Toast

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• What are these?

• Average price 2 courses:
   £9 (lunch)
   £16 (evening meal)
• House wine: £12.50 per bottle

• Hitlisted
• High point: Cheerful staff and lots of appetising ideas
• Low point: You can't book tables at busy lunchtimes
• Food served: Mon 10am-2.30pm; Tue-Fri 10am-2.30pm, 6.30-9.30pm; Sat/Sun 10am-3pm, 6.30-9.30pm
• Bar open: N/A
• Private dining: N/A
• Open since: 2006
• Also offers: Vegetarian options (at least 25% of menu), Childrens portions, Childrens high chairs, Wheelchair access, Take away

The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 is now in the shops.

This review is from the 2007 edition.

This super-friendly neighbourhood restaurant is the sort of thing you wish was round the corner from your house. Full of fresh organic produce and keen to deliver a tempting menu at all hours, Toast is worth a small detour, if not a house swap, to Marchmont. Pale wood and dark pink chairs add a girly touch to the art-filled room. The stuffed magazine rack is perfect for killing time over coffee and a slice of fluffy Victoria sponge, or a glass of wine and a bowl of pistachios. For lunch, try imaginative sandwiches such as pastrami, gruyère and mango ciabatta, or home-made honey-roast parsnip soup. Substantial options include chicken, chorizo and black pudding casserole. At dinner time, candles come out and the dining gets more serious. Both vegetarian haggis lasagne with mushroom ragout and tuna steak with sesame ginger noodles are flavoursome and generously portioned. Wine tasting dinners are planned with local connoisseur Peter Green, and if the seven wines on offer leave you feeling rough the next day, at least they provide good weekend brunch options such as a feel-good pile of waffles with maple syrup or porridge with bramble jam.