Tonic (Devil's Kitchen)

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• What are these?

• Average price 2 courses: £12
• House wine: £12 per bottle

• Hitlisted
• High point: Makes you feel human again
• Low point: Desserts still in short supply
• Food served: Mon-Sun noon-4pm
• Bar open: Mon-Sun noon-1am
• Delivery: Minimum charge £4. Orders must be placed prior to 10.30am and are delivered between noon and 12.45pm or after 2.30pm
• Open since: 2000
• Also offers: Childrens portions, Childrens high chairs, Take away

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

This review is from the 2007 edition.

When God (or whoever) created the hangover, they at least had the good grace to ensure that places like Tonic existed too. This quietly confident, compact bar is the perfect city centre bolthole for lunching or brunching away those boozy blues - especially at weekends. Settle into the understated burgundy and cream interior and you soon find out why. It's a simple combination of friendly staff, urban bonhomie and a wide-ranging menu covering focaccia, pasta, pies and salads, plus a liberal helping of specials. The food is made by outside catering firm the Devil's Kitchen, which also deals with culinary concerns at one or two other Edinburgh pubs. At Tonic they seem to have cracked it. A cream of red pepper and tomato soup arrives piping hot and delivers a warm, savoury hug. A special such as bacon and leek risotto is a rich, robust affair. Quality beef and superbly crispy, fluffy chips mean the classic burger option more than passes muster. Dessert options seem dependent on the whim of the Devil's Kitchen pastry chef. But hey, there are more cocktails available than you could shake a novelty drinks stirrer at. So you can get working on that hangover again. Chin chin.