La Garrigue has been named as the Scottish regional winner of the Good Food Guide Readers' Restaurant of the Year. Featured on Ramsey's Best Restaurants Gordon described La Garrigue as an "amazing little bistro". Come along and sample the flavours of the Languedoc at either in Edinburgh's New Town or City Centre.
The Vintners Rooms
This restaurant has ceased trading.
87 Giles Street
- Food served: Tue–Sat noon–2pm, 7–10pm. Closed Sun/Mon.
- Bar open: Tue–Sat 11am–midnight. Closed Sun/Mon.
- Number of wines sold by the glass: 6
- Private dining: Up to 35 covers
- Also offers: Vegetarian options (at least ¼ main courses), Gluten-free options, Children's portions, Children's high chairs, Wheelchair access
- Opening times: Noon–10pm. Closed Sun/Mon
- Capacity: 35
- Largest group: 60
- Open since: 1986
Send us more details about this place.
The 2011/12 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).
This review is taken from the current (2011) edition.
Two distinct areas form the historic Vintners Rooms. The first is a wooden beamed lounge bar, the walls lined with an impressive collection of over a thousand malt whiskies. The oldest is a Highland Park from 1902, but this is no museum; all the whiskies are available by the glass. The other area is the candle-lit dining room housed in what used to be a wine merchant's auction room, its opulent plasterwork dates from the 1700s. The place is run with considerable charm by Silvano Praino and service is formal but friendly. A change of chef has prompted a new direction for the kitchen replacing French cuisine with Mediterranean. The menu is still evolving but shows promise with excellent handmade ravioli or the beautifully presented smoked salmon with blinis and caviar. Main courses use top quality produce such as a well flavoured rack of Perthshire lamb with a pistachio crust, a dainty poussin comes stuffed with pear and pancetta. In keeping with the original use of the building there is a magnificent wine list ranging from £21 a bottle to £880.
- High point: Worth visiting for the whisky collection alone
- Low point: Food doesn't quite justify the prices, yet
The LIST Card F19
This restaurant offers the standard 2-for-1 LIST Card promotion for:
Lunch: Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat
Dinner: Tue, Wed, Thu
Exclusions: Closed on Mondays, no LIST Cards on Valentine's Day
Remember: book by phone (0131 554 6767) and ask for a LIST Card booking.
The Vintners Rooms
The following information has been provided by the restaurant.
French/Mediterranean food served in either our 16th century candlelit dining room or the more relaxed Wine Bar area. As befits the historic surroundings of the Vaults, and Leiths great heritage in the drinks industry, we also have a Wine list of over 200 wines to choose from.
The LIST Card is a dining scheme that gives you promotional two-for-one offers at a range of restaurants in Glasgow, Edinburgh and beyond. Find out more.
Reviews of The Vintners Rooms (The Vaults, 87 Giles Street, Edinburgh)
- 8. Russell Sharp, Edinburgh – 6 June 2011, 2:18pm
The Vintners RoomsReport -
The average price at top of your report is wrong, it is £19.50 for 2 courses for lunch and not £35 as shown. Also your remark "that food does not match the prices yet" is unfair. The cooking here with new chef Francesco Guirini is at a standard comparable to any of the surrounding Michelin establishments and at prices on the a la carte menu that dont make your eyes water e.g. braised rabbit at £23.50 which is superb, c.f. a rabbit dish at nearby Kitchen which is £33.
The food is modern Italian/Mediteranean in contrast to the nearby French restaurants. It is flavoursome, attractive, light and imaginative and this is a chef with great skill and flair who will one day will have a Michelin star. The wine list, as you say, is magnificent and at prices which are well below the inflated mark ups others in the area charge.
My wife and I had lunch here on Saturday and it was superb and special mention has to be made of the desert of 'crispy aubergine with ricotta and basil ice cream' which was truly amazing.
- 6. caroline_edinburgh, Edinburgh – 5 November 2010, 1:20pmThe Vintners RoomsReport
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Had another top notch dinner at the Vintner's Rooms last night - amuse bouche of a very good shellfish bisque, then an exquisite starter of scallops and prawns with black rice followed by a perfect risotto with Alba truffle. I couldn't manange dessert but DH enjoyed his and I managed the lovely petit fours with a pot of tea afterwards.
The wine was good and the service as always impeccable - I would agree that Silvio is one of the greatest maitres in the business.
Certainly the next-best restuarant in Edinburgh after the Michelin-starred establishments, and I like it better than one of those (Number One).
We look forward to going back to try out the whisky lounge for a few drams and complementary bar food.
- 5. Bean, Edinburgh – 10 May 2010, 9:46amThe Vintners RoomsReport
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Wow. We visited this restaurant on Friday night and enjoyed one of the most wonderful meals we've ever had out in Edinburgh. The food was absolutely superb - the pork belly with the most divine scallops was definitely a highlight. What also makes this place is the service - attentive yet not over the top, friendly yet not overbearing. I would highly recommend the Vintners Rooms to anyone. 10/10.
- 4. Maximan, The Vintners Rooms, Edinburgh – 8 April 2010, 10:09amThe Vintners RoomsReport
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I have dined here frequently over the years and this has always been a joy, but recently the food has been on a higher plane altogether. There is a new team in the kitchen and they are creating dishes of exceptional quality and presentation. On Saturday our lunch was on a par with a 2 star Michelin we had just dined at in London and which we had considered superb. However it was at a price which was a fraction of London and I may say other Michelin restaurants in Edinburgh. In Silvio they have one of the greatest maitre d's in the business who is an encyclopedia of information on the food and wine and has a very attentive team of waiters headed up by Grant. The dining room is one of the most atmospheric in Edinburgh and the bar has now become a Whisky Lounge with over 1000 whiskies available. From the inventive and faultless food in a unique setting,but at a price that doesnt make your eyes water, it is worthy of a Michelin star.
- 3. LR, Edinburgh – 20 October 2009, 6:29pmThe Vintners RoomsReport
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I had Satuday lunch at The Vintners Rooms. It was a total delight; beautiful food in relaxing surroundings with charming service. Definitely one of the best offers on the List Card.
- 2. food fanatic, Edinburgh – 3 July 2009, 1:07pmThe Vintners RoomsReport
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I have been to the Vintners rooms many times and have never experiences the 'sloppy' service described above - much less dirty tables it has always been beautifully clean I have never been left waiting overly long for food and have always had a very relaxing enjoyable meal. Its expensive but the food is fantastic and the atmosphere is intimate and romantic, service has always been attentive without beinga hassle in my opinion with the Vintners rooms you get what you pay for!
- 1. B, Edinburgh – 24 January 2009, 2:15pmThe Vintners RoomsReport
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Having been advised that no tables were available on the night that I'd called during the festival, I was pleasantly surprised to recieve a call from a charming member of staff offering one less than half an hour later.
Upon arriving, however, we were met with what I can only describe as a surly greeting from a waiter at the bar and shown to a table with a stained, crumb-laden tablecloth. To his credit, the Maitre D' looked deeply embarassed as he urged said scowling waiter to bring us olives, bread etc after a rather hungry half an hour, but the overall experience was ghastly thanks to poor service - not the easiest thing to complain about or rectify in the course of one visit.
My 'Osso Buco' of monkfish, my partner's duck and our wine were magnificent, but appropriately expensive. I dislike over-attentive service, but outright rudeness and sloppiness are not something any paying customer deserves - we won't be going back.
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