Life & style

Valentine's Day - where to take your date

Some seductive suggestions for what to do on or around February 14th

3 Feb 2012

Experience a May-December relationship ... or at least, vicariously experience someone else’s. Among the several films the Glasgow Film Theatre are screening to get you into the Valentines spirit on 14 Feb (including Brief Encounter and French…

The best places to eat breakfast in Glasgow and Edinburgh

We select the best cafes for the most important meal of the day

22 Mar 2010

What did you have for breakfast this morning? A thin slice of processed white toast, smattered with vegetable oil-laced spreadable butter? A dry cereal bar, full of shrivelled fruit and bound together with sugary glue? Worst still, a Sausage and Egg…

Top five Michelin-starred restaurants in Edinburgh

The Kitchin, Martin Wishart, The Plumed Horse, Number One and 21212

16 Feb 2011

1: The Kitchin The menu here reflects chef/owner Tom Kitchin’s passion for locally-sourced Scottish produce with French interpretations. One of Edinburgh’s A-list restaurants, it won its accolade just six months after opening in the summer of 2006…

5 of the best - Tattoo parlours

Independent Shopping Guide

16 Apr 2009

Terry’s Tattoos, Old Town Tattoos, Tribe, Forever More Tattoos, Studio XIII

Cuts of meat: where your beef comes from

1 May 2009

Scotch Beef has a great reputation, but there’s little point in swooning over the prime cuts and ignoring the rest. Here butcher Jonathan Honeyman teams up with chef John Webber for a guided tour of a side of beef.

The best free and cheap things to do in Glasgow and Edinburgh

Visit a library, go for a walk, bake a cake or see some cheap theatre

21 Jan 2011

Beat the January blues with these guaranteed pick-me-ups, suggested by our writers and some friends of The List. They’re all free, or cost just a few quid, so you’ll come out of winter with your bank balance intact and a smile on your face

Valentine's Day - where to buy your flowers

Independent florists in both Edinburgh and Glasgow advise thinking beyond roses

3 Feb 2012

‘Red roses are absolutely the worst thing you can buy at Valentine’s time,’ says Esther Kuck, the florist behind The Wild Flower Shop in Portobello. ‘You can spend £70 on a dozen red roses, which is just mad. They probably won’t be good quality, and…

A guide to some of the best restaurants in Edinburgh

The Scottish capital has some of the best restaurants for Scottish cuisine

16 Feb 2011

Some visitors may come to Scotland with a sense of dread that they’ll be force-fed salty porridge or be obliged to eat everything deep fried in fat. It’s true that the more adventurous may well encounter food here they’re unlikely to find elsewhere…

Glasgow Vs Edinburgh: The Verdict

22 Apr 2010

It all boils down to this. How do the two cities line-up over eight key categories? We give our final opinions The Culture Glasgow + A near endless sea of artistic talent, with bleeding-edge creatives elbow-to-elbow with peerless arts…

The best places for hot chocolate in Glasgow and Edinburgh

The cafes and chocolatiers who serve up the sweet stuff

20 Jan 2011

Temper Chocolates 148 Woodside Terrace Lane, Charing Cross, 07886 215209 This tiny café-cum-shop-cum-factory makes for a pilgrimage for hot chocolate lovers. Chocolatier Kirsty Shepheard’s own blend of 70 per cent organic dark chocolate with chilli…

The quest for the best cup of coffee in Glasgow and Edinburgh

Delivering the verdict on quality coffee dispensers in Scotland

8 Oct 2010

Coffee drinking has become a serious business, with roasters, baristas and drinkers all equally concerned at the quality of the product. Shiny espresso makers with their levers and dials and steamy bits are a familiar sight, but they remain intriguingly…

Valentine's Day - How to buy lingerie

Don’t get your knickers in a knot - Scottish underwear experts provide expert advice

3 Feb 2012

‘When someone enters the store, and motions to one of the agents, “She’s about your size,” that’s the biggest no-no of all!’ says Jemma Hill, manager at Agent Provocateur in Glasgow. ‘If you’re too shy to ask your partner about sizes, look at the labels…

Valentine's Day: Holidays from home

3 Feb 2010

Enjoy some Valentine’s Day decadence without being too irresponsible: book yourself into a central city hotel and you’ll still make it into the office the next morning. We round up some of the V-Day packages on offer The upper-class love in Howard…

Alternative Valentine's Day presents and ideas

Four unique and romantic ways to celebrate this year

26 Jan 2011

Being a List reader you’ve had the infinite good taste to pick a partner who can’t be doing with the corny hearts, flowers and factory-line V-Day dining experience we’re sold as ‘romance’. All well and good, but how on earth do you celebrate February…

Pick-up techniques - interview with Neil Strauss

31 Jan 2008

IceDragon, Scotland’s number one PUA (pickup artist), is trying to lock me into conversation. However, he’s quickly surrounded. Deep Vertigo has perched at his shoulder and five other members of the Glasgow lair are hovering on the fringes. Chance, 20…

Neighbourhood Watch: Hyndland, Glasgow

Tips for hot spots in the plushest part of the West End

3 Feb 2012

What’s it like? That nice bit between the ‘proper’ West End and Anniesland, with lots of cute coffee shops, restaurants and lovely flats. Think ornate doorways, stained glass and well-pruned window baskets, going for much more than your average…

Secondhand record shops in Glasgow and Edinburgh

1 Nov 2007

Shopping and I have always had a love-hate relationship. But we put aside our differences for record shopping: that ritualistic, solitary activity that’s at once sombre yet exhilarating. Secondhand records possess the same mystique as old books; they…

Get on course

6 Sep 2007

Dance Edinburgh A vast range of courses from salsa and ballet to breakdancing and street dance are available at Dance Base along with various pay on the day classes. Book before 29 September for the autumn term. Classes run from beginner to advanced…

The best restaurants in Edinburgh and Glasgow for cheap eating in January

Dining out options that won't break the bank

9 Jan 2012

EDINBURGH The Mosque Kitchen Now relocated from its former al fresco spot outside Edinburgh’s mosque, the café-style Mosque Kitchen still serves a fine range of halal meat and vegetable curries in no-fuss polystyrene dishes for under £5 including…

Hairdressers in Edinburgh and Glasgow

10 Sep 2009

It's sometimes a bit hit and miss going for a bargain haircut - cheap doesn't always mean cheerful. So if you're going to do budget, head for the big-name salons to ensure a professional cut. In Glasgow, Rainbow Rooms International has a training…

Sony PS Vita handheld console - playtest

We try out the new hardware with some of the PSV launch titles, including WipeOut and Uncharted

3 Feb 2012

Sony’s new PS Vita is a pretty impressive bit of kit. It’s the most powerful dedicated handheld gaming device on the market. In practical terms it’s pretty much a PS3 in your pocket. The full HD OLED screen really pops and, due to the processing power…

The rough guide to Portobello, Edinburgh's seaside

Neighbourhood Watch: The best bits by the beach

24 Mar 2011

What’s it like? An utterly charming, slightly wonky area of Edinburgh, characterised by the city’s only beach and a very distinct, anti-corporate local community ethos. Formerly the holiday destination of most Central Belters, a lack of investment in…

The best places for barbeques in Edinburgh and Glasgow

Barbecue recipe alternatives to burgers and sausages

27 May 2011

For the more discerning al fresco cooks and diners, here's The List's lowdown on how to spark up your barbecue summer.

The best Scottish castles you can stay in near Edinburgh

Many Scottish castles are open to residents looking to live like royalty

16 Feb 2011

Voted favourite UK city by Condé Nast Traveller magazine in 2010, and named Britain’s best city for tourists – for the 11th year in a row – in the Guardian and Observer travel awards, you might wonder why anyone would ever want to leave the city that…

Eating out on Valentine's Day

31 Jan 2008

St Valentine’s Day is anticipated with equal amounts of optimism and dread in the restaurant trade. No different from the rest of us, then, though for different reasons. As buoyed as owners are by a full restaurant and healthy champagne sales, staff…