Restaurants

Nile Valley has remained almost completely unchanged for years. The posters wallpapering the stairs down to the dingy basement dining area rotate, advertising new club nights and student drama productions. It’s a Sudanese restaurant, with popular Middle…

Pancho’s is a cavernous place – it seats 160 but with high ceilings and big windows onto Bell Street, it feels even bigger than it is. Unsurprisingly it’s at its best when busy, with an atmosphere ramped up by office parties, groups of conference…

The Peat Inn simply exudes an air of calmness and competence. Decorated in muted shades of brown and cream, the dining area divides into several small spaces ensuring an intimate and uncluttered feel. Offering lunch, tasting, à la carte and daily menus…

Located inside an independent bookstore, with tables in between the bookshelves, this simple wee café feels almost like a community drop-in centre. Indeed since opening in November 2012 it has found regulars happy to come in and hang out for a few…

It’s more than that Michelin star. Restaurant Martin Wishart has a certain caché. It is a place to propose, to woo, to seal the deal. If it’s on the expense account, lucky you. If not, buy the ticket, take the ride: choose a tasting menu, with…

The Shore area enjoys no shortage of good bars, yet the small but perfectly formed Roseleaf continues to go from strength to strength at the head of the pack. Mixing chintzy and idiosyncratic homeliness with a deeply considered attention to detail, they…

‘The Vinnie’ has built a loyal following over the years, drawn by a cosy atmosphere, an array of draft ales supplemented by a guest option, an equally impressive range of bottled beers, and a wide choice of spirits. While some drinkers prefer to stand…

It says much about how firmly Tinderbox’s finger has long been on the pulse of coffee culture that the main Byres Road branch remains much the same place it was upon opening in 1998, in terms of both fare and décor, and yet doesn’t feel like it needs…

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…

Packing a punch at the snoozy end of Byres Road, the Two Figs is a sociable venue to shoot the breeze over double-shot daiquiris, a figgylicious cocktail or continental beer or two. Well-crafted globally inspired dishes focus on fresh ingredients and…

The name 21212 derives from its unusual menu concept, offering two choices for starter, main and dessert interspersed with soup and cheese (you can choose to have three, four or five courses). However, what’s truly original is chef Paul Kitching’s style…

With its floor-to-ceiling windows and its clean, contemporary and understated decor, Alto is ideal for relaxed dining in the Radisson Edwardian Manchester Hotel, housed in the historic Free Trade Hall just moments from Manchester Central Convention…

See Ashton Lane branch for review Takeaway review Part of the Ashoka group’s fourteen-strong citywide chain of restaurants, the West End branch in particular is a stalwart of the city's curry scene. Those with a late-night craving for a curry but an…

In the thirties, the set that raced Aston Martins founded their club here. Now, it's a light and spacious bar (the largest pewter bar in London) and restaurant serving great seasonal British cooking to a cool Fitzrovia crowd, who come here for the…

Bar Soba on Hanover Street is the Edinburgh outpost of a successful Glasgow chain, born of the unusual idea that a pan-Asian noodle kitchen might fit nicely in a busy pre-club venue. Upstairs is the bar, with graffitied walls, trendy DJs and omnipresent…

Tapas eating can fit into a shopping expedition like few other culinary styles – it’s restorative, flexible and convivial, and rarely too heavy or time-consuming. So Barça’s location in Princes Square makes a lot of sense, and after eight years it ranks…

Run by chef Angelo Cimini and Gina Giubarelli, who ran Bellini restaurant in Edinburgh’s New Town until 2009, the Italian-oriented cook school aims to teach people how to prepare delicious, healthy meals. Classes are informal and hands-on, and can be…

If it’s a hangover breakfast, pre-lecture fuel-up or lunch-hour pitstop that’s required, Black Cherry in the Grassmarket is there to satisfy. A tiny but cheery café serving breakfast rolls, sandwiches, wraps and bagels, coffee and cakes to students…