in London and the Timberyard in Edinburgh.
Seamlessly blending tradition with modernity, the Palmerston is like an old-school Parisian bistro but with striking contemporary art, upcycled cutlery and chunky wooden tables. Buzzy, welcoming, it has a warmth that hits you the moment you step through its heavy wooden entrance on Palmerston Place.
Curated by Morse, the Palmerston’s Scottish-European menu is laced with brilliant offbeat offerings. From a rich brandade — a cod, olive oil and mashed potato emulsion — to the uncommon pairing of beef mince and dripping toast, each dish surprises and delights. Killer deserts include a bramble sorbet and buttery mille-feuille, worth coming for on their own. Part café and restaurant, part bakery and brasserie, the Palmerston is hard to fault.
£££, 1 Palmerston Place, thepalmerstonedinburgh.co.uk
Read Chitra Ramaswamy’s full Palmerston review
Timberyard
Timberyard raised the bar in Edinburgh’s restaurant scene when it opened in 2012 — and it’s still the one to beat. From its industrial-chic interiors to its innovative Nordic cuisine, this is Auld Reekie’s very own version of Noma, in the shadow of the glowering castle.
Not so much a restaurant as — modern trope alert — an experience, Timberyard seduces from the off. The staff are attentive but not fussily so, the decor is an on-point marriage of bare brickwork and metal finishing. Rarely does Michelin-starred dining feel so unstuffy. Somehow it feels refined and relaxed — a hard trick to pull off.
The food is, you’ve guessed it, superb, an earthy riot of fermented this, foraged that and pickled the other — with an excellent non-alcoholic food pairing a typically innovative option. The standout dish? It’s hard to beat the single palate-cleansing oyster, served in a horseradish, celery, apple and dill sauce.
£££, 10 Lady Lawson Street, timberyard.co
Read Chitra Ramaswamy’s full Timberyard review
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