The Scottish Café and Restaurant

National Gallery of Scotland, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL

Telephone 0131 226 6524
Food served Mon–Wed, Fri/Sat 9am–5.30pm; Thu 9am–7pm; Sun 10am–5.30pm.
Average price £16.95 (set lunch)
Email
Website www.thescottishcafeandrestaurant.com

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.

Enter the Scottish Café and Restaurant beneath the National Gallery of Scotland and you're not going to be short of choice. For a start, are you just looking for a coffee, a snack or a lighter bite? If so, ask for the café menu (covered by an entry in our Arts Venues & Attractions section). If you're after something a bit more substantial, allow the warm, informal staff to guide you to the upper tables with their sweeping views of Princes Street Gardens. Then settle in for some brilliantly sourced and imaginatively prepared cuisine in a restaurant that cares way more than it needs to. The list of suppliers that's proudly posted by the entrance reads like a who’s who of Scottish sourcing – and they don’t just plonk Scotland’s finest down on a plate either. North-east butteries make a dish as unlikely as it is satisfying, laced with chunks of Lanark blue cheese and East Lothian pumpkin. Mains feature arguably Edinburgh’s most authentic Cullen skink and Burnside Farm venison spiced with a cauliflower cumin puree and foraged lovage – it's no surprise, really, that their award credits include a top three-star rating from the Sustainable Restaurant Association. The wine list is about the only thing that isn’t local, but if global warming kicks off viniculture in East Lothian, the chances are this place will be the first to offer its wines.

High point: Brilliantly sourced larder with some creative cooking too.
Low point: Not open for dinner.

Number of wines sold by the glass: 11
Provides: Vegetarian options (at least ¼ main courses), Children's portions, Children's high chairs, Wheelchair access, Outdoor tables, Free wi-fi
Music on stereo: East listening jazz
Capacity: 100 (café), 70 (restaurant)
Largest group: 100
Open since: 2009
House wine: £16.45 per bottle

Event times

There are 2 events at this location

Sorted by title / date & time

Picnic at the Scottish Kitchen Garden

Meet at the Scottish Cafe and Restaurant then make your way to the Scottish Kitchen Gardens where Head Gardener Erica Randall explains the fruit and veg growing, before there's a picnic in the polytunnel. Booking is essential.

Sat 1 Jun

£35 / 0131 226 6524

10:00 The Scottish Café and Restaurant Picnic at the Scottish Kitchen Garden

Whisky Tasting

A detailed tasting that looks at the variety of ways different casks affect the taste of the finished product. There's a tapas buffet to complete the experience.

Sun 16 Jun

£30 / 0131 226 6524

15:00 – 17:00 The Scottish Café and Restaurant Whisky Tasting

Comments & ratings

1. OllyO07 – 6 Apr 2012, 9:28pm The Scottish Café and Restaurant Report: Booked a table 3 days advanced and was shown unenthusiastically to a table. I plumped for the baked haddock with "heritage" potatoes and crispy seaweed. What arrived was a lump of dry haddock with some more dry floury potatoes, no moisture or seasoning at all to the dish. The seaweed was missing too so when I pointed this out I was given some seaweed on its own in a bowl. A total lack of customer care and bland food. I think the free coffees were only offered as a last resort! Dire, only a tourist trap. Was disappointed as is run by the same folks who look after Centotre and I've always enjoyed it there.

Average rating 2/5 from 1 review of The Scottish Café and Restaurant.

RSS feed of these comments