Gourmet Travels in Edinburgh

Some people might question why I took a long holiday weekend to Edinburgh in the beginning of March. It’s cold, rainy, snowy, windy and even hail-y (yes, all in one trip) but did you know Edinburgh also happens to be the second best city in the UK for restaurants? Perfect for a few days in a place with crappy weather if you ask me.

If you ever make your way to this charming city in Scotland and you need a few restaurant recommendations, I pretty much covered them all. So much so that if I tell you about each dish at each restaurant (even though I was only there three days), this blog post would go on for centuries. Instead I have picked out my favourite dishes at the best restaurants, from fine dining to a casual brunch in New Town.

A fancy shmancy night out at The Kitchin is a must – it was voted the best restaurant in the UK last year by the Observer Food Monthly after all. The tasting menu is a reasonable 70 pounds per person and worth every penny. The food is all seasonal and local and is served ‘from nature to plate.’ My favourite of the whole nine courses was the razor clams, which had different mini sprigs of herbs placed in each bite. It was full of different flavours and very unique. An added bonus to ordering the taster menu? Tom Kitchin came out of the kitchen (that’s a lotta kitchens) to serve us one of the dishes.

If you’re searching for a nice place to have lunch and a glass of wine when shopping around New Town, I suggest Centotre for delicious Italian food, a casual yet elegant atmosphere and decent prices. We had really tasty bowls of pasta like seafood spaghetti.

A great cafe – which all of the guide books suggest – for lunch, brunch, coffee or just a snack is called Urban Angel (our snack consisted of the most killer baked polenta and parmesan bites). There are two locations and one is in the New Town so it is also great for a bite to eat if you need a break from intense shopping (we did).

The Castle in Edinburgh is really an incredible site and what could be better than dining in a cozy restaurant nearby.  Upon recommendation, we went to The Witchery by the Castle on a particularly snowy and cold night. The restaurant is underground and has a dark, warm atmosphere. The standout dish had to be the rabbit wrapped with ham, which was cooked by a process called sous vid and it literally melted in my mouth. Cute waiter too.

If you want to head to Leith for an afternoon, and I suggest you do as it’s a quaint little area surrounded by water, stop by The Roseleaf for brunch. This restaurant is full of character and had great touches like mis-matching teacups and menus hidden in National Geographic magazines. We had a cappuccino and eggs Benedict with Scottish smoked salmon – perfection.

On our last night in Edinburgh we toasted the trip with a couple of cocktails at Bramble Bar, a great little, bustling cocktail bar with staff that really know their stuff.  Ya know, the kind who will make you the perfect cocktail if you just tell them the liquor you’re after.  Our last supper was at 21212 – a restaurant opened by Michelin-starred chef Paul Kitching that has a very calm and serene atmosphere. My favourite bit of this meal was the cheese course for three people, which could have easily fed 15, and the incredible dessert which I have to give you in full detail otherwise you’ll never believe me: 21212 June Bug “TGIF” – sweet saffron poached fresh pineapple, bananas, melon chunks, dried cherries, coconut, baked in a caramelized lemon curd, served with sweet rice, Malibu and vanilla anglaise.

Out of all of them, if you visit Edinburgh and you’re looking for some good grub, and don’t think you’ll have time for all of the places above, I’d have to pick The Kitchin and The Witchery for dinner and Urban Angel and Centotre for brunch or lunch while you’re wandering around New Town.

You may also enjoy these similar posts:

• Another reason to love East London: Viajante
• Brunch at Fifteen – 4 bikes out of 5
• A Little of What You Fancy: 4.5 bikes (out of 5)
• A Divine Chocolate Cocktail
• Polpetto: my new favourite place.