The foodie guide to Edinburgh

££££ · Book well ahead

Stuart Ralston’s flagship, in a Georgian townhouse on Royal Terrace, and the holder of a Michelin star. Seafood is the star of the menu here – hand-dived scallops, Scottish langoustines, and whatever came off the boats. You start upstairs in the bar with snacks made at the counter, then move down to the dining room for the tasting menu. Tables are for one to four only, and they don’t do vegetarian or vegan menus, so this is one for the fish-eaters.

Best for: anniversaries, big birthdays, proposals.

Book a table at Lyla →

£££/££££ · Book ahead

A Michelin-starred corner restaurant looking straight onto the Water of Leith, with chef patron Sam Yorke in the kitchen. Bright, calm, unstuffy, and the tasting menu is built around Scottish seafood, game and fruit. Ask for a window table.

Best for: a long lunch by the water.

Book a table at Heron →

££££ · Book well ahead

Twelve seats at a counter, and just two people running the whole thing – Brian Grigor cooking, Glen Montgomery pouring. Eòrna means barley in Gaelic, and the menu is fiercely Scottish — Orkney beef, hand-dived scallops, Perthshire berries. Arrive at 6.45, leave at 11, and you’ll have watched every course being made.

Best for: a chef’s table experience.

Book a table at eòrna →

££££ · Book well ahead

American chef Rodney Wages visited Edinburgh on holiday, fell for it, and moved his Michelin-starred San Francisco restaurant here in 2024. It won its star back within the year. Twenty covers in a near-black basement on St Stephen Street, a tasting menu that treats Scottish produce with a Californian lightness, and a drinks flight that runs through wine, sake, sherry and whisky. It’s the most expensive meal on this list, and one of the most memorable.

Best for: the once-a-year blowout.

Book a table at Avery →

£££ · Book ahead

Tomás Gormley won Heron its Michelin star, then opened Cardinal on Eyre Place in 2024 as his first solo restaurant. Dark, candlelit, 24 covers, and a menu cooked over fire with a lot of fermenting and pickling going on. The tasting menu is £89, which is very good value for cooking at this level.

Best for: a serious dinner that still feels fun.

Book a table at Cardinal →

££/£££ · Book ahead

Henry Dobson trained at Noma, then came home and opened Moss with a rule – everything on the plate is Scottish, everything in the glass is British, and much of it comes from his family’s organic farm in Angus. It was going to be a tasting menu but became à la carte instead, which makes it the most relaxed of the St Stephen Street trio. Look up – there’s a lichen-covered Perthshire branch across the ceiling.

Best for: people who want to eat Scotland rather than just eat in Scotland.

Book a table at Moss →

£££ · Book ahead

Nàdair means nature in Gaelic. It’s a 20-cover neighbourhood restaurant on Roseneath Street from Alan Keery and Sarah Baldry, who worked together at Wedgwood, serving a five-course set menu that changes daily and leans heavily on foraged ingredients. Sarah is a pastry chef, so the desserts are a serious part of the night. Weekend lunch is the bargain of this whole list.

Best for: the best value tasting menu in the city.

Book a table at Nàdair →

£££ · Book well ahead

Not in Edinburgh at all, technically: a working farm at the foot of the Pentlands, twenty-five minutes from the city, where two brothers have turned their dad’s old milking barn into a dining room and cook what the farm grows and raises. Long communal tables, no-dig veg, whole-animal butchery, and a feeling of having been invited to someone’s supper. The road in is a bumpy farm track; bring a coat.

Best for: a group dinner you’ll still be talking about next year.

Book a table at The Free Company →

££££ · Book well ahead

The original interactive tasting-menu experience in Edinburgh: a handful of diners around one marble table, chefs cooking in front of you. There’s now a bistro, Under The Table, directly beneath it.

Best for: foodies who want a front-row seat.

Book a table at The Table →

£££ · Book ahead

From the Radford family behind Michelin-starred Timberyard. Two things in one old inn – a wine bar downstairs with small plates and a wine list that champions lesser-known regions, and a small set-menu dining room upstairs. Downstairs you can drop in for a glass and a couple of plates; upstairs is the special dinner.

Best for: a wine bar that happens to have a proper restaurant on top of it.

Book a table at Montrose →

££/£££ · Book ahead

Opened in autumn 2025 in an old pub on Portland Place by James Murray — the chef who won Timberyard its Michelin star — with the team behind Nauticus bar. Small, medium and large plates, a lot of seafood from nearby Newhaven, some of it cooked over coals, and a proper bar with proper cocktails. Already in the Michelin Guide.

Best for: date night at the counter.

Book a table at Dogstar →

££ · Book ahead

Tomás Gormley and Sam Yorke’s small-plates basement on St Stephen Street, in the old Blue Parrot Cantina, painted black with a red neon sign. The menu changes daily, is deliberately short — oysters, brioche, beef tartare, sika deer, market fish — and you’ll want five or six plates for two. Tables are 90 minutes, so book the later slot.

Best for: the relaxed way into the Gormley/Yorke cooking.

Book a table at Skua →

££ · Book ahead

Stuart Ralston’s small-plates restaurant on Thistle Street, with a Michelin Bib Gourmand for value. Asian and American influences run through a menu you order for the table, and the cocktail bar at the front is worth arriving early for. One of my favourite spots for date nights, and the Thistle Street Bar is just along the road.

Best for: a Friday night with friends or a date.

Book a table at Noto →

££ · Book ahead

Started life as Gulp Ramen and grew into something more interesting: Scottish produce with Asian flavours, in a tiny 20-cover room on Albert Place. Dumplings, hand-ripped noodles, and a menu that never sits still. They suggest two or three plates each and you’ll want more.

Best for: Innovative asian flavours.

Book a table at Mirin →

£/££ · Walk-in for lunch, book for dinner

Jun Au’s hand-ripped noodles built a queue in Marchmont and the restaurant has since moved along the road to Sciennes. Lunch (Wednesday to Saturday) is walk-in only and is the greatest-hits menu: noodles, the fried chicken sandwich, chilli-garlic hash browns. Dinner and Sunday brunch are bookable and more ambitious, structured like a Chinese family meal. Arrive just before noon for lunch, with your whole party.

Best for: the best lunch under £20 in Edinburgh.

Book a table at Pomelo →

££ · Walk-in daytime, book evenings

Roberta Hall-McCarron’s café, bar and bottle shop, next door to her Little Chartroom. Brunch from 8am, small plates and very good wine at night, over 100 wines to drink in or take away, and a Michelin Bib Gourmand for value. Named after the Argyll village where her family kept their boat.

Best for: brunch that turns into lunch.

Book a table at Ardfern →

££ · Book ahead

Hanover Street pasta from Stuart Ralston, with a Bib Gourmand of its own. Fresh pasta made in-house, a short menu of small plates, and the kind of room you can drop into for one course and a glass of wine or settle in for the evening. Sit at the counter if you’re two.

Best for: pasta, done properly, without a fuss.

Book a table at Tipo →

££ · Book ahead (walk-ins for drinks)

A salmon-pink corner on Howe Street with an aperitivo bar and dining counter at its heart. “Italian-ish” is how they describe it: handwritten menu, small plates, homemade pasta, a martini list with a side of pickles. One of the cooler spots in Edinburgh.

Best for: a Sunday night when you want a bit of glamour.

Book a table at Little Capo →

££ · Book ahead

Rosario Sartore’s Neapolitan trattoria on Dalry Road is one of the city’s great long-runners: thirty seats, a weekly-changing menu, fresh pasta, and seafood cooked the way his mother and aunt cooked it in Naples. Rosario comes out to check you’ve enjoyed it. It feels like eating in someone’s kitchen, which is the point.

Best for: a proper Italian dinner away from the tourist streets.

Book a table at Locanda de Gusti →

££ · Book at weekends

Candlelit, family-run and always full, Origano has been doing wood-fired pizza halfway down Leith Walk for years and the dough is still the best on the street. Homemade meatballs and a good gluten-free base too.

Best for: a relaxed Leith pizza night.

Book a table at Origano →

£ · Walk-in

Proper Neapolitan pizza — soft, blistered, slightly charred — at prices that feel like a mistake, a two-minute walk from the St James Quarter. Small, quick and run by people who clearly care.

Best for: a fast, cheap, excellent pizza before or after a show.

Walk-in only, no bookings. Visit the website →

£ · Walk-in

A tiny Neapolitan-run pizza van near the Meadows that quietly racked up thousands of five-star reviews. Now with his own restaurant, the owner is from Naples, the oven is wood-fired, the pizza is out in five minutes, and the tiramisu is homemade.

Best for: the lastest spot in town, or a takeaway to eat on the Meadows.

Walk-in only, no bookings. Visit the website →

£ · Walk-in (or pre-order online)

Darcie Maher’s bakery on Hamilton Place is the most famous queue in Edinburgh, and deservedly so: cardamom buns, kouign-amann, custard slices and savoury pastries that people cross the city for. Open Thursday to Sunday only, 9am to 4pm. The trick is to order online two days ahead and walk past the line to collect, or arrive before 8.30.

Best for: the best pastries in Scotland.

Walk-in only, no bookings. Visit the website →

£ · Walk-in

A sleek little café on Raeburn Place with enormous cinnamon buns, a tiramisu slab and very good coffee. The best things sell out by early afternoon.

Best for: an excellent Stockbridge coffee stop without the instagram famous wait.

Walk-in only, no bookings. Visit the website →

££ · Book ahead at weekends

The one to send visitors to: a proper Scottish breakfast and all-day brunch on Blackfriars Street, just off the Royal Mile, built on Scottish produce — brisket Benedict, eggs Royale, a full Scottish that will see you through the day. Two rooms, and still a queue at weekends.

Best for: brunch before a day on the Royal Mile.

Book a table at The Edinburgh Larder →

££ · Book ahead

A small independent on Frederick Street with a menu that goes further than most: poached eggs three ways, a sesame breakfast bowl, pancake stacks, homemade ginger beer, and excellent gluten-free options. Open 8am to 2.30pm.

Best for: New Town brunch with a bit of imagination.

Book a table at Greenwoods →

£/££ · Walk-in, no bookings

An Edinburgh brunch staple with a changing menu of waffles, Benedicts and smashed avocado plates. Expect a queue at the weekend; there’s a virtual waitlist so you can wander Stockbridge while you wait.

Walk-in only, no bookings. Visit the website →

£/££ · Book at weekends

A Leith institution: cocktails in teapots, a seasonal all-day brunch, a famous chunky Cullen skink and a proper veggie fry-up with haggis and a homemade tattie scone. Dog-friendly, open every day from 10am.

Book a table at The Roseleaf →

£ · Walk-in

Edinburgh’s best-known coffee roasters, in the old customs house on Custom Lane, next to the Shore. Serious coffee, cinnamon buns, a banana muffin with a following, and a gallery next door. Seating is tight; go early.

Best for: coffee before a walk along the Water of Leith.

Walk-in only, no bookings. Visit the website →

£/££ · Walk-in

A small brunch bar on Home Street that most visitors never find: brioche French toast, Benedicts with pork belly, roasted aubergine, and an owner who runs the room herself.

Best for: brunch near the Meadows without a queue.

Walk-in only, no bookings. Visit the website →

£ · Walk-in

Just off the north Edinburgh cycle path, dog-friendly, with a sunny courtyard and excellent cheese scones. Daytime only (until 3pm midweek, 4pm Friday to Sunday), and they do pizza nights on Fridays.

Walk-in only, no bookings. Visit the website →

££ · Book ahead

Lloyd Morse and James Snowdon’s bistro in an old bank at the end of Palmerston Place, with an in-house butchery and bakery and a menu that changes daily. Whole-animal cooking, proper sourdough with a lot of butter, a wine list you need patience to read, and one of the best Sunday lunches in the city. The three-course set lunch is the way in if dinner’s a stretch. [if you’ve done the roast, say so]

Best for: groups, Sunday lunch, people who like a menu written on a board.

Book a table at The Palmerston →

£ · Book ahead

A basement on Hanover Street that has been an Edinburgh institution since 2010, and still the best-value meal in the city centre: the set lunch runs from noon to 4pm at £9.90 for one course, £12.90 for two, £15.90 for three, and they bring bread, olives and charcuterie to the table before you’ve ordered. French onion soup, bavette with pepper sauce, moules frites, coq au vin. Loud, cheerful, unreconstructed, and open seven days.

Best for: lunch on a budget, or a big noisy dinner with friends.

Book a table at Chez Jules →

££ · Book ahead

Roberta Hall-McCarron’s second restaurant, on the site where The Little Chartroom began, reopened in spring 2026 as a warm neighbourhood bistro rather than a tasting-menu room. Sixteen covers, four at the bar, a seasonal à la carte — confit duck leg, hake with red wine sauce, English muffins you’ll want to take home — and a set menu that’s very good value for cooking of this pedigree.

Best for: dinner for two at the top of Leith Walk.

Book a table at Eleanore →

££ · Book ahead (walk-ins at the bar)

Stuart Ralston’s Parisian-style bistro and wine bar, opened autumn 2025 on the old Fhior site, with Vivien cocktail bar underneath. Pig’s head croquettes, ham hock terrine, venison tartare, monkfish, bread rolls warm from the oven. Lively, close-packed and open for lunch Friday to Sunday.

Best for: a Broughton Street night that starts with a cocktail downstairs.

Book a table at Vinette →

£££ · Book ahead

Seafood-led wine bar and restaurant on Colinton Road that James Snowdon of The Palmerston calls the best seafood cooking in town. Scallops, langoustine, salt cod mousse on grilled sourdough, a sommelier who knows the list, and a set menu if you can’t decide. Dog-friendly. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Best for: seafood without a tasting-menu price tag.

Book a table at Fin & Grape →

££ · Book ahead

A small French bistro on Broughton Street with a near-perfect Google rating and almost no press: chateaubriand and bouillabaisse sharing platters, venison, homemade olive bread and desserts plated like art. Closed Monday.

Best for: an old-school French dinner for four.

Book a table at Bistro Coco →

££ · Book ahead

Tiny, family-run French bistro on Thistle Street that has been quietly excellent for twenty years: mushroom pâté, sea bass, boeuf bourguignon, a short wine list at fair prices. Closed Sunday.

Best for: an unhurried lunch on Thistle Street.

Book a table at Café Marlayne →

££ · Book ahead

The bistro beneath The Table: European-leaning dishes, a European-focused wine list, lunch Tuesday to Sunday and dinner Tuesday to Saturday.

Best for: lunch in the New Town.

Book a table at Under The Table →

££ · Book for Sunday

A bright corner pub on London Street that locals will tell you does the best Sunday roast in Edinburgh: big portions, proper gravy, a scotch egg to start and sticky toffee pudding to finish. Book, because the room fills.

Best for: the Sunday roast.

Book a table at The Ox →

££ · Book ahead

Tom Kitchin’s gastropub on Comely Bank Road: steak pie, fish and chips, scallops, sticky toffee pudding with toasted pecans, and a Sunday roast that’s a Stockbridge ritual. Kids and dogs welcome.

Best for: a family Sunday lunch after exploring Stockbridge.

Book a table at The Scran & Scallie →

££ · Book ahead for Sunday

Sunday lunch at The Palmerston is fabulous – a whole joint from the in-house butchery, roast potatoes cooked in the fat, proper gravy, and the bakery’s sourdough to start. It’s served from noon until 3.30pm and the room fills, so book. The rest of the week it’s the bistro listed above.

Best for: a long Sunday lunch with a bottle of something from a serious wine list.

Book a table at The Palmerston →

££ · Book ahead for Sunday

Roberta Hall-McCarron’s café, bar and bottle shop swaps its small plates for a Sunday roast in the afternoon, cooked with the same care that earned it a Bib Gourmand: rare-breed meat, good gravy, and a wine list of over 100 bottles to pick from. Brunch runs from 8am first if you want to make a day of it.

Best for: a Leith Sunday that starts with brunch and ends with a roast.

Book a table at Ardfern →

££ · Book ahead

A restaurant I return to time and time again. A family-run taverna, meze to share: smoky aubergine, baked feta, octopus, lamb chops, souvlaki, and a Greek house wine that’s better than it needs to be. Closed Monday and Tuesday.

Book a table at Spitaki →

££ · Book ahead

A small family-run Greek place on Coburg Street that Greek friends recommend to each other, which is the only endorsement you need: grilled octopus, Cretan artichokes, fried filo stuffed with feta, and a Greek salad people write home about. Three plates each is plenty.

Best for: the most authentic Greek food in the city.

Book a table at Kafeneion to Steki →

££ · Book ahead

Big, beautiful and busy, with Greek mythology painted across the walls and chefs cooking in the open. Fried halloumi with tomato jam, sausages, grilled calamari, and an orange pie for dessert. Open seven days, noon to 10pm.

Best for: a group dinner on Leith Walk.

Book a table at Ella →

££ · Book ahead

A small Mexican-run taqueria on Thistle Street that regulars say does the most authentic tacos in Scotland: lamb, trout, quesadilla verde, esquites, and a short list of mezcal and Mexican amaro. Small menu, small room, big flavours.

Best for: tacos that taste of Mexico rather than Tex-Mex.

Book a table at Paz Taqueria →

££ · Book ahead

Leith’s neighbourhood taco bar on Albert Place, next door to Mirin: tacos in twos, buffalo chicken, wings, house sodas, a margarita flight, and a Saturday brunch with a full desayuno. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Best for: a Friday night in Leith.

Book a table at Bodega →

£ · Walk-in, cash only

The hidden gem: a cramped, chaotic, cash-only taqueria on Shandwick Place with handmade tortillas, suadero, sopes and elote, and a chef who’ll make you three different micheladas. Bring cash.

Best for: great mexican food in the West End.

Walk-in only, no bookings. Visit the website →

£ · Walk-in (no bookings)

A tiny Korean kitchen on Buccleuch Street that has fed generations of students and is still the best value in the city: bulgogi, bibimbap, seafood pancake, kimchi jjigae, and banchan on the side, for under £20 with a drink. Hot in summer, cramped always, worth it every time. Closed Sunday.

Best for: a cheap, brilliant dinner near the Meadows.

Walk-in only, no bookings. Visit the website →

££ · Book ahead

New in 2026 and already turning people away: a 15-seat Asian kitchen on Easter Road making its own noodles. Dan dan noodles, aubergine chips, salt and chilli hash browns, beef noodle broth, pork katsu. [verify still open — it’s very new]

Best for: the newest hidden gem in Leith.

Book a table at SAAN →

££ · Book ahead

Fewer than ten tables on St Leonard’s Street, run by three women who’ll talk you through a blackboard of Macanese and Portuguese-Chinese dishes that change daily: coconut duck, curried pork cheek, sweet and sour squid, a coconut mousse with shallots. Evenings only, Wednesday to Sunday.

Best for: food you won’t find anywhere else in Scotland.

Book a table at Macau Kitchen →

££ · Book ahead

Casual Asian small plates on Broughton Street with a loyal following: dirty rice, prawn crackers, trout, a happy-hour deal of three plates for £20 that’s one of the best in town. Loud at peak times. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Best for: an early-evening bite before Broughton Street bars.

Book a table at Lucky Yu →

££ · Book ahead

The Edinburgh outpost of Glasgow’s Ox & Finch group: south-east Asian small plates cooked with real skill — beef tartare, pork belly papaya salad, corn ribs, crab curry with rice noodles — and almost everything gluten-free. The best reason to eat inside the St James Quarter.

Best for: pre-cinema dinner that’s better than it needs to be.

Book a table at Ka Pao →

££ · Walk-in

Regional Chinese cooking on Lady Lawson Street, near the art college: braised fish soup, chicken with chestnuts, spicy chips, and generous portions. Open seven days, noon till 10pm.

Best for: a big, cheap Chinese dinner for a group.

Walk-in only, no bookings. Visit the website →

££ · Book ahead (or queue)

The Bombay-café chain, but the Edinburgh one is a very good version: three floors, a bar with a view, and the bacon naan roll at breakfast that’s become an Edinburgh ritual. Chicken ruby, okra fries, black daal, house chai.

Best for: a group that can’t agree, or breakfast at 8am.

Book a table at Dishoom →

£/££ · Walk-in, open noon to 10pm daily

An indoor street food hall on Leith Street with around a dozen independent traders — smoked barbecue, Peruvian, Japanese milk bread sandwiches, loaded fries, gelato — plus a central bar and table service if you can’t face the queues. It’s the one visitors tend to fall for, and the best value hot meal near the top of Leith Walk.

Best for: a group that can’t agree, or a cheap dinner before a show at the Playhouse.

Walk-in only, no bookings. Visit the website →

££ · Walk-in, open 9am to midnight daily

The Scottish food hall on the top floor of the St James Quarter, with a line-up that leans local: Sri Lankan, salt and chilli chicken, pizza, a seafood bar, a Thistly Cross cider bar and a whisky bar, and a big terrace with views over Calton Hill. Weekends are busy and tables are first come, first served, so send one person to hold a spot.

Best for: lunch while you’re shopping, or a rainy-day fallback with kids.

Walk-in only, no bookings. Visit the website →

£/££ · Walk-in, Thursday to Sunday

Edinburgh’s original street food market, reborn on the waterfront at Granton as a permanent village of shipping containers: rotating food trucks, a bar, a pottery studio, saunas by the beach, a kids’ corner, and live music and club nights. It’s a trek from the centre — cycle the north Edinburgh path or walk along the shore from Newhaven or by bus. Dog-friendly.

Best for: a sunny Sunday afternoon by the sea.

Walk-in only, no bookings. Visit the website →

£ · Sundays, 10am to 4pm

The Sunday market under the trees by the Water of Leith: giant pans of paella, hog roast, French crêpes, Scottish cheese, fresh fruit and a lot of samples. Get here for opening, eat your way round, then walk the river path to Dean Village.

Best for: a Sunday lunch on your feet.

Walk-in only. Visit the website →

£ · Saturdays, 9am to 2pm

The city’s proper farmers’ market, underneath the castle rock every Saturday since 2000: venison sausage rolls, hogget pies, Scottish cheese and charcuterie, and producers who’ve driven in from the Borders and Fife that morning. Go early for the best of it.

Best for: breakfast with a castle view, and stocking up if you’re self-catering.

Walk-in only. Visit the website →

£ · Saturdays, 10am to 4pm

Small and local on the Shore every Saturday: croissants and cakes, hog roast, cheese and olives, a rotating cast of hot food traders, and a very Leith mix of vintage records and vegetables. Combine it with a coffee at Williams & Johnson round the corner.

Best for: a Saturday morning in Leith.

Walk-in only. Visit the website →

£ · Saturdays, 10am to 5pm

The most central of the weekend markets, in the shadow of the castle, and the most international: Kenyan pies, Spanish paella, spinach and feta rolls, crafts and fruit. Small, but a good stop between the Royal Mile and the Meadows.

Best for: a Saturday snack on a sightseeing day.

Walk-in only. Visit the website →