Café DeLos and Café Soupson

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

Looks aren't everything, but in a space like this even the most pedestrian meal feels a little bit special. Thankfully, Café DeLos has lunch well up to the impressive surrounds – the grand central atrium of the National Museum of Scotland. Plonked in the middle of the action – school parties, gaggles of students and yummy mummies with pushchairs bustling past to the various exhibits – there's still ample distraction on the plate. The familiar soup and sarnie combos are given a neat twist: slabs of sturdy ciabatta contain chicken, smoked paprika and roasted red peppers, while savoury scones stuffed with rosemary ham and jarlsberg with a red cabbage and apricot coleslaw give an old favourite a new lease of life. Similarly, a salad of blue cheese, cranberry and walnuts perfectly balances tang, sweet and crunch. Tucked away in the back of the building, the self-service Café Soupson is the rather pedestrian soup stop, which is user-friendly if a little cave-like, dishing out wholesome soups at downright sensible prices. Two contrasting places in one site with something for everyone, plus there's that museum thing to have a quick look round once you've finished your Victoria sponge.

• High point: The best cup of coffee in the best space of any art venue in the capital
• Low point: Gordon Ramsay would be throwing the overly stylised crockery across the room in no time