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, Scottish and Budget
- Two Fat Ladies
Two Fat Ladies serve up a fresh, exciting menu with a focus on the finest seafood ingredients - Stravaigin
Stravaigin cooks fresh local produce to international styles & recipies in a laid back informal setting. - The Living Room
The Living Room offers an abundance of choice with a wide range of high quality food - Maggie Mays
Outstanding contemporary Scottish restaurant, with a bustling bar and all-year entertainment
The Grill on the Corner
21–25 Bothwell Street,
Glasgow,
G2 6NL
This busy central restaurant is quite imposing from the outside, looking in through the fairy light-covered windows to the arguably cold minimalist chrome and black leather interor. But the warmth of the welcome, the friendly vibe (especially in the…
Crabshakk
1114 Argyle Street,
Glasgow,
G3 8TD
All senses are stimulated on entering this lively little enterprise – the effusive rush of ginger, chillis and herbs, the burble of chatty voices and the heartening sizzle of fresh seafood in the pan, creates an explosion of gastric expectation.
Steak
12 Picardy Place,
Edinburgh,
EH1 3JT
Steak is one of a new wave of Edinburgh steakhouses influenced by the likes of London’s much-lauded Hawksmoor. It’s aiming for hi-octane glamour that would be more at home in the Meatpacking district in New York City, but Edinburgh could do with a dose…
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…
Ian Brown Food and Drink
55 Eastwoodmains Road,
Glasgow,
G46 6PW
Down in distant (for most of us) Giffnock, husband-and-wife team Ian and Sheila Brown run a restaurant that merits a journey from anywhere in Glasgow, and most points beyond. Formerly head chef at the Ubiquitous Chip, Ian produces food that's…
The Living Room
150 St Vincent Street,
Glasgow,
G2 5NE
Weekends at this popular bar and diner feature live music and even a regular magician – helping to create a lively infectious buzz that is easy to get caught up in. Couples and groups are seated in leather booths, helping to break up the restaurant…
Howies at Waterloo
29 Waterloo Place,
Edinburgh,
EH1 3BQ
While things below the waterline have been a bit frantic since the original owners bought back Edinburgh’s two remaining Howies in late 2011, above the surface everything is typically calm. The Waterloo Place restaurant is a stylishly decorated, well…
Guy's Restaurant & Bar
24 Candleriggs, Merchant City,
Glasgow,
G1 1LD
It's almost certainly worth booking at this well-established Merchant City favourite. At the end of the bar, the dining area is bright and buzzy, with some of the tables quite close together – more suited to social rather than intimate dining. Service…
Crabby Macs Seafood Café
61 Otago Street,
Glasgow,
G12 8PQ
Based in the former Tattie Macs, Crabby’s is the ideal relaxed, friendly destination for those who may be curious but unconfident about delving into the magical world of Scottish seafood. The small shopfront opens into a large warm contemporary setting…
The Grill at Dakota Eurocentral
Dakota Hotel, 1-3 Parklands Avenue,
Motherwell,
Central,
ML1 4WG
Dakota is a dark, mysterious looking building, more Gotham than Glasgow, that sits beside the M8 near Motherwell. The interiors too are dark and atmospheric with bold use of black and dark chocolate colours. It has an air of affordable quality about it…
Stravaigin
28–30 Gibson Street,
Glasgow,
G12 8NX
As this place pops up in most Glasgow guides, many a nationality can be found rubbing shoulders with die-hard regulars enjoying interesting Scottish produce given an international twist. Stravaigin’s well-known branding is ‘think local, eat global’. The…
Sweet Melindas
11 Roseneath Street,
Edinburgh,
EH9 1JH
Sweet Melindas is the very definition of cosy neighbourhood hangout. The one-room Marchmont restaurant’s white-painted wooden panelling, found black-and-white photographs and shelves of assorted bric-a-brac lend it a quaint but pleasant ambience, and…
The Dogs
110 Hanover Street,
Edinburgh,
EH2 1DR
A dark wooden staircase flanked by statues of the owner’s dogs takes you up to two atmospheric Georgian dining rooms. Low lit by candles, the restaurant is simply furnished with old-school wooden tables and chairs, and of course pictures of those dogs.
Home Bistro
41 West Nicolson Street,
Edinburgh,
EH8 9DB
Quite why owners Richard Logan and Rowland Thomson chose to homage the seventies with their charming bistro isn’t clear, though the wallpaper, trio of flying ducks and elongated wooden antelopes are endearingly quirky. But the nostalgia ends right where…
Iggs
15 Jeffrey Street,
Edinburgh,
EH1 1DR
Iggs, Edinburgh’s grand old dame of Spanish fine dining, has gone through some changes of late. A recent visit from Channel 5’s Restaurant Inspectors has done away with some of its more individual aspects and given it a bit more mass-market appeal. The…
MacSorley's
42 Jamaica Street,
Glasgow,
G1 4QG
At this time last year the upstairs eating section of MacSorley’s was going for a full-blown, fine-dining approach. The food was great, but the juxtaposition of such cuisine in an old-school pub, albeit a music-focused one with a young clientele, was…
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…
Metropolitan
Merchant Square, Candleriggs,
Glasgow,
G1 1LE
Given the weather, Metropolitan’s indoor terrace overlooking Merchant Square is the safest way to dine al fresco in Glasgow. It’s a very pleasant place to be, with the sandstone walls, linen napkins and twinkling fairy lights adding atmosphere to the…
Mussel Inn
157 Hope Street,
Glasgow,
G2 2UQ
Mussel Inns aren’t just restaurants but the end point of a diligent infrastructure of sustainable fresh food that begins at seed in West Coast lochs – a truly remarkable operation that has to be commended for re-introducing many Scots to the glories of…
One Ten Bar and Grill at Marks Hotel
110 Bath Street,
Glasgow,
G2 2EN
The One Ten Bar and Grill offers a calm and classy escape from the more jumping bars and restaurants that populate Glasgow's Bath Street. While there's nothing strikingly distinctive about this establishment in comparison to any other hotel restaurant…
Lebowskis
1008 Argyle Street,
Glasgow,
G3 8LX
What would you expect from a joint named after the Coen brothers' Dude? A laid-back spot with an appealing bar that serves a good white Russian? Check. What you might not be prepared for is the quality of the excellent pub food, backed up by a careful…
Maxies Bistro and Wine Bar
5b Johnston Terrace,
Edinburgh,
EH1 2PW
An up-to-date review of Maxies will appear here shortly …
The Pipers' Tryst
The National Piping Centre, 30–34 McPhater Street,
Glasgow,
G4 0HW
Attached to the National Piping Centre in Cowcaddens, the Pipers’ Tryst maintains an authentically Scottish identity without descending into shortbread-tin tweeness. The dining room is a relaxed, informal space, with scrubbed wooden tables, dark leather…
Barbarossa
Cartside House, 1–7 Clarkston Road,
Glasgow,
G44 4EF
Barbarossa comes in two parts – a wine bar downstairs and a chic restaurant upstairs – and thanks to a very committed chef, a host of regulars have been dining here for more than 10 years. The wine bar has a reasonably priced selection of pasta, pizza…
