The Scottish Café & Restaurant

Delightful venue overlooking Princes Street Gardens, offering an extensive daytime menu that is well considered and impeccably sourced.

The 2019/20 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).

The Scottish Café and Restaurant was closed for over six months for refurbishment, but even a few moments in the beautifully redesigned more than makes up for its absence. The café-restaurant now boasts an eye-catching mural by Scottish textile designer Mairi Helena, which works perfectly with the modern, colourful booths softly lit by floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Princes Street Gardens. The menu is equally rooted in its local surroundings: all ingredients and produce are sourced directly from Scottish suppliers and crafted into creative yet familiar takes on the nation’s cuisine. Potato and pea soup is creamy and hearty, while lamb rump is moreish and tender, its rich flavour balanced by a mild yet well-seasoned Romanesco torched for extra texture. The restaurant also offers a plentiful afternoon tea; although the sandwich and cake options are perhaps not as innovative, the portions are surprisingly large and the petits fours in particular are irresistible – the chocolate and coffee cream bite practically melts in the mouth.