Candy Bar

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• What are these?

• Average price 2 courses:
   £12 (lunch)
   £12 (evening meal)
• House wine: £15 per bottle

• High point: Fashionable setting, good 'old-fashioned' service
• Low point: Not snagging one of the snugs
• Food served: Mon-Sun noon-9pm
• Bar open: Mon-Sun noon-1am
• Open since: 2001
• Also offers: Vegetarian options (at least 25% of menu), Childrens portions

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

This review is from the 2007 edition.

Forget the sparklers of George Street's upmarket jewellery emporia. Candy Bar is the real gem on the capital's boulevard of bling. You'll find many members of the Edinburgh smart set here, particularly at the unofficial weekend (that's any time from post-work on Wednesdays, generally). But while supping cocktails and marvelling at the black-clad staff's massive CD collection is great, eating here is better. If you're lucky, you'll snag one of the cool, sought-after snugs that break up the far wall. Failing that, grab a pew in the stylish low-ceilinged red space and survey a menu that - like many bars these days - covers all culinary bases. Thai wraps, stir-fries, burgers, nachos and bangers & mash are all here. Candy Bar is no jack-of-all-trades, though. A starter such as the Cullen skink soup (a much loved, but much massacred Scottish fish soup) is a triumph of satisfying smoky, fishy creaminess. The rare rib-eye steak and home-cut chunky chips is nicely judged. A baked white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake sees light berry zest flirting outrageously with spoon-coating substance. For smokers, there's even a heated and covered outside deck to enjoy that post-meal tab in comfort. Yes, life is sweet at Candy Bar.