Eat Local, Travel Far – Edinburgh summer dining, no passport required
Since moving to Edinburgh in 2012, this city’s food scene has never once given me cause for complaint. That’s not to say there haven’t been lacklustre meals, or the occasional impromptu kebab on the way home from a three-figure ‘must-visit’ fine dining experience that left me feeling like a deflated balloon – wallet lightened, stomach empty. But with more than 1,000 restaurants in the city, and at least ten new openings every month, the beauty is you never need to return. My approach to Edinburgh’s dining scene is brutal like that: one chance to impress, and I’m moving on.
After over a decade of reviewing restaurants, both for well-known publications and more creatively in video format on social media and a 65,000-word book on Scotland’s street food scene, the conviction remains: Edinburgh rewards those who eat curiously. You quickly learn which places aren’t worthy of their TikTok stardom.
I’m Ailidh Forlan, and I’m delighted to use this column to point you towards the places worthy of your time and money each month; the new openings, the quiet gems, and yes, the ones that are genuinely hidden rather than merely hashtagged that way.
This July, the theme is simple. With the cost of a city break – let alone a flight to Asia – now demanding serious justification, Edinburgh is making a compelling case for staying put. So here’s the proposition: pull up a chair at three restaurants channelling the very best of Scotland’s seasonal larder right now, or let Edinburgh transport you somewhere else entirely – Vietnam, China, North India – without so much as a boarding pass.
Consider this your passport-free guide to eating well all summer long.
3 Scottish Staples
Whirlybird, 36-38 Victoria Street
Forget the rule about steering clear of restaurants in the heart of a tourist trail. Whirlybird, a new all-day “quietly Scottish” spot on the famous Victoria Street, bucks it convincingly. Exposed brick and Parisian bistro touches meet a team led by restaurateur Ash Bairstow and stacked with Hawksmoor, Panda & Sons and The Kitchin pedigree. Snack on home-pickled vegetables (not just the usuals; fennel, radish, turnip and courgette too) while you deliberate. The smoked mackerel and marinated new potato salad is a meal in itself, but make room for the whole sea bream: gently charred, pooled in lemony butter and salty fried capers, its flesh giving way in clean, juicy flakes that slide straight off the bone. With cocktail maestro Jono behind the bar, eager to guide you through a list of Scottish spirits, you’ll be reluctant to leave; it’s easy to pop in for lunch and just as easy to stay for four hours.
KIN by Gary Maclean, The Roseate Edinburgh, 4 West Coates
West Enders must be delighted not to have to venture into town for ingredient-led dining; there’s now a restaurant right on their doorstep. Don’t be put off by it being a hotel restaurant either, this isn’t reserved for residents or special occasions; the elegant, modern-Scottish dining room and flexible à la carte menu make it just as suited to an elevated midweek meal as a celebratory one. Expect honest, provenance-driven plates from Scotland’s First National Chef: kiln-smoked haddock Cullen Skink, hand-dived scallop with brown crab and barley, or pan-seared roe deer loin with sloe gin sauce. “Us chefs think we’re the ones that do everything,” says Gary Maclean. “It’s not, it’s the producers.” And boy are they celebrated, in a menu (£13-18 starters, £18-32 mains) so studded with Scottish produce that the dishes are impossible to choose between.
The Cottage at Royal Terrace, 7 Royal Terrace
Peter and Anna have resurrected the building once home to The Gardeners’ Cottage, keeping everything foodies loved about it: an open kitchen, long communal tables seating sixteen, and an allotment growing the lovage and rhubarb that turn up on your plate hours later. But the mind-blowing value is what’s got us rebooking before we’ve even made it home. The nine-course tasting menu (£85, wine pairing £55) is built entirely around what’s seasonal and nearby. Standouts include a carrot smoked, pureed, gelled and powdered into something more intensely carroty than any single carrot, and hogget sourced from The Free Company, seared, barbecued and braised, married with ewe’s curd and a rich hogget jus, likely to surpass any other lamb dish you’ll try this year.
3 Asian Adventures
1915 Lanz Noodle, 12 Seafield Road East
Seafield Road East isn’t where you’d expect to find one of Edinburgh’s most compelling new openings, but you’ll leave grateful knowing lower overheads mean waddling home full for under a twenty. Sally learned to make noodles watching her father work fresh dough every morning in China; now she’s brought that craft to Edinburgh, hand-pulling every bowl to order using traditional Lanzhou techniques dating back to 1915. The result is worth the detour: thick, chewy ribbons of biang biang noodles – vegetarian or loaded with unctuous braised brisket (all Halal) – plus juicy hand-folded dumplings tossed in peanut and chilli, and a Roujiamo: China’s original beef “burger” encased in flaky pastry. Don’t leave without trying the signature Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup – Edinburgh’s only – honouring the century-old five-element “Golden Standard”: crystal-clear bone broth, white radish, red chilli oil, green herbs and springy yellow noodles. Order at the counter, go wild at the help-yourself toppings station, and settle in.
Pho & Roll, 5 Dean Street
This family-run, 28-seater Vietnamese kitchen has quietly earned itself a clean bill of five-star reviews since opening in April. Superlatives are dispensed carefully around here, but this may well be the best Vietnamese food you’ll find outside Vietnam. There, I said it. Start with two fresh summer rolls for just £5.90, alongside a generous bowl of mango, plump prawns and herbs made to sing in a zingy, citrusy fish sauce dressing. This season, a bánh mì is just the ticket: a texture sensation of crusty baguette, juicy barbecue pork belly, a generous smear of pâté, tangy Asian pickles and the gentle sweetness of honey butter. Come cooler climates, it’ll be the pho: protein laden, slow-simmered broth infused with all the aromatics. A comforting hug on a cold day.
Sabzi, 162 Ferry Road
Sabzi opened in 2021, evolving from a lockdown pop-up run out of the Singh family’s Leith cafe into the Punjabi restaurant it is today, now housed in a former Blockbuster. It’s seen a fresh wave of popularity lately, after a video of their aloo paratha (a childhood favourite of spiced potato flatbread, served simply for breakfast) went properly viral. The whole family is still involved front and back of house, and that warmth is felt the moment you step foot inside. The menu stays compact by design; five mains and a handful of street food sides, no reams of dishes to wade through, just everything cooked with conviction. As a committed meat eater, it’s impressive how their vegetarian dishes could convert you on the spot. The Gobi Manchurian – crisped cauliflower tossed in a sweet, tangy, faintly fiery sauce – is memorably good.
