Tower Restaurant

The 2013 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).

This review is taken from the current (2013) edition.

Even on a clear day, it’s not quite possible to see the other two restaurants that make up restaurateur James Thomson’s local trilogy. What you can see through this one’s floor-to-ceiling windows – and most spectacularly from its fifth-floor terrace above the Museum of Scotland – is the city in all its stony beauty. Drag your eyes away from the view outside and there’s a whole landscape of well-sourced Scottish produce on the menu: hand-dived scallops, oysters, lobster, beef, heritage potatoes, and so on. A marmalade and clove-glazed ham terrine is enlivened by the fierce acid of pickled onion, while Jerusalem artichoke soup is a big, creamy bowlful. A fillet of sea bass arrives well seared, its crispness contrasted with cauliflower puree and black truffle butter sauce, but the roast pork loin is very dry, with a barely caramelised tarte tatin and chunky breaded black pudding among the supporting cast. There’s good news if you like your sticky toffee pudding modishly ‘deconstructed’, whereas dense chocolate and cherry delice, topped with soft meringue, is a less flashy option. Unlike the £300 Cristal champagne on the wine list.

• High point: The views, the views
• Low point: If only the food reached quite the same heights