Diner 7

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• What are these?

• Average price 2 courses:
   £10 (lunch)
   £15 (evening meal)
• House wine: £9.75 per bottle

• Hitlisted
• High point: Wallet-friendly, delicious food
• Low point: Lunchtime cocktails may affect productivity levels back at work
• Food served: Mon-Sun 11am-10.30pm
• Bar open: Mon-Sat 11am-1am; Sun 12.30pm-1am
• Private dining: n/a
• Open since: 2006
• Also offers: Vegetarian options (at least 25% of menu), Childrens portions, Wheelchair access

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

This review is from the 2007 edition.

Like a shined up greasy spoon, this chummy, cheerful Leith diner strikes an excellent balance between laid-back café style and smart restaurant food. And it's very cheap for what it is too. It's set on the strip of restaurants just over the road from the Shore, and owner and head chef Joe Hilton has given the joint a relaxed décor, with work from local photographers hanging on the walls. Airs and graces have no place here; it's only the food that gets taken seriously. Shiitake mushroom tempura or sausage with chilli mash make for filling and good value starters, followed by plump burgers with brie, pineapple salsa or fried onions. Steaks and niçoise or Greek salads are a permanent fixture, while the specials menu changes every two weeks, always including imaginative flourishes such as asparagus, leek and gruyère bread and butter pudding. Desserts are pretty, and the sticky toffee pudding is gloriously fluffy with a fabulous sweet, chewy sauce. Cocktails are also a speciality. Lounging on a leatherette booth, sipping a smooth espresso martini, beneath the gold vintage motorbike and mirrored walls, you can see why, after only a year, this delightfully relaxed diner already has a firm following of regulars.