Whiski Rooms

The 2012 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).

This review is taken from the current (2012) edition.

Despite sitting in the heart of tourist territory, Whiski Rooms attracts a mixture of diners including professionals, locals of all ages and students, as well as the expected flow of visitors. Created in 2011 from a former bank and bookshop, the Whiski Rooms is divided into three sections. A shop selling hundreds of whiskies and a bar that's a popular stopping off point for a refreshment and a chance to admire the view account for two-thirds of the space. The other area, the dining room, is decorated in dark colours, with banquettes along each wall. The menu speaks of a chef with skill, using Scottish ingredients in an imaginative way. The list of starters includes haggis spring rolls with a plum sauce alongside more prosaic offerings such as grilled fillet of mackerel. For mains, Borders pork cooked three ways is artfully presented, while confit Barbary duck leg with cassoulet harks back to the entente cordiale. And creative talent is again evident in the dessert selection, with whisky crème brûlée and cranachan panacotta among the options.

• High point: Imaginative use of Scottish ingredients
• Low point: (Loud) music is shared with the bar