Places to Eat & Drink

Delivery

Chinese (local for delivery)

https://gychinesetakeaway.co.uk/

Indian (local for delivery and eat in)

http://www.patakarestaurant.co.uk/

Restaurants/Winebars/Pubs

Some of our favourites, all within easy walking distance.

Marchmont

Rabbit Hole Local restaurant; good French-style food with an emphasis on fish; medium price range; decent wine list. Try the souffle starter if they’re doing them, and their Frisky Rabbit if you’re into cocktails. Only a couple of hundred yards away in Roseneath Street. Booking necessary.

Argile. Even closer, in Argyle Place. Relatively expensive, fixed menu, well reputed. A maximum of eight customers sit on bar stools around the chef (Keith, nice guy).

Argyle Bar. Local pub at the top of Argyle Place with seats outside and live music – especially Fringe Festival jazz – every night in the basement bar.

Coffee Shops. For good coffee, either Detour round the corner in Argyle Place or Machina on Marchmont Road.

Tollcross

Indaba. Half a mile or so to the west, opposite the fire station. A tapas restaurant with S African influence. Reasonably priced.

A Wee Taste. A small winebar with excellent cheese/meat/salad platters. Very welcoming (especially if you mention my name as recommending them!) run by Karly, particularly female-friendly.

Bennets Bar. Classic 19^th century Edinburgh pub with ceramic murals. One of only three or four such gems left (one other is the Café Royal, with restaurant attached).

Timberyard. Serious restaurant, one of the best in Edinburgh, 15 minutes walk away the other side of the Meadows in Lady Lawson Street. If you go and the waitress has an Australian accent, she’s probably the delightful Lizzy our grand-daughter’s fiancée. Booking essential.

South Side

Summerhall. Great Fringe venue; excellent bar with bar food and outside courtyard. Originally Edinburgh University’s veterinary college, so quirky interiors. East end of the Meadows and turn right.

George Square Gardens. Two separate Fringe areas in the Gardens, ten minutes walk straight across the Meadows and turn right at Sainsbury’s. Several Fringe venues, lots of food stalls, various bars. A great place to sit outside of an afternoon/evening when the weather is good.

Restaurants. In the Pleasance: Blonde (French, fairly upmarket but decent value); Macau Kitchen (small, friendly, lovely fusion of Portuguese and Chinese cooking).

Zero Zero. Small winebar specialising in natural wines, enthusiastic owner (Craig); serves food platters. East end of the Meadows, straight on one block, turn right.