Where to eat during the Edinburgh Festival

Scotland's capital is set to be flooded with visitors as thousands of shows take place during the famous Edinburgh Fringe (1-25 August). Check out our pick of Edinburgh's best restaurants and bars

Square Meal’s top 10 Edinburgh restaurants

21212
Set in a lushly refurbished Victorian townhouse, this “eccentric” big-city venture has been described as a “joyous ride from start to finish”. Chef Paul Kitching conjures up a daily riot of “stunningly amazing”, fantastical constructions ranging from ‘chicken peanut butter’ (Mexican chilli, smoked ham and chips, peanuts, prunes, leeks, tomato and olive oil) to a jazzed-up ‘meat pie’. The ‘21212’ moniker should really be ‘31313’ though, as there are now three starter choices, then soup, three mains, then cheese and finally three desserts.
Read our full review of 21212 here

Castle Terrace
Nature to plate is the mantra at this sibling of The Kitchin. Raw materials of distinguished provenance go into dishes ranging from a sushi-style tartare of Loch Duart salmon to grouse pâté en croûte served with pear, prune and port, followed by desserts such as a mille-feuille of Braeburn apples and yoghurt cream with nougatine and praline. The kitchen’s “elegant”, sophisticated food is a perfect fit for the cool, contemporary dining room.
Read our full review of Castle Terrace here

Galvin Brasserie de Luxe
Situated below the posh Pompadour by Galvin on the ground floor of the Caledonian Hotel, this more relaxed brasserie for all seasons is inspired by Chris and Jeff Galvin’s London big-hitter Galvin Bistrot de Luxe. You can pitch up at the bar or sit down for honest-to-goodness French bistro food: one fan keeps coming back for the steak tartare, but the “wonderfully enticing” menu also encompasses escargots, duck confit with salade lyonnaise and calf’s liver with Alsace bacon – in other words “fine dining without fuss”.
Read our full review of Galvin Brasserie de Luxe here

The Gardener’s Cottage
Once the resident gardener’s cottage attached to Edinburgh’s Royal Terrace Gardens, this B-listed building is now home to a rustic, enterprising eatery dedicated to seasonal food. Communal tables and paint-splattered floorboards set the tone in the dining room, or you can sit outside among the greenery. Dinner is a no-choice, six-course menu (check Facebook for details) while simpler lunch and brunch options are also available; the focus is on reinvented British heritage food, with influences from further afield: crispy chicken skin with beer mayo or pig’s tongue dumplings, for example.
Read our full review of The Gardener’s Cottage here

The Kitchin
Michelin-starred Tom Kitchin is widely regarded as one of Scotland’s heavyweights, driven by supplies from regional growers, producers and fishermen. There’s real craft and complexity in terrine of monkfish liver served with octopus carpaccio, fennel and lemon compote and the restaurant itself is a model of informality and restraint – part of a converted warehouse with bare tables and a window into the kitchen. “Brilliant staff” and “fabulous tasting menus” earn bonus points.
Read our full review of The Kitchin here

The Plumed Horse
Stabled within the gritty environs of Leith’s waterside development, chef/proprietor Tony Borthwick’s Plumed Horse wins friends with its personal, “unstuffy” feel. The kitchen deals in strong, clear flavours, absorbing lots of different themes in its search for impact: how about a “truly original” dish of roast monkfish wrapped in bacon with smoked eel, white bean cassoulet, parsley and truffle sauce. Brilliant service isn’t out to “squeeze every last penny from customers”, notes a fan.
Read our full review of The Plumed Horse here

The Pompadour by Galvin
Edinburgh’s most famous restaurant in the legendary Caledonian hotel has been revitalised by Chris and Jeff Galvin. French technique meets Scottish ingredients – think Orkney scallops with pig’s trotter and veal sweetbreads, parsnip purée and apple fondant or stuffed rack and confit Ayrshire rabbit with soft polenta, chestnuts and Arran mustard jus. Service is “fantastically attentive” and a top-flight wine list completes the package.
Read our full review of The Pompadour by Galvin here

Restaurant Mark Greenaway
Following the closure of their classy restaurant on Picardy Place, chef Mark Greenaway and his front-of-house partner Nicola Jack moved across Edinburgh’s Old Town to new premises in a classic-looking Georgian building. Greenaway’s cooking has always been about “passion and innovation”, and visitors to North Castle Street can look forward to more of the same – think citrus-cured sea trout with mandarin fluid gel, roast langoustine, brioche tuile and sweetened capers or 11-hour slow-roast pork belly with confit potato, butternut squash purée, spiced pear and roasted cauliflower.
Read our full review of Restaurant Mark Greenaway here

Timberyard
Housed in an old timber warehouse and theatrical props store, this “magical” addition to the Edinburgh scene comes courtesy of Andrew and Lisa Radford – one-time owners of the famous Atrium restaurant. Their son and daughter are also on board, along with a brigade who understand all about foraging, butchery and smoking (Timberyard has a dedicated space for such things, as well as its own vegetable patch). The result is a “stylish” seasonal menu that pulls in locally sourced ingredients and on-trend flavours – think langoustine with larch, fennel and roe or smoked beef loin with shallot, burnt ramson, cauliflower, kohlrabi and mustard.
Read our full review of Timberyard here

The Witchery by the Castle
The gorgeously romantic Witchery occupies genuinely archaic and atmospheric premises. Immune to culinary trends, the cooking remains largely Franco/Scots in style and the kitchen isn’t afraid of big flavours: shellfish bisque or scallops en croûte could be followed by lamb Wellington or roast halibut with braised oxtail. After that, perhaps chocolate tart with orange-blossom ice cream.
Read our full review of The Witchery here