First Coast

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• What are these?

• Average price 2 courses:
   £10.50 (set lunch)
   £16 (evening meal)
• House wine: £9.95 per bottle

• Hitlisted
• High point: Getting there
• Low point: Getting back
• Food served: Mon–Sat noon–2pm, 5–10.30pm. Closed Sun.
• Open since: 2003
• Also offers: Vegetarian options (at least 25% of main courses), Children's portions, Children's high chairs, Wheelchair access, Pre-theatre menu

This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008
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What inspired Skye-born brothers Alan and Hector MacRae to open First Coast, slightly off the beaten track on Edinburgh's Dalry Road, is something of a mystery. That said, a restaurant with such a simple, adaptable ethos – local, good value produce, patiently cooked – should be welcomed anywhere. Inside, fresh, blue wood panelling and natural stone create a textured, intimately lit space that, like the effortless service, feels elegant and informal. First Coast has been serving up unpretentious contemporary cuisine since its inception, and offers the type of ingredients that should appear more often in affordable restaurants: inexpensive, tasty cuts, such as ox tongue and tail, are menu stalwarts. It's certainly not all about offal, however, and there is something for everyone in the imaginative menu. To start, four fat, salt and pepper prawns sit happily atop beansprouts and watercress, while a sweet-savoury extension of Greek salad, with griddled aubergine and apricot chutney accompanying the olives and feta, is attractive and well balanced. For mains, the intensely savoury oxtail, served on the bone, is a real treat for meat lovers. Vegetarians, pescetarians and coeliacs are catered for with the same flair, and those with a sweet tooth can rest assured that the seasonal desserts selection offers something to be savoured.