Restaurants, Budget, Outdoor dining, Pre-theatre menu within 5 miles of Edinburgh

Floor-shaking stamping, plaintive strains of Spanish guitar and passionate cries of ‘ole!’ might well accompany your meal at La Sal, thanks to regular performances from Alba Flamenca, the dance school next door to the restaurant. Formerly known as El…

When you head to Tanjore, and it’s heartily recommended you do, there are two reasons to bring an appetite. First, this is where to sample the finest Southern Indian cuisine in Edinburgh. Second, you’ll be tempted to order everything on the enticing…

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…

There’s a reason Giuliano’s has been a stalwart of the Edinburgh Italian scene since 1990. There is a vibrant buzz to the long, sprawling restaurant, which is effectively two adjoined rooms decorated with pictures representing each of the 22 regions of…

Hotel du Vin has always sought to rise above its peers in the often-dubious chain-hotel restaurant business. Here, snuggled between the National Museum of Scotland and Edinburgh University’s central campus, it succeeds. Upon leaving the hectic churn of…

With a name like Angels with Bagpipes and a location opposite St Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile, this restaurant is a tourist magnet. The upstairs area is compact with a pretty Edinburgh street view – but fear not, there is extra room on the lower…

Over the past few years Urban Angel has established itself as an essential part of the vibrant dining scene around Broughton Street. The uncluttered and inviting main room is well run by simultaneously enthusiastic, relaxed and efficient staff. The…

Drop down from the shoe-beaten pavement of Hanover Street into the comfortable ease of Urban Angel. The sunlight-brightened front room makes it easy to forget you’re in basement premises, while the quiet backyard courtyard, off the cosy rear dining…

Mussels are the good guys of the fishies-on-dishies world, being cheap, plentiful, sustainable (and fun to eat with the pinchy shell-grabby thing). The Mussel Inn makes the most of this, with a casual wallet-and-stomach pleasing experience. Dive…

The lavish interior of Cafe Andaluz, tiled within an inch of its life and hung with myriad Moorish lanterns, simply screams ‘Spanish’, so oddities like soy and chilli prawns or confit duck stand out for the wrong reasons. But according to Cafe Andaluz…

The pillars holding aloft the Georgian ceiling at Centotre and clever use of booths provide nooks and crannies for romantic tete-a-tetes and broader spaces for parties and business lunches. There is a clear focus on the ingredients here: mozzarella…

In a new home or a restaurant, basements have a reputation for being filled with flotsam and jetsam, with just the occasional gem showing up how a well an underground space can be used – Ruan Siam is one such space. While intimate, fairy-lit nooks will…

This bistro bar on the edge of the Meadows has carved a niche between formal dining and local pub grub. It attracts a pre-theatre crowd with the King's near-by, lunchtime couples, those seeking brunch at week-ends, late-night drinkers and many in…

If you are a lover of both wine and jazz, then Whighams has pretty much got it covered. Their Sunday-night jams and monthly wine-tasting events are in with the West End bricks, occasions suitably enhanced by the bar’s candlelit cellar atmosphere. The…

Family-run Bar Roma is a place to watch waiters conduct crowds of obliging clientele bellow ‘Happy Birthday’ to their nearest and dearest. It is a bustling, friendly environment, decorated with classical kitsch and even boasting an olive tree. The wide…

It’s possible to see both sides of The Fountain in one visit. Mobbed to the rafters ahead of a rugby match, the punters quickly siphon off as kick-off approaches, giving you the chance to take in your quirky surroundings. The fascination with clog-like…

Given Thailand’s multitude of islands and strong fishing heritage, it is no surprise that Thai cookery enjoys such an affinity with seafood. Few restaurants, however, have married this to Scotland’s bountiful larder as well as Port of Siam. Sourcing all…

Hidden away in an unprepossessing area of Musselburgh is the impressively restored collection of Victorian buildings at Eskmills. The Birdcage is housed in an Egyptian-style administrative building for what was once a cotton and rope manufacturer. At…