Food & drink

Bar crawls: Edinburgh - The Prudent Student

A cheap and cheerful crawl from Marchmont to Grassmarket

I have a confession to make. I’ve never really been much of a bar crawl sort of gal. The idea of systematic drinking (vb. to lash, I suppose) with a bunch of overgrown rugby boys, with their girlfriend’s underwear on as outer wear, has never really…

Glasgow Subcrawl – directions to the bars

Maps and walking directions to help you find all the bars on our List-endorsed Subcrawl

So you're off on our (shorter) Subcrawl? We realise that you might need some clear directions (especially as the night wears on), so here are directions and maps showing the routes from the subway stations to all of our listed bars. Enjoy.

Neighbourhood Watch: Stockbridge, Edinburgh

A guide to the village-like Edinburgh suburb

What’s it like? Architecturally lovely and quite picturesque, the area is still pretty bohemian despite the influx of more affluent shops in recent years. Where’s it, like? To the north of the city, between the New Town and Inverleith. It’s about…

Christmas 2011 events in Glasgow and Edinburgh

Our round-up of some of the best festive fodder including markets, fairs and carol concerts

Shopping To find prezzies with an individual feel or just some tasty treats, head out to a Christmas fair near you. In Glasgow, there’s the St Enoch Square annual market (from 20 Nov) and Country Living Magazine’s Christmas Fair, with homemade food…

Taste test: Christmas Pudding

We track down the best from M&S, Lakeland, Coles and Tesco

Marks & Spencer Classic Christmas Pudding £3.99 ●● This pudding does the job, but won’t make you too jolly. It has the bitterness of peel running through it, giving it the flavour of a fruitcake, is densely packed with raisins and there’s not a lot…

Christmas food ideas with a difference

Try something different this Christmas with these alternative festive recipes

Alternative Christmas food ideas Instead of mulled wine, try something slightly different: mulled cider or perhaps add mulling spices to some crème de cassis for an extra special mulled Kir Royale. Try using Pedro Ximenez sherry to deglaze your…

Restaurant review: Calabash

Pan-African dining with a unique atmosphere

A year or so ago Glasgow’s African dining options encompassed much of the continent’s varied cuisine, but a rash of closures left only Egyptian and Moroccan restaurants standing. Now the Calabash has filled the gap, offering traditional dishes from…

Cafe Fish

The latest incarnation of Richard Muir's seafood restaurant has its own pros and cons

Despite its relative success since opening in 2009 beside The Plumed Horse in Leith, Café Fish upped sticks earlier this summer and moved into the former Zanzero site in Stockbridge. Hoping to bring the restaurant to the notice of a larger audience…

Neighbourhood Watch: Shawlands, Glasgow

What’s it like? The unofficial hub of the Southside. Young, bustling and almost completely tenement-bound, packed with pizza places, big bars and some excellent independent shopping, Shawlands also benefits from proximity to the lovely space of Queen’s…

Restaurant review: Tanjore

Tamil restaurant's menu uplifted by fresh, appealing food

Regional cuisine isn’t just the preserve of Tuscany or Andalucia, as Donald Reid finds in an engaging new Tamil restaurant in Edinburgh. It isn’t hard to find an Indian restaurant in Edinburgh or Glasgow, but it can be hard to find one with a…

Restaurant review: Punjabi Charing Cross

Venerable Glasgow curryhouse finally opens a sister restaurant

After keeping Southsiders happy for decades at its Paisley Road West original, Punjabi have brought their quality North Indian cuisine to Charing Cross. The new restaurant is in a rather tricky spot, teetering on the edge of the M8, where various pubs…

A tour of Scotland for food-lovers

Fresh seafood, locally-sourced game and top-notch tourism in Scotland

Standing in the Scottish drizzle at the heart of Monachyle Mhor, a dramatic vista greets us. In front, a stunning Loch Voil. Behind us, bounding black Labrador, Betty, a relatively new addition to owner Tom Lewis’ family. The air is fresh, the…

Hidden Glasgow

Undercover activities, city secrets and grassroots organisations

Parks, gardens and tours So, you think you’d like to get to know the city a little better? Glasgow City Council’s website offers a number of downloadable heritage trail guide packs. We particularly recommend following the Bridgeton Tour, which takes…

Restaurant review: Glasgow's Barolo Grill

Unflashy elegance and a fine choice for Italian food in city centre

It is an indication of the institution that L’Ariosto had become in Glasgow that even a month after being replaced by Barolo Grill the phone is answered with a cheery ‘Hello, L’Ariosto’. It also a reminder that the staff – some of whom have been around…

Best Edinburgh Festival street food

The ten best pop-up food stalls to be found at 2011 Edinburgh Festival

Mussel Men Seafood George Square walkway (east side), 11am–1am The guys in the stripey Breton shirts are actually London-based Scots, serving up fresh mussels and oysters from the west coast near Oban. Steaming hot moules come in a wee box sturdy…

Restaurant review: The Honours

Superbly engineered Edinburgh brasserie from Martin Wishart team

Despite downturns and austerity times Martin Wishart and partner chef Paul Tamburrini have opened the doors on a glittering, superbly engineered brasserie, as Donald Reid reports In a city packed with restaurants and a respectable array of upmarket…

Foodies Festival at 2011 Edinburgh Fringe

3-day food and drink in Holrood Park runs 12 to 14 Aug

For many years, the missing Edinburgh food festival was a void waiting to be filled. After all, it was festival season in August and lots of food was being eaten. And, of course, everywhere else in the country was running food festivals. Five years ago…

The best soup and sandwich places in Edinburgh

Where to find a quick, fresh and tasty lunch in the Scottish capital

Making the most of a small space, Appetite Direct is a deli kitchen serving soups and salads alongside their speciality range of hot takeaway dishes, including fish pie, Vietnamese flavoured mince with rice and home-made hamburgers. Broughton…

Restaurant review: Glasgow's Riverside Museum café

Stunning setting but uninspiring food

Dining out in with a view of the Clyde is so rare that the new Riverside Museum’s café is an attraction in itself – let alone for the spectacular building housing the expanded collection of the old Museum of Transport. Zaha Hadid’s realised design…

Foodies Festival Edinburgh returns in 2011

Celebrating the finest food, drink and culinary talents, Foodies Festival will celebrate its fifth anniversary when the event returns to Holyrood Park on August 12, 13, 14. Having launched in Edinburgh five years ago and enjoyed unprecedented…

Neighbourhood Watch: Leith, Edinburgh

A beginner's guide to the capital's port town

What’s it like? It’s Leith. If you’re an Edinburgh List reader, it’s very likely you live there. Glossy bars, Michelin-starred restaurants and warehouse conversions squaring off against cobbles, pint’n’pie pubs and Hibees. Vibrant, community-focused (it…

Restaurant review - Heavenly

The newcomer to Glasgow’s vegan scene is a gift from above

Glasgow’s vegetarian and vegan dining options are hardly extensive, so a new arrival such as this city centre café-bar is something of a godsend. Heavenly joins the city’s small but established vegan/veggie scene, offering a similar philosophy of…

Restaurant review - Limelight Bar and Grill

A Victorian building that once housed the city’s first power station

Much has changed for Glasgow in the last century. It lost claim to being the UK’s second city as the Clyde’s tide of industry became a trickle, yet successfully reinvented itself as a place of culture and commerce (OK, shopping). Encapsulating this…

Red Squirrel takes perfected beer ‘n’ burgers formula to west Edinburgh

Owners of Holyrood 9a open new premises on Lothian Road

Red Squirrel 21 Lothian Road, West End, Edinburgh, EH1 2DJ 0131 229 9933, redsquirreledinburgh.co.uk Daiy 10am–late; food is served until 9pm. Ave. price two-course meal: £10 (lunch/dinner) What many folk discovered and liked about Old Town bar…

Top ten ways to get in shape – and stay there!

1. Go slow Whatever your goal, whether it’s losing weight, toning up or eating better, start slowly, says diet and fitness expert Laura Williams. “Wearing yourself out by overdoing it is unlikely to get results. You need an exercise routine and diet…