Plaisir du Chocolat

The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 is now in the shops. This review is taken from the 2007 edition.

Plaisir du Chocolat's Salon de Thé on the Royal Mile has been a demure, but delightful, nook of quality for the last half-dozen or so years. With its fin de siècle theme, wicker chairs and antique lighting, there's an elegance that comes as a relief from the tartan tat which pervades much of the capital's most historic thoroughfare. The core focus of the salon remains tea - the menu has 150 teas supplied by Parisien merchants Betjeman & Baron - hot chocolate - five different versions made from high cocoa-content chocolate, including an intensely creamy chocolate 'espresso' - and patisserie, which you can view in the glass cases of the boutique through which you enter to get to the salon. In addition, half a dozen or so classic savouries such as croque monsieur and eggs benedict, along with puds such as tarte tatin, were being added to the menu as this guide went to press. If your tastebuds are tuned in and you don't mind exchanging a tenner for a hot drink and cake, this remains one of Edinburgh's gourmet highlights. The range of loose chocolates, also available in the salon, can be found in boutiques in Harvey Nichols in Edinburgh, Manchester and - unexpectedly - a new joint venture in Istanbul, as well as online.

• High point: World-class chocolate drinks and treats
• Low point: Can't book tables