Visit La Garrigue, arguably the most authentic French restaurant in town and be transported into the Languedoc region of France. Enjoy the food, sample the 'Terroir wines' and the warm service. Winner 'Les Routiers Guide; Scottish restaurant of the year'.

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• What are these?

• Average price 2 courses:
   £10.50 (lunch)
   £18 (evening meal)
• House wine: £13.95 per bottle

• Food served: Mon-Sun noon-2pm, 6-10pm.
• Private dining: Up to 35 covers
• Open since: 2005
• Also offers: Childrens portions, Childrens high chairs

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

This review is from the 2007 edition.

If you want to secure a table at Café Marlayne's Thistle Street branch this weekend you'd better get dialing. Head chef and proprietor Isla Fraser's reputation for sensibly-priced, ultra-fresh and fidget-free cookery has won this pint-sized New Town spot a following that far outstrips its capacity. Like the cuisine, the cream interior has a comfortably contemporary edge and, in an attempt to supply demand, every inch is utilised. This makes for one or two awkward tables but these do have the decency to offer prime sneak-previewing potential in return as the staff whistle by en route from the kitchen. With a crisp apple and pungent blue cheese salad, boned quail makes a tantalising entrée to meaty mains such as plump Aberdeen Angus fillet with béarnaise and port jus. From mussels, skinny-dipping in Pernod butter, to generous cuts of monkfish laced with fragrant hot rosemary and lemon oil, fish dishes are numerous and skillfully executed. For dessert, pick a wedge of home-made cake such as warm pear and frangipani tart or rum and chocolate torte so sinful that resistance is futile. With Isla's brother Jeff at the helm, culinary standards are upheld in Marlayne (mark two) which inhabits the cavernous Old Fishmarket Close arches once home to Le Sept. While undeniably lacking the aesthetic charms of its older sibling, at twice the size the branch has a few ace cards of its own. The boldly-coloured downstairs private dining room is great for larger parties, while the slim outdoor terrace offers the perfect High Street retreat upon which to sip wine on a sunny afternoon.