Mussel Inn

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• What are these?

• Average price 2 courses:
   £16 (lunch)
   £20 (evening meal)
• House wine: £13.40 per bottle

• Hitlisted
• High point: Fresh shellfish
• Low point: Slightly gritty panacotta
• Food served: Mon–Thu noon–2.30pm, 5–10pm; Fri/Sat noon–10pm; Sun 5–10pm
• Private dining: D
• Open since: 2001
• Also offers: Children's portions, Children's high chairs, Wheelchair access, Pre-theatre menu

This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008
– in the shops now or buy online.

Owned by shellfish farmers, the Mussel Inn presents a range of basic mussel and scallop dishes, and it is distinctly possible that the key ingredients of your meal were harvested only hours earlier. While there is a daily finned fish special (on this visit a tropical parrot fish, which appears to strike a bum note amid the more sustainable local produce), chefs in the open kitchen work simple magic with seafood. The mixed grilled platter offers a circle of piping hot mussels around a clutch of queenie scallops, all on the half shell and soaked in a sauce of your choice, such as pungent garlic butter. Crab salad has large pieces of claw meat and the creamy chowder has equally chunky bits of fish and potato. Another option for a smattering of shellfish is the pasta dish: a pile of linguini rife with frutti de mare. Desserts are somewhat perfunctory, but this is a casual place with no pretensions and, like the Edinburgh flagship, a stop here is almost as good as a trip to the seashore.