Experience rustic, family style cooking at award-winning French restaurant La Garrigue. Sample the tastes of Languedoc at one of the most authentic restaurants in Edinburgh (Hitlisted in The List Eating & Drinking Guide 2012) or visit our fantastic little bistro in Leith.
Restaurants, Bistros & brasseries and Budget
- Amicus Apple
Delicious food and mouthwatering cocktails in an enchanting atmosphere - Tron Theatre
Fantastic food and drink - and a fabulous night out - Whighams Wine Cellars
Whighams is one of Edinburgh's leading wine bars and restaurants - Cail Bruich
The Cail Bruich Restaurants present modern cuisine influenced by French cooking techniques and an appreciation of the best ingredients available from Scotland's outstanding natural larder.
The Unicorn Inn
15 Excise Street,
Kincardine,
Fife,
FK10 4LN
A 17th century coaching house which was also the birthplace of Kincardine’s most famous son, the chemist and physicist James Dewar (inventor of the Dewar – later Thermos – flask), the Unicorn Inn has seen a substantial upgrade since them. Now a smart…
Velvet Elvis
566 Dumbarton Road,
Glasgow,
G11 6RH
Old-style café booths, exposed brickwork and menus delivered on LP record sleeves help to make Velvet Elvis stand out from the crowd. The food on the whole is predictable but there also more unusual and interesting options dotted around. For example, it…
Baby Grand
3–7 Elmbank Gardens,
Glasgow,
G2 4NQ
With its proximity to Charing Cross Station, the Premier Inn and the motorway, the long-established Baby Grand is handily placed to cater for commuters, visitors and business folk, particularly during the day. At night the area is quieter but a…
Bijou
2 Restalrig Road,
Edinburgh,
EH6 8BN
Since coming under new management in late 2011 this small bistro on the edge of Leith Links has been spruced up and dusted down. The atmosphere is casual and the welcome friendly, and as for the food, it puts many pricier city centre places to shame.
Cail Bruich
725 Great Western Road,
Glasgow,
G12 8QX
The menu at Cail Bruich reads like a rather upmarket shopping list. Ox, duck and halibut star in mains, while starters feature chestnut and scallop, and a pudding is simply chocolate. Brevity on the page reflects a serious commitment to fine materials…
Diner 7
7 Commercial Street,
Edinburgh,
EH6 6JA
Leith certainly has its fair share of restaurants, but in among the fine dining and the seafood platters it would be an oversight to miss the narrow entrance to this laid-back burger and steak specialist. Inside it’s simply decorated (if you discount…
Elliot's Restaurant
Apex Hotel, Waterloo Place, 23–27 Waterloo Place,
Edinburgh,
EH1 3BH
Competing with hundreds of bars and eateries, it’s a hard-knock life for hotel restaurants in Edinburgh. Elliot’s, part of the Apex chain’s Waterloo Place hotel, does its best to keep guests in and even tempt the locals along with some smart deals…
Good Seed Bistro
101/102 Dalry Road,
Edinburgh,
EH11 2DW
With terracotta flagstones, dark red walls and dim lighting there’s a definite Mediterranean feel to the surroundings at Good Seed, in keeping with the food. It’s one of a clutch of good restaurants now established in an area that was long…
Limelight Bar and Grill
75 Waterloo Street,
Glasgow,
G2 7DA
Situated in the Hotel Indigo, Limelight is a smart, bright venue, well appointed with spacious booths and an upmarket feel. Service is good, if a little impersonal, probably due to the fact that the hotel, although styled like an independent boutique…
Maggie May's
60 Trongate,
Glasgow,
G1 5EP
If you believe the deep-fried Mars bar is an urban myth, proof of its existence can be found at Maggie May’s, an indie/folky music venue and pub with a surprisingly civilised restaurant tucked away at the back of the bar. The crisply battered…
The Restaurant Bar & Grill
Princes Square, Buchanan Street,
Glasgow,
G1 3JX
It may not be the most distinctive, and it has a corporate whiff about it, but this restaurant blends wood, leather and glass to create a smart, contemporary yet comfortable diner – well suited to business lunches, shopping bites, office nights out or a…
Rick’s
55a Frederick Street,
Edinburgh,
EH2 1LH
A stalwart of Edinburgh’s style bar scene for over a decade, Rick’s is gently re-inventing itself with accessible, casual dining at its heart. The space works well, divided by banquettes and wood panels into lots of cosy nooks and crannies, all…
St Louis Cafe Bar
734 Dumbarton Road,
Glasgow,
G11 7RD
This family-run café-bar originally opened as just a café, but as its evening popularity grew so did its modest menu. The venue is as welcoming as a good friend’s living room with Klimt prints, fairy lights wrapped around pillars and an aged wooden…
Sygn
15 Charlotte Lane,
Edinburgh,
EH2 4QZ
Sygn’s geometric print wallpaper, grey fabrics and beech tables create a retro-chic vibe that’s simple yet elegant, proving to George Street’s style bars that you don’t need to be ostentatious to be cool. And if you can resist the temptation to go home…
Whighams Wine Cellars
13 Hope Street, Charlotte Square,
Edinburgh,
EH2 4EL
For almost 30 years, stressed professionals have uncoiled at Whighams. At 6pm on Fridays the shadowy cellar’s nooks are jammed, the restaurant side is heaving and the bar stools are occupied by smart ladies gratefully cradling one of 40 wines by the…
Bo'Vine Meats and Wines
385 Byres Road,
Glasgow,
G12 8AU
As the name would suggest (Bovine is derived from the Latin for ox) this restaurant, part of the Hilton Grosvenor, is all about the meat. This ranges from Perthshire venison, Ayrshire pork or grass-fed Aberdeen Angus steak, the latter charred on…
The Bridge Inn
27 Baird Road,
Ratho,
West Lothian,
EH28 8RA
Those familiar with the Bridge Inn at Ratho before its recent renovation, will remember a decent watering hole located partway up the Union Canal. But since its facelift in 2010-11 it’s become even more worth a visit. Not only has the inside undergone a…
Café Antipasti
305 Sauchiehall Street,
Glasgow,
G2 3HQ
There is a standard of service and meal in Café Antipasti that is reassuringly consistent if hardly exciting, although this reflects its location at the busy and less-than-intimate end of Sauchiehall Street. The waiting staff are invariably polite…
Café Cassis
Salisbury Hotel, Salisbury Road,
Edinburgh,
EH16 5AA
Tucked under the Salisbury Hotel in the quieter reaches of Edinburgh’s southside, Café Cassis makes good use of its semi-basement situation. Beyond the tight entranceway, the interior is warmly lit, welcoming and relaxed, and backs onto a…
Canasta Bistro
1102 Cathcart Road, Mount Florida,
Glasgow,
G42 9EG
Within a pizza throw of Hampden stadium, Canasta has become a celebrated restaurant in Glasgow's Mount Florida – an area not known for great dining options. It's cosy inside, with chequered tablecloths and scatter cushions contributing to an informal…
Eat Deli
16 Busby Rd, Clarkston,
Glasgow,
G76 7BG
The rather prosaic name gives no indication of the high quality of food served and on sale here. Bei & Nannini coffee, Ferrarelle mineral water, Suki fair-trade tea and Stornoway black pudding are just a few of the superior brands. There’s clearly a…
Kingarroch at the Byre
Abbey Street,
St Andrews,
Fife,
KY16 9LA
Craigrothie’s popular Kingarroch Inn has recently taken over the restaurant at St Andrews’ Byre Theatre, resulting in the aptly named Kingarroch@ the Byre. While the upstairs venue plays host to music, theatre and literary gigs, the downstairs area is a…
The Kingarroch Inn
5 Main Street,
Craigrothie,
Fife,
KY15 5QA
Never judge a book by its cover because this seemingly simple whitewashed cottage, which sits precariously on a corner of a busy Fife road, might seem a bit bleak and dated yet its below ground level entrance could well be described as a gateway to…
The Lansdowne Bar & Kitchen
7a Lansdowne Crescent,
Glasgow,
G20 6NQ
With walls covered in plasma screens and a plethora of comfy booths, it is easy to see why the Lansdowne is considered by many to be among the best sports bars in town. To the rear of the spacious bar is a conservatory area, primarily a function room…
Montpeliers Bar and Brasserie
159–161 Bruntsfield Place,
Edinburgh,
EH10 4DG
A favourite of Bruntsfield’s young professional set for two decades, the apparently recession-proof Montpeliers sowed the seed for a successful and diverse group of bars and restaurants including George Street glam joints Tigerlily and Rick’s. Here…
