The Dining Room at Scotch Malt Whisky Society

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is a members’ club dedicated to rare, single-cask Scotch, with two venues in Edinburgh & one in London. At its Queen Street premises in the Scottish capital, the whisky bar is bolstered by a restaurant open to allcomers. It sits on the ground floor of a refurbished Georgian townhouse, a simple, elegant room with capable cooking courtesy of chef James Freeman. The menu du jour brings two or three reasonably priced courses for lunch or pre-theatre, while the carte might feature rare venison loin with pickled vegetables & smoked crème fraîche to start, before braised cheek of beef with olive oil mash, glazed root vegetables & red wine jus with anise. To finish, pear, ginger & cranberry trifle with ginger beer sorbet sound intriguing. If the array of unique cask whiskies doesn’t appeal, there’s also an extensive wine list, with glasses from £4.40.