Ladywood Restaurant Guide

“Amazing – a faultless, fixed tasting menu, and the best wine pairings ever” – so say fans of Conor Toomey’s small venue a short taxi ride from the city centre. “I hate choice, so I love that there is none!” – the surprise multi-course meal takes about three hours and in 2023 prices will rise to £140 per person.

This “buzzing and reliable” home-grown homage to New York-style pizza sells its “great” versions by the slice – “the slices are enormous and one will suffice most people” – in four outlets with a “quirky vibe and music (American rock and hip-hop)”. “Their motto is branded on every cup and menu: ‘Death Before Dominos’!”

The Radford family’s Victorian warehouse conversion remains “relentlessly inventive and delicious”, a decade after they were among the first to bring the lessons of ‘new Nordic’ cuisine to Scotland, with foraged or pickled ingredients presented in industrial-style premises. Head chef James Murray (ex-Lyles, Le Manoir & Nur in Hong Kong) joined the team last year. Natural and low-intervention wines are also an important part of the experience. Even a diner who felt “the food is overhyped” said “what an amazing place!”

This year-old venture in a converted bank – restaurant, bar, bakery, coffee shop and butchery – “has taken Edinburgh by storm” with its “very unfussy and robust cooking, relaxed atmosphere” – and its excellent in-house baked goods. The “shabby-chic premises belie stunning prep and cooking” from ex-Spring chef Lloyd Morse, who has teamed up with ex-Harwood Arms GM James Snowdon. Top Tip – “on no account depart without buying one of their loaves”.

“Wonderful Indian-style tapas” – “well cooked, well served and always worth booking when in Edinburgh”. This spin-off in the Scottish capital’s Old Town lives up to the reputation established by the iconic Glasgow original.

“Definitely an experience” – James Thomson’s “glorious” 40-year restoration of a 1595 merchant’s house next to the castle makes a “totally unique and intimate location” for a candle-lit meal, either in the wood-panelled dining room, filled with leather furnishings and hung with tapestries, or in the ‘Secret Garden’. The “atmospheric setting” is “perfect for a romantic dinner” so long as you “don’t expect too much gastronomically” from the traditional menu – and there is a “killer wine list – sorry, Wine Bible”.

“Top-notch oysters, shellfish and fish” make Roy Brett’s “superb restaurant” a “must-visit when in Edinburgh” – and a more frequent “treat” for those lucky enough to live nearby. In a new departure last year, selected cuts of British meat were added to the menu, ‘simply grilled to perfection’.

“A superb location, where the chef's culinary skills are effectively displayed” – Dean Banks is succeeding where others have failed in this plush and “romantic” dining room, dating from 1925. Culinarily speaking, it’s in a similar ambitious vein to his St Andrews venture, Haar, and even a reporter who thought it is “maybe a bit pricey” concludes that “the quality of food and the high standards effectively make this a no-brainer to visit”.

“A lovely little place” – “the sort of bistro you would like to have in your neighbourhood”, with “a very nice menu of French dishes and excellent service”. It’s also “very cheap at lunchtime and reasonable in the evening, especially for central Edinburgh”.

David Bann’s “top-notch” and “creative” meat-free cooking produces “beautifully presented dishes, often of complex structure and ingredients”. Now in its 21st year, his Canongate venue is, fans insist, “not to be missed when in Edinburgh!”.

Since 2001, Jean-Michel Gauffre’s bistro has been a “friendly and welcoming” feature of the Old Town, serving a “delightful southern French/Mediterranean menu, and in particular the authentic cuisine of Languedoc” with “regional wines” to match.

This “busy and atmospheric” restaurant with “reliably excellent pasta dishes” (plus, unusually, ‘full Scottish breakfasts’) was opened almost 20 years ago in a former banking hall by Victor Contini, whose family has brought their Italian heritage to bear on the Scottish food scene for more than a century. The venue’s success has led to further openings, at the Scottish National Gallery and in Cannonball House, next door to Edinburgh Castle.

“Amazing Italian cooking using Scottish produce – impeccable – and with outstanding service” inspires excellent feedback on this stylish and moodily decorated New Town site. It was opened in mid 2021 by Stefano Pieraccini of the Rocca Group in premises vacated by Martin Wishart’s The Honour (RIP).

With its attractive and convenient setting overlooking St Andrew’s Square, this iteration of the Ivy generates a reasonable number of reports but somewhat limited enthusiasm – “fairly average food which tends to be expensive for what is now a chain restaurant”.