The Scottish Café & Restaurant

The people behind Italian venues Centotre & Zanzero extended their roster of Edinburgh eateries in 2009 with the café franchise in the basement of the National Gallery complex. A tasteful, open-plan space with simple decor & picture windows overlooking Princes Street Gardens East, it serves up a menu with a decidedly Scottish slant. That means Dundee cake or gingerbread with your coffee, as well as traditional high teas (fish & chips, buttered bread & a cuppa). A three-course lunch might involve cream of potato & smoked fish soup, then venison stew with root vegetables & rosemary dumplings, plus banana split for dessert. The owners’ Italian roots show in hybrids such as ‘bruschetta’ of Crowdie, Lanark Blue & spinach piled on a hot Aberdeen ‘buttery’, served with pear, walnut & watercress salad. There’s a small selection of wines, also some decent Scottish bottled ales from brewers including Harviestoun & the Williams Brothers.