Traditional Scottish – Wedgwood Restaurant
Not the cheapest meal you’ll eat in Edinburgh, but the prices aren’t extortionate, and are fully justified. Best quality Scottish ingredients vary seasonally and could include hand-dived scallops, wild deer, pigeon, Scottish salmon and foraged salad leaves. Scottish elegance is the order here: in the décor, the charming service and the food pictures on the plate. The awards stacked up over the past year are recognition of the inventive skills of head chef Paul Wedgwood.
Average 2 course meal: £27
Royal Mile, 267 Canongate, EH8 8BQ
0131 558 8737
Best for a budget – The Dogs
Now made up of four very different dining/drinking spaces, The Dogs chain has built a reputation for reliably good food in unpretentious, slightly quirky surroundings, at almost unbeatably reasonable prices. The Dogs is the original, serving up hearty British classics with Scottish twists – blackpudding hash, veggie haggis. (A)more Dogs is an Italian version of the same concept: pizzas for around £5, almost everything else under £10. Underdogs is a comfy bar beneath this restaurant, serving a range of easy-eating snacks. Seadogs is, as the name suggests, concerned mainly with all thing fishy. Not at all the unwelcome compromise most ‘budget’ places turn out to be.
Average 2 course meal at each (excluding Underdogs): £15
110 Hanover Street, EH2 1DR. 0131 220 1208
(A)more Dogs: 104 Hanover Street, EH2 1DR. 0131 220 5155
Seadogs: 43 Rose Street, EH2 2NH. 0131 225 8028
Underdogs: 104 Hanover Street, EH2 1DR. 0131 220 5155
Traditional fish and chips – Newington Traditional Fish Bar Scotland might have endured an unwelcome reputation for enthusiastically battering everything in sight in the past. Now however, if something’s going to be battered and deep-fried, it’s going to be done well. That, at least, is the opinion of this family fish shop, which freshly cooks your food in front of you, and always in vegetable oil. They offer a welcome range of sustainable fish choices, and ‘coeliac Wednesdays’, when all batter is gluten free.
Average takeaway meal: £6
23 South Clerk St, EH8 9JD
0131 667 0203
If you’re the other end of town in Leith
Tail End Fish Bar - An an excellent fish supper can also be here at the responsible face of chip shops, you’re not limited to the usual cod-haddock-battered-sausage: monkfish, scallops, Arbroath Smokies and langoustine tails are some of the more unexpected seafood items on the menu.
Average takeaway meal: £6.50
14–15 Albert Place, EH7 5HN
0131 555 3577
Lovely pubs - Down on the Shore in Leith, The Kings Wark the King’s Wark is the perfect antidote to Edinburgh’s long, dark winters. In winter, its stone-walled, dark-wooden, candle and fire-lit cosiness makes you come for lunch and never want to leave. In summer, the waterfront location is perfect for walking off all that good food – fish dishes change with the catch – and real ale.
Average 2 course meal: £13
36 The Shore, EH6 6QU
0131 554 9260
Back up in town - Cafe Royal on West Register Street is one of the New Town’s most popular pubs. The stunningly elaborate Victorian interior is crammed most evenings, and pretty much all the time over the weekend, so getting a table can be tough. It’s one not to miss though. Food is good, local beers are served on tap – but really, you come for the décor.
Average 2 course meal: £15
19 West Register Street, EH2 2AA
0131 556 1884