Restaurants, bistros, bars and brasseries Edinburgh Travel Guides | Edinburgh | Eating And Drinking | Restaurants, bistros, bars and brasseries Edinburgh

£££ The Grain Store, 30 Victoria St, T 225 7635. Mon-Thu 1200-1400, 1800-2200; Fri and Sat 1200-1500, 1800-2300; Sun 1200-1500, 1800-2200. High quality Scottish ingredients served with effortless aplomb and a smile to boot. Exuberant menu features fish, game and meat, including such mouth-watering classics as carpaccio of beef. Wide selection of less orthodox starters which can be eaten combined with each other, tapas-style. The excellent cheese board is supplied by the peerless Ian Mellis, the cheesemonger, who resides below. The fabulous flavours are equalled by the attentive service and relaxed ambience. Two-course lunch only £8 and dinner £15. A real find, and popular with those in the know.

£££ Iggs, 15 Jeffrey St, T 557 8184. Mon-Sat 1200-1430, 1800-2230. Closed Sun. Superb Spanish restaurant with a formidable reputation amongst the city’s culinary cognoscenti. Combines the flavour of the Mediterranean with contemporary Scottish cuisine. Very good wine list. Excellent tapas at lunch, though you may be better off trying the cheaper tapas bar, Barioja, next door (Monday-Saturday 1100-2400).

£££ La Garrigue, 31 Jeffrey St, T 557 3032. Tue-Sat 1200-1430, 1830-2230; Sun 1200-1430. Welcome addition to the city’s already considerable stable of French culinary flair. Brings a touch of understated, lazy Languedoc to the Scottish capital, in light and airy surroundings. Simple dishes brought to the table with subtle touches that elevate the experience from the good to the memorable. Very popular so best to book. Lunch is great value.

£££ Off the Wall, 105 High St, T 558 1497. Mon-Sat 1200-1400, 1730-2200. Closed Sun. A sign by the entrance proclaims Off the Wall to be a ‘Scottish Restaurant’ but it’s far more cosmopolitan than that. What it does do, in common with many of the city’s best eateries, is combine the finest Scottish produce with flair and imagination, so the fillet of beef with soft braised fennel and crisp Parma ham is tender and pink (as all good Scottish beef must be). Vegetarians are also well-catered for and the puddings are luscious in the extreme. The wine list is upmarket but with low mark-up. Great value set lunch for £15. Though it’s on the main drag it’s not hyped, so never gets too busy.

£££ Plaisir du Chocolat, 251-253 Canongate, T 556 9524. Tue, Wed and Sun 1000-1800, Thu-Sat 1000-2230. No smoking. A rare find, this place is a slice of genuine Gallic gastron- omic greatness. Not content to be one of the city’s best French restaurants, it is also its finest tearoom, offering some 180 varieties of tea, hot chocolate, cakes and biscuits, sandwiches, brioche and petit fours. They also do a fine French petit-déjeuner, high tea and a wonderful (but not cheap at £15) weekend brunch. Now open in the evenings at weekends when the menu includes such classics as tarte tatin, fondue and superb foie gras. Their bread, which is magnifique and worth the trip alone, is for sale in the épicerie across the road, along with the many other tastebud temptations.

£££ The Tower, Museum of Scotland, Chambers St, T 225 3003. Daily 1200-2300. No smoking. Still the place to be seen among the corporate set, the superb Scottish menu and magnificent views across the city skyline from the rooftop terrace are hard to beat. This is modern dining at its sophisticated best.

£££ The Witchery by the Castle, 352 Castlehill, T 225 5613. Daily 1200-1600, 1730-2330. Dining doesn’t get more atmospheric than this. The Witchery’s reputation has spread far and wide and it is frequented by the likes of Jack Nicholson and Michael Douglas. But though eating here is more of a life experience than simply a meal, style does not take preced- ence over content, and established favourites such as roast breast of wild mallard with a warm endive and orange salad or seared sea bream with pumpkin and potato rösti and rosemary cream are flavoursome and served with aplomb. The wine list is phenomenal, with over 900 available. Downstairs, in a converted schoolyard, is the impossibly romantic Secret Garden, which shares the same glorious Scottish menu. Impecunious souls who wish to savour the atmosphere can plump for the two-course set lunch or pre-theatre supper at under £10.

££ Bann UK, 5 Hunter Sq, T 226 1112. Daily 1100-2300. Bann's is still one the city's leading vegetarian eateries with an effortlessly cool, minimalist look and a lifestyle menu to match. They offer an imaginative and adventurous range of dishes, taking veggie food far away from the tedious, sandal- wearing days of old. This is a popular street performing venue during the Festival, so great for an al fresco lunch, if that's your cup of herbal tea. Busy but laid-back and generally good value.

££ Black Bo's, 57-61 Blackfriars St, T 557 6136. Sun-Thu 1800-2230, Fri-Sat 1200-1400, 1800-2230. Bar open 1630-0100. Vegetarian restaurant with bar next door serving the same food. One of the city's great culinary experiences, though not cheap, and so good even the most fanatical carnivore might be tempted to give up meat. Supremely imaginative use of various fruits gives the exotically delicious dishes a real splash of colour.

Travel Guides | Edinburgh | Eating And Drinking | Restaurants, bistros, bars and brasseries Edinburgh
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