Baba Edinburgh

From the team behind Glasgow’s award-winning Ox and Finch restaurant, this grill and cocktail bar in the recently revamped Principal Hotel on Charlotte Square is inspired by the flavours of the Levant. It’s a comfortable, colourful space with a charcoal grill at the heart of an open kitchen delivering Scottish lamb, beef and seafood, spiced and grilled over coals. The short menu focuses on snacks, meze and grill dishes alongside cocktails infused with flavours of rose, sesame and pistachio. Flavours are punchy and well-balanced. Our crunchy little haggis and harissa kibbeh dumplings came dusted in salty sesame-seed spiciness, while vivid-purple earthy beetroot hummus arrived with hazelnut dukkah spices and tangy whipped feta. Next, tender lamb shoulder was accompanied by ptitim pasta, preserved lemon and tahini yoghurt, while baked sweet potato was doused with the Yemeni hot sauce zhug and tempered with cooling crème fraîche. A highlight was the grilled, gamey Goosnargh chicken leg teamed with harissa hummus, pickled cabbage and fragrant pomegranate. In all, an oasis of flavour on chain-heavy George Street.

Baba in Edinburgh is designed to celebrate the flavours of the Middle East, using fine ingredients that are sourced from beautiful Scotland. Enjoy charcoal grill dishes including Scottish lamb, beef and seafood, with delicious Middle Eastern spices and cooking techniques.

Whilst you peruse the menu, nibble on some snacks of Baharat spiced nuts, cauliflower fritters with zhug and creme fraiche, and lamb adana and haggis skewers with sheep's milk labneh. We wouldn't be able to skip the mezze options, not with beautifully blended baba ganoush with pomegranate and mint, grilled mussels with chraime and toasted pitas and venison carpaccio with whipped feta, kalamata olives, chilli and orange.

The feasting dishes are designed to be shared between two or more people and include a 600g grass-fed cote de boeuf with grilled vegetables, harissa, zhug, tahini and herbs, and yoghurt marinated whole grilled sea bream with a fennel and orange shredded salad. If you prefer to keep to your own plate, try the merguez sausage with polenta, harissa and watercress, or the Duke of Berkshire pork neck with roasted pineapple, mojo verde and lardo.

To really level up your meal, order a selection of sides to share amongst the table. There's blackened sweet potato with saffron creme fraiche, cauliflower shawarma with ras-el-hanout, tahini and rose, some juicy chargrilled peppers with fried almonds, crispy pita and buttermilk, and grilled aubergines with bulgar wheat and hazelnuts. There are just three options for dessert, but each is a beautiful choice. The dark chocolate and tahini cremeux is topped with cherries and creme fraiche, then there's a whipped labneh cream with strawberries, cashew nut meringue and basil, and grapefruit, almond and caraway cake with sweetened yoghurt and mint.