Restaurants

Glasgow's love affair with buffet-style dining is boundless, and it has found the ultimate mistress at this popular buffet-orama in the midst of Sauchiehall's staggering nightlife district. In the premises formerly Slumdog, Cook and Indi have managed to…

This split-level space is an exercise in sleek, functional mid-century modernism – a combination of whitewashed walls, wood, glass and metal proving perennially popular with Edinburgh’s trendier denizens. A prime Old Town location draws in a steady…

Located directly opposite The Royal Opera House in a beautiful Grade II listed building, Chez Gérard in Covent Garden is a bustling 1930s-style conservatory restaurant, with a beautiful open air terrace overlooking the Covent Garden Piazza.

Shilla is the sole Korean restaurant in Glasgow and the sister venue to the Edinburgh venture of the same name. This small unassuming space is located in the perennially up-and-coming cool neighbourhood of Finneston. A handful of tightly packed beech…

Patrons here live it up while the bar’s inspiration Charles Bukowski looks disdainfully down from a portrait on the wall. Mind you, even the hedonistic Buk would have struggled to work his way through the extensive range of quality rums and bourbons.

Run by two talented chefs with impressive restaurant experience between them (including The Atrium, The Kitchin, The Outsider, Café St Honore and Falko), Gardener’s Cottage is a relatively new addition to Edinburgh dining. Be transported out of the city…

Brightening up Partick for several years now with its 1950s American diner-style décor and assorted retro touches such as big tubs of sweets behind the bar, Rio Café offers a little something for everyone. Serving food from breakfast through dinner…

To begin at the end – and a mighty fine end indeed, distinguished by desserts as delightful on the eye as the spoon. A vibrant gingerbread mousse contrasts with sweet, crunchy ‘rocks’ of honeycomb, a thing of true beauty. Then nougat parfait, delicately…

Hyde Out is somewhat less demure than its name suggests. Located by the canal terminus at Edinburgh Quay, it took over from the old Embark with a splash of publicity and a blizzard of blingin’ style in the autumn of 2010, providing a reinvigorating if…

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…

The joint venture between two of Edinburgh's Michelin-starred chefs, Tom Kitchin and Dominic Jack, in opening a pub – or 'public house with dining' – in Stockbridge has opened a new front in casual eating in the capital. The stripped-back, bare-brick…

Chaophraya sits proudly on the corner of Nelson Mandela Place, holding the title of Europe’s largest Thai restaurant. Climbing the small stairway outside, opulence and grandeur awaits in this A-listed building. Enjoy a cocktail on the first floor before…

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…

Although its star has occasionally waned over 40-odd years of serving the West End’s finest, the Chip still holds its own amid the crowded glare and shifting fashions of Ashton Lane, carving a hard-won niche for quality food and metropolitan chic.

Bijou came under new ownership in 2011 but both head chef Alastair Berry and the quirky but useful menu formula of offering most items in bijou, medium or large size have remained. The low-key interior features a sprinkling of café-style tables, a small…

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…

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…

Closed in 2012, the Captain's Rest is much missed, as a bar and especially as a gig venue. But its effective successor Broadcast – situated much more centrally, practically eyeball-to-eyeball with nearest rival Nice 'n' Sleazy – promises to be just as…

There’s a laidback, Australian vibe to the Esplanade – the ‘Espy’ – bar and bistro on Portobello’s beachfront, with its cheery service, beer, burgers, live music and comedy, and tables overlooking, okay, not the Indian Ocean, but the Firth of Forth to…