Restaurants and Cafés
- Stereo
A great vegan themed bar in a Mackintosh-designed building - Belay Café
Tasty food with amazing views of world’s largest indoor climbing wall - Urban Angel
Urban Angel use local, organic and fairly traded produce in a cool environment - Valvona & Crolla Caffé Bar
Worldwide food products and wines from an Italian family company, established 1934
Earthy Canonmills
1–6 Canonmills Bridge,
Edinburgh,
EH3 5LF
With two popular food markets and a thriving café under their belt already, the Earthy empire is set for further expansion in April 2012 with the arrival of their new Canonmills enterprise. As well as another store, the site (formerly Dionika) will also…
Favorit
19–20 Teviot Place,
Edinburgh,
EH1 2QZ
Favorit is a late night diner for the young and hip and – most importantly – for those with the munchies. Black and white chequered tiles, retro tables and benches and a large, red neon Favorit sign set the scene. All that's missing is Pulp Fiction's…
The New Pakistani Café
607 Pollokshaws Road,
Glasgow,
G41 2QG
A dimly lit café that manages to be unfussy and quirky at the same time, the New Pakistani Café sells tasty food in generous portions. Though predominantly a takeaway, there is plenty of seating and atmosphere to make dining in an enjoyable experience.
The Treehouse
44 Leven Street,
Edinburgh,
EH3 9LJ
Its enviable location on the corner of Bruntsfield Links makes the Treehouse a perfect impromptu picnic provider on a summery day, although eating in is no bad choice either. The interior has a slightly offbeat, kooky charm about it – from the vintage…
Cafezique
66 Hyndland Street,
Glasgow,
G11 5PT
Fun, unpretentious, quality, value and, tasty are the adjectives which apply to cafezique. Service is informal, but friendly and attentive in this quirky laid back bar/restauraunt. Nibbly things include great olives and delicious cheese fondue…
Empires
24 St Mary's Street,
Edinburgh,
EH1 1SU
There’s a dark, exotic, Aladdin’s Cave feel to Empires – a one-off kind of place that has walls covered with Middle Eastern fabrics and tiles, multi-coloured globe lamps dangling from the ceiling, and an upstairs seating area full of scatter cushions…
Angels With Bagpipes
343 High Street,
Edinburgh,
EH1 1PW
Don’t let the High Street buskers put you off. Through the back in the restaurant you won’t hear them. Instead, the smart sophisticated décor and modern tableware sets off an approach to Scottish ingredients that acknowledges centuries of continental…
Blue Moon Café
1 Barony Street,
Edinburgh,
EH3 6PD
On a corner off Broughton Street this gay-friendly diner serves up simple hearty food at reasonable prices. Lunch is a particularly good deal with main courses all under £6. Daily specials include a couple of soups, which might be a velvety smooth leek…
Café Nom de Plume
60 Broughton Street,
Edinburgh,
EH1 3SA
Set upstairs from the Edinburgh LGBT Centre and owned by the same team behind the Regent pub, Café Nom de Plume is a gay and lesbian-friendly business and a relaxed hangout for all walks of Broughton life. The décor is a warm and welcoming jumble of…
Centotre
103 George Street,
Edinburgh,
EH2 3ES
Centotre manages to pull off a neat trick. Despite the austere, ex-bank interior, from those lost days when financial edifices were akin to cathedrals, it still manages to maintain a feeling of warmth and intimacy in the evenings or bright and breezy…
Sideways
141 Elderslie Street,
Glasgow,
G3 7AW
This café-bistro may be in an area short on dining options – unless you fancy a curry – but that is to its great credit, offering an attractive, laid-back and really rather cool neighbourhood eatery for a bite and a drink. The menu blends brunch…
Tinderbox
118 Ingram Street,
Glasgow,
G1 1EJ
Tinderbox’s original Byres Road coffeshop café opened in 1998 but the interior still feels contemporary and enticing. No food is prepared on the premises though, with savoury options being either pre-prepared sandwiches or salad/noodle bowls. It’s an…
Wellington Coffee
33a George Street,
Edinburgh,
EH2 2HN
After a recent refurb, the focus at the Wellington Café is even more firmly on the best coffee they can coax from a bean. Panini and bacon rolls have gone; the food now consists simply of excellent daily delivered brownies, sizeable scones and tray…
Asti
73 Broughton Street,
Edinburgh,
EH1 3RJ
Owned by the same people who run the neighbouring Rapido, Asti is a refined, relaxed eatery in comparison to its neighbour, specialising in decent Italian dishes rather than fast food. Painted a pleasing shade of mocha, this café-cum-restaurant takes…
Spoon Café Bistro
6a Nicolson Street,
Edinburgh,
EH8 9DH
Home life getting you down? Move here. Seriously. It’s open from 10am till 10pm, serving everything from morning rolls through to a three-course dinner. There’s free wi-fi. People bring you drinks. The furniture is cool kitsch-retro-chic. If only the…
The Gateway Restaurant
John Hope Gateway Centre, Royal Botanic Garden, Arboretum Place,
Edinburgh,
EH3 5LR
Although lacking the panoramic views of its sister venue, the Terrace Café, the restaurant in the Botanics’ gleaming new John Hope Gateway enjoys a pleasant outlook over the Biodiversity Garden, especially from the lovely al fresco tables on its…
Glass & Thompson
2 Dundas Street,
Edinburgh,
EH3 6HZ
Ask proprietor Russell Glass nicely and he might show you the copy of Alexander McCall Smith’s novel The Forgotten Affairs of Youth he keeps behind the counter, the one in which he and his café make a cameo appearance on page 173. It’s not an unlikely…
JoJo's Danish Bakery & Café
26 St Mary's Street,
Edinburgh,
EH1 1TA
This is the kind of operation which can give Edinburgh a cosmopolitan name. Fresh, well-crafted pastries from the hand of half-Dane Joanna Coleman (aka JoJo) are baked in the basement of this Old Town café and sold not just from the premises but also…
November
Princes Square, 48 Buchanan Street,
Glasgow,
G1 3JX
Situated right at the top of Princes Square, November is a light, airy cocktail bar and café which offers seating 'outside' on the balcony, looking down to the shops below, or under the interior's cupola. It offers a variety of dishes to tempt wearied…
Valvona & Crolla Caffè Bar
19 Elm Row, Leith Walk,
Edinburgh,
EH7 4AA
No one who cares about good food in Edinburgh is unaware of the Contini family’s excellent Italy-inspired deli and café, the former being an Aladdin’s Cave of cured meats, fine cheeses and fresh-baked breads. The caffè bar itself is a deserving stop for…
Arcaffe
7 North Claremont Street,
Glasgow,
G3 7NR
Tucked into a side street joining nearby offices to Kelvingrove Park, Arcaffe is an unassuming and friendly little Italian bistro, with tables on the pavement outside and large windows for catching the midday sun. Bustling with a mix of young families…
Bar 50
50 Blackfriars Street,
Edinburgh,
EH1 1NE
Set inside a shiny modern hostel and marketing itself squarely at its backpacker residents and the students from the halls next door, Bar 50 is the kind of place it’s easy to walk past. While not exactly a hidden gem, its location and focus on cheap…
The Hidden Lane Tearoom
8 Argyle Court, 1103 Argyle Street,
Glasgow,
G3 8ND
Tucked down a cobbled lane off Argyle Street, the Hidden Lane Tearoom is one of those rare places where everything comes together seamlessly. The décor is shabby chic – all duck-egg blue highlights, floral bunting, artfully mismatched furniture and…
Kilimanjaro Coffee
104 Nicolson Street,
Edinburgh,
EH8 9EJ
Bang in the middle of studentville, Kilimanjaro has a laid-back vibe, conducive to whiling away an afternoon reading and nattering or making a start on that essay. The chunky tables, worn wooden chairs and leather sofas are comfy and inviting and the…
Nardini's
215 Byres Road,
Glasgow,
G12 8UD
The famous ice-cream seller Nardini's of Largs has come to the big city and set up in the heart of the West End with an attractive art deco-styled café – like a temple to the ice-cream sundae which people are coming to worship at in huge numbers since…
Piece
1056 Argyle Street,
Glasgow,
G3 8LY
How enthusiastic is it possible to be about the humble sandwich? A visit to Piece reveals the answer: hugely. From the jokey pavement chalkboard to the quick-fire banter from busy staff and the pumping dub and reggae, the ethos is to get customers…
Grand Cru
79 Hanover Street,
Edinburgh,
EH2 1EE
Theatrically chic, Grand Cru is an energising venue for an upbeat evening meal. Though the large bar is devoted to drinkers, a separate dining area is juxtaposed comfortably enough to give you some space to enjoy your food. For a less noisy seat, though…
Metropole
33 Newington Road,
Edinburgh,
EH9 1QR
Taken over recently by the folks who make Canonmills’ Circle Café go round so nicely, the improvements at Metropole are clear. Always a pleasant, airy space, the mix and match floral crockery remains, as do the diner-style booths, though they’ve been…
Parlour Café
58 West Port,
Dundee,
DD1 5ER
The Parlour Café is always popular, as you can tell by the steamed up windows when you walk past. A tiny whitewashed rough brick place with only half a dozen small tables, it is nonchalantly trendy, and is extremely popular with the uni’s cooler…
The River Café and Restaurant
10 Bank Street,
Inverness,
IV1 1QY
This tranquil little riverside café serves cooked breakfasts, lunch, coffees and cakes all day, and high tea 5–7pm. At lunch there is an extensive choice from filled croissants, baked potatoes and quiche to smoked cod fishcakes and five daily specials.
Boaters Café
Rouken Glen Park,
Glasgow,
G46 7UG
Boaters Café is well known to the residents of Giffnock and Newton Mearns but less so to those outside Glasgow's southern suburbs. Situated by the boating pond at the edge of the rolling green expanses of Rouken Glen Park, it's an especially popular…
Café at the Palace
Palace of Holyroodhouse,
Edinburgh,
EH8 8DX
Situated next door to Holyrood Palace, this café is the obvious place to grab a sandwich or hearty bowl of soup after visiting the Queen’s Gallery and Palace, or after an invigorating trek round Arthur’s Seat or tour of the Scottish Parliament. With…
Cucina LC
68 Haymarket Terrace,
Edinburgh,
EH12 5LQ
The initials LC come from the owner’s name (Lorena Crolla), but they could just as easily stand for ‘Lotta Choice’ considering the amount of items on the menu here. Including Asian, Italian and Scottish elements, there are almost 40 sandwich…
Earthy Market Café
33–41 Ratcliffe Terrace,
Edinburgh,
EH9 1SX
With reclaimed wood panelling and rustic hues, this converted warehouse could easily be the set for a new Channel 4 cookery show (you half-expect to see Jamie or Hugh pottering about). Thankfully though, like the food market upstairs, the style doesn’t…
Moyra Jane's
20 Kildrostan Street,
Glasgow,
G41 4LU
Its rather twee name remains but this established café located in a wonderful old corner bank building – all dark wood panels and round marble tables – was recently transformed by new owners into the perfect low-lit night-time Parisian-style bistro…
Stereo
20-28 Renfield Lane,
Glasgow,
G2 5AR
Although it’s hard to catch the full vista from the narrow lane, Stereo is housed in a superb Charles Rennie Mackintosh-designed building, all exterior white tiles and square windows with double doors opening into a leisurely eating and drinking space…
Tinderbox
189 Byres Road,
Glasgow,
G12 8TS
Tinderbox’s original Byres Road coffeshop café opened in 1998 but the interior still feels contemporary and enticing. No food is prepared on the premises though, with savoury options being either pre-prepared sandwiches or salad/noodle bowls. It’s an…
University Café
87 Byres Road,
Glasgow,
G11 5HN
Established in 1918, the University Café is a Byres Road institution, serving fish suppers, fry-ups and homemade lasagne for nearly a century. Inside, the décor is practically unchanged since opening, original wood panelled walls, narrow formica tables…
Urban Angel
1 Forth Street,
Edinburgh,
EH1 3JX
Seasonal, local and organic are the buzz words for these bright, informal, modern bistros. A high proportion of the menu is made up of daily specials making the most of what produce is best that day. A nourishing parsnip soup is enlivened with mustard…
Café Marlayne
13 Antigua Street,
Edinburgh,
EH1 3NH
Longevity is not something always associated with Edinburgh’s French restaurants. That Café Marlayne has stuck around for a decade is testament to its ability to consistently please an eclectic range of diners. Tucked just north of George Street the…
Café Truva
251–253 Canongate,
Edinburgh,
EH8 8BQ
You can now pop in for the same Café Truva Mediterranean menu at three branches across Edinburgh. Leith, Lady Lawson Street and Canongate are all serving Turkish plates, a wide range of cakes and your usual café panini list against a varyingly elaborate…
Cranachan
Unit 51, Princes Square, 48 Buchanan Street,
Glasgow,
G1 3JN
Creamy Cranachan. If a place can be judged on its signature dish then Cranachan is sweet and indulgent, perhaps lacking in a few ingredients. The theme is overall Scottish with quality, locally sourced fish, beef and cheese aplenty, which comes in…
Dalriada
77 Promenade, Portobello,
Edinburgh,
EH15 2EL
Situated in an imposing building at the Joppa end of the Portobello Promenade, Dalriada is a fantastic bar-cum-café that's just perfect for an afternoon coffee and cake while you watch the waves roll in, or an evening drink as the sun sets over the…
Martha's
142a St Vincent Street,
Glasgow,
G2 5LQ
Goodness, in a word. Created with care and calculation (every nutritional detail is shown on the menu) by real chefs, Martha’s moreish menu proves to the as-yet unconverted that healthy can mean hearty. The menu is seasonal but may include everything…
North Star
108 Queen Margaret Drive,
Glasgow,
G20 8NZ
This cosy café – under new ownership since late 2011 – is now seeking to blend traditional café options with a little Italian style and flair. On offer is a range of options cooked to order – which does, however, mean some choices are not suited to…
Project Coffee
196 Bruntsfield Place,
Edinburgh,
EH10 4DF
Bruntsfield doesn't suffer from a lack of sociable coffee venues, but that hasn't deterred relative newcomer Project Coffee. Like sister businesses Kilimanjaro, Press and Wellington Coffee, they use beans from small artisanal roasters to make their…
