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The 20 Best Restaurants in Edinburgh

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The best restaurants in Edinburgh, according to the experts: Michelin Guide, National Restaurant Awards, and Spirited Awards have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. The Kitchin comes out on top.

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AVERY and Condita hold the next two places. Michelin Guide shows up on more of this list than any other guide, with National Restaurant Awards next.

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Departments

  1. Rank 1. The Kitchin

    Modern British

    A converted Leith warehouse overlooking the old port, with a large kitchen window that lets you watch the brigade work if you snag the right table. Tom Kitchin's flagship is a fine-dining room built on French technique and Scottish seasons, and his pig's head with west coast langoustine is about as close to a house signature as you get. It holds a Michelin star and a tasting menu that runs wherever the larder leads.


  2. A Michelin-starred creative restaurant that relocated from San Francisco to a Georgian townhouse in Stockbridge, because the chef visited Edinburgh on holiday and simply never left. The cooking applies Californian lightness to Scottish produce, which sounds like a concept pitch but holds together. The drinks flight mixes wine, sake, sherry, and a single malt, because when in Scotland.

    The awards


  3. A hand-drawn bookmark is your only menu, hinting at ingredients rather than spelling out dishes in this six-table shop conversion just south of the center. The surprise tasting format leans on seasonally shifting décor and carefully matched flavors, with the kitchen finding its footing in the quiet work of making modest ingredients taste like more than they should. It holds a Michelin star, which feels about right for somewhere this deliberate.

    The awards


  4. The awards


    Address
    47a Thistle Street, Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh EH2 1DY, United Kingdom · Edinburgh
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 5:30 PM

    Wednesday Noon–2:30 PM, 5:30 PM–9 PM

    Reserve
    SevenRooms
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  5. Rank 4. Skua

    Modern British

    The awards


  6. Rank 4. tipo

    Italian

    The awards


    Address
    110 Hanover Street, Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh EH2 1DR, United Kingdom · Edinburgh
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 5:30 PM

    Wednesday Noon–2:30 PM, 5:30 PM–9 PM

    Reserve
    SevenRooms
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  7. A grand hotel dining room inside The Caledonian, where the lucky tables look straight up at Edinburgh Castle. Chef Dean Banks runs the kitchen here, trading the old tasting menu format for an à la carte that leans hard into Scottish produce, smoked lobster among the signatures. It reads like a special-occasion room without apology, which is more or less what it is.

    The awards


  8. The awards


  9. Candlelit and close, this moody little set-menu restaurant sits in Stockbridge, the Edinburgh neighbourhood that has quietly become the city's most interesting place to eat. The cooking takes a modern approach to Scottish land and sea, with a fondness for preservation techniques and the occasional creative detour. Natural and low-intervention wines fill out the list, which feels like a considered choice rather than a trend the team discovered last Tuesday.

    The awards


  10. Rank 7. eleanore

    French

    The English muffin with miso honey butter arrives early and sets the tone for this relaxed neighbourhood bistro from the team behind The Little Chartroom. The menu wanders cheerfully between Gallic classics and British comfort, landing somewhere that feels less like a concept and more like somewhere you'd actually want to be on a Tuesday. Service is warm without being studied, which in Edinburgh counts for quite a lot.

    The awards


    Address
    30-31 Albert Place, Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh EH7 5HN, United Kingdom · Edinburgh
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 5 PM

    Wednesday Noon–2:15 PM, 5 PM–5:30 PM, 5:45 PM–8:30 PM

    Reserve
    Make a reservation
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  11. Rank 7. eòrna

    Modern British

    The awards


  12. The awards


    Address
    7-13 Barclay Place, Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh EH10 4HW, United Kingdom · Edinburgh
    Hours

    Closes soon, 4 PM, in 18 min

    Wednesday Noon–4 PM, 5 PM–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  13. Rank 7. Little Capo

    Contemporary Italian

    The salmon-pink corner building in New Town is hard to walk past without noticing, which seems to be the point. Little Capo is a contemporary Italian restaurant and bar where small plates, larger sharing dishes, and handmade pastas fill a handwritten menu. The room has real style without taking itself too seriously, and sitting at the counter with the chatty service team is its own kind of evening plan.


  14. Neon-lit and loud in the best way, this Asian-inspired sharing plates bistro on Broughton Street pulls you in off the street and dares you not to over-order. Cocktails flow, the counter fills fast, and the menu skips between fried chicken karaage and apple pie gyozas with cheerful disregard for restraint. The Michelin Guide has it on their list, which surprises no one who's been. Come hungry and bring someone willing to split everything.

    The awards


  15. Rank 7. Moss

    British

    Irn Bru candyfloss lands at the end of your meal, complimentary and completely earnest, which tells you most of what you need to know about Moss. It's a modern restaurant in Stockbridge where the menu runs on Scottish produce only, the drinks list is strictly British, and a fair amount of the ingredients come from the owner's family farm in Angus. The room is spare and quiet; the cooking matches it.

    The awards


  16. The awards


    Address
    33a St. Stephen Street, Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh EH3 5AH, United Kingdom · Edinburgh
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 6:30 PM

    Wednesday Noon–1:30 PM, 6:30 PM–7:30 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  17. Rank 7. Sotto

    Italian

    A wine bar and trattoria in the heart of Stockbridge where dropping in for a glass and some olives at the marble-topped communal counter is as legitimate a plan as staying for pasta and fish. The Italian wine list is long and almost exclusively from the boot, with the sommelier owner ready to talk you through it if you're the sort who enjoys being talked through it. Unfussy is the whole point here.

    The awards


  18. Rank 7. Spry

    Modern British

    The awards


  19. Rank 7. The Broughton

    Modern British

    The awards


  20. Rank 7. The Spence

    Modern British

    The awards


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Eat Score

The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

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    Drink Score

    The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

      How we score →

      Stay Score

      Four fifths of the score is the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin Key outweighs a listicle. The last fifth is where it is: the ranked places to eat and things to do around it, and how safe the country is. When you sort by what's nearby, distance from you changes the order, never the score.

        How we score →

        Do Score

        The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

          How we score →

          Best Place Score

          The Best Place Score rates the area around a point, not any one place. The places are 60% of it: the best of what's within reach, weighed by distance. The setting is the other 40%: how life goes in that country (how people rate their own lives, how long and how well they live, how safe they are) and what it's like right there (the air, and the weather). If the score looks low, we probably haven't found enough critics out here yet.