Skip to Main Content

Love to Lunch

 

Love to Lunch
 
  
 
Scotland’s capital boasts a dazzling array of eateries from the most informal café through to world class fine cuisine.
 
Lunchtime is a fabulous time to sample the Capital’s best – sample ‘evening’ standard food for around half the price.
 
Read our Informed guide to the most welcoming places for lunching ladies….
 
 
 
 
 
Around £10* 
 
Nargile – 73 Hanover Street   0131 225 5755
 
Nargile offer upmarket Turkish cuisine, freshly prepared using quality local produce. The décor is light, simple, airy and the welcome from charming owner Seyham Azak is expansive. Our favourite apri-shop lunch spot! For starters – particularly if you’re new to Turkish food – we recommend the Meze which is a selection of Turkish appetisers including humus, borek, sucuk, saksuka and spicy chicken wings served with warm pitta bread. The Dana Sogus – strips of marinated chargrilled steak tossed with a mixed salad is light and delicious. For mains why not try the Kars Kebabi – rolled lamb stuffed with pate, chargrilled and served on an apricot and thyme sauce with pilau rice.   Or the Tavuk Dolmasi – chicken fillets stuffed with crab, chargrilled and served on a lemon and caper sauce with pilau rice. Mouthwatering!
 
Rafaels - 2 Deanhaugh Street  0131 332 1469
 
Spanish bistro Rafael’s is the most atmospheric and intimate little restaurant imaginable. Together with his delightful staff, Rafael produces a varied Andalucian-style menu based on fresh, seasonal ingredients.  Delicious freshly baked Spanish-style bread with olive oil is brought to each table
 
The menu, which changes daily, is brought on a chalk board and includes things like tortilla with red peppers and chorizo, goat’s cheese and red onion tart and chicken stuffed with chorizo and mozzarella in a white wine and pineapple sauce. Wow! 
A visit to Rafael’s is a perfect finish to a tranquil walk along the Water of Leith. 

La Partenope,   96 Dalry Road  Tel: 0131 347 8880
 
 
La Partenope is a bustling, Neopolitan-style restaurant in Dalry. The menu’s a few cuts above your typical Italian fare with some really innovative dishes for those who love fish and seafood. Try the fabulous linguine Al’ Astice (lobster pasta to you and me). Lunch is excellent value, with three courses priced at under £10. Take a table by the window and discuss urban regeneration!
 
 
The National Portrait Gallery Restaurant, 1 Queen Street  Tel: 0131 624 6200
 
A cut above your usual self-service restaurant. Different menu daily with top quality home cooking and baked goods.  Menus include dishes like beef goulash or coq au vin and a superb, innovative range of salads.    The restaurant is constantly busy and  pre-booking isn’t possible. So do as we do - arrive early for coffee or a glass of wine and you’ve bagged your table for lunch starting at 12 noon. Take your time – and enjoy!
 
Gallery of Modern Art Restaurant – 75 Belford Road   0131 332 8600
 
Another cut above the usual self-service restaurant fare. Menus vary but all include fair trade, organic and seasonal ingredients wherever possible. Options include a range of flavourful home-made soups, a range of hot specials such as spinach and goat’s cheese bake and salads such as roast aubergine, fennel and red chard. The range of cakes is highly tempting and the wine choice is excellent for this type of restaurant.   On a nice day eat outside on the terrace overlooking the stunning Henry Moores.
 
Around £20*
 
Cafe Marlayne, 76 Thistle Street Terrace Tel: 0131 226 2230
 
Charming, informal and intimate little restaurant with a handwritten menu that changes daily. Delicious authentic French food including quail stuffed with boudin noir, lamb loin with polenta, king scallops with boudin noir and pancetta and baked sea bass with herb dressing. Desserts are rich and satisfying – we loved the tangy key lime pie and the lemon cheesecake. Good choice of French wines.   The sister restaurant (of the same name) in Fishmarket Close has a wonderful little terrace – ideal for sunny days.
 
The Witchery, Castle Hill - Royal Mile Tel: 0131 225 5613
 
 
One of James Thomson’s three restaurants.  Housed in a 16th century building by the gates of EdinburghCastle, The Witchery has a reputation for superb cuisine. The oak panelled walls are draped with rich tapestries and mirrors and the spectacular gilded ceilings are reminiscent of those in HolyroodPalace. The overall effect is theatrical, decadent, atmospheric and thoroughly indulgent. The ideal spot for kindling (or re-kindling) romance! Past patrons include Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta Jones and Jack Nicholson. Andrew Lloyd Weber called it ‘the prettiest restaurant ever’! We love it on rainy days where you can hear the rain and feel utterly cosseted!
 
Starters include a flavoursome Terrine of Wild Rabbit and Toulouse Sausage with beetroot remoulade or Ceviche of Western Isle Scallops and Oak Smoked Salmon. Main courses include Chateaubriand of Borders Beef with a béarnaise sauce or Peppered Monkfish with apple roast pork belly and ‘red clawed crayfish’. As you might expect, The Witchery has a diverse and internationally-renowned wine list.
 
 
The Tower, National Museum of Scotland, Chambers St. Tel: 0131 225 3003
 
Step aboard The Tower’s dedicated express lift, soar high above the Museum of Scotland and step into the last word in chic and uber-cool interiors. Sheathed in glossy aluminium, richly supplied with tactile fabrics and specially commissioned art-pieces, the space is creatively lit to create an aesthetic yet relaxed ambience with spectacular views of the city skyline. Try to get a window seat! Who else loves the Tower? Joanna Lumley, Helena Bonham Carter, Jeremy Paxman, Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones.
The food’s cutting edge too. Starters include Beef Fillet Carpaccio with Red Cabbage, Chervil and crème fraiche salad or hand-picked rock oysters with a shallot and pickled vegetable vinegar. Mains include Porcetta Pig Roll with Polenta, Green Pepper and Caper salsa or Sea Bass wrapped in Proscuittio and Clam Cioppino. Wander down through the museum after lunch and burn off those calories while you view the world-class exhibits. 
 
Rhubarb at Prestonfield,  Priestfield Rd.   0131 225 1333
 
Set in 18 acres of stunning parkland in a white-rendered former Lord Provost’s house, Prestonfield hotel is an extraordinarily opulent celebrity hideaway, described by the Mr. and Mrs. Smith guide to Europe’s sexiest locations as ‘the only romantic destination in Scotland’. With walls lavishly upholstered in shades of deep red, black and bronze and sparkling chandeliers dangling from domed ceilings Conde Naste Traveller described the restaurant as ‘like walking onto the set of some flamboyant costume drama’.
Starters include Roasted Butternut Squash and Marjoram Ravioli with Pecorino Mornay or Pan-seared Scallops on Horseradish pomme puree. Mains include Seared Fillet of Turbot on Langoustine crushed potatoes or Roast Cannon of Scottish Borders lamb, ecrasse potatoes, black olive and garlic jus. On a chilly day have coffee and petit-fours upstairs by the roaring log fire.
 
*Average prices for a two course lunch
 
 If we've missed out YOUR favourite venue or you'd like to comment on the above, why not share your views?  Click here to visit our forums or why not post a quick comment below.....
 

Enjoy alcohol responsibly.  For more info visit: 

 
 
Your rating: None Average: 4 (1 vote)
Related articles: 
Informed Restaurants
Capital Afternoon Teas!
Informed Wine Guide