One night in Edinburgh

[mehrirubin]

Hello,

I will be in Edinburgh for one full day and night in mid-June. Staying in the city centre, on Princes St. Would love a restaurant recommendation, please. I don't care if it's cheap or expensive -- I am looking for something interesting and/or special to Scotland. Allergic to some shellfish (crab, lobster), but love oysters. Thanks in advance!

MR

[AWaiting]

For interesting/special (clearly not knowing what you'd necessarily class as interesting or special!) I'd probably go to either The Kitchin or 21212. Both are Michelin starred but are very different venues.

The Kitchin is standard in decor but Tom very much focuses on Scottish produce and presenting it in elegant ways. Examples of his better known dishes are "Rock Pool" which is a range of Scottish shellfish (squat lobster, mussel, cockle etc) with a fish consommé and the pigs head with pig ear crisp. I'm sure that there would be no issue accommodating your allergy even though he does use shellfish.

21212 is in a beautiful Georgian house (Very typical Edinburgh New Town architecture) that has been decorated in a fashionable way whilst still retaining period features. The food is something that some people love and others hate. The concept comes from a choice of 2 starters followed by a soup followed by choice of 2 mains, then the cheese course and finally a choice of 2 deserts. The best thing to do is look at the web site and look at the sample menus as it's far from standard fair often having 15 components on a dish, some of which you just wouldn't think would work.

[mehrirubin]

Thanks! Unfortunately, I'll be there on Monday, and both are closed! I thought the Grain Store looked interesting, but have emailed twice with no response...

[AWaiting]

They've not replied? That's poor and surprises me as they're usually pretty decent. I don't mind giving them a shout if you need me to. The grain store is good. Monday you'll be able to get in at the number one at Balmoral. I've never been as the menu put me off but my food writer mate went 2 weeks ago and said it was so much better than the menu reads.

[mehrirubin]

I finally did hear back, so Grain Store it is.

21212 did look interesting too -- will be a good reason to come back! Thanks again.

[orchidalbion]

If its oysters you're after, Ondine do three different type of oysters (its a seafood focused restaurant), I think you can just sit up by the bar and Honours by Martin Wishart do one type but a variety of different ways.

[GreenDragon]

We had fantastic Indian food at Khushi's, which is on Victoria Street, right near the Royal Mile. There was also a great crepe food cart at the end of the street, but who knows if they are still there or not. There's a 'liquid deli' nearby that makes alcohols to taste, too.