The Walnut

Pocket-pleasing French-Scottish eatery, enticing the crowds to Leith Walk.

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

This could possibly be the hardest table to get in Edinburgh. Tiny Walnut on Leith Walk has room for just 24 people and if you want to be one, you’re going to have to book in advance. When you finally arrive, you’ll understand why – this is populist food, cooked and presented beautifully at very reasonable prices. Chef and owner Ben Waumsley cut his teeth at The Grain Store, one of Edinburgh’s most enduring high-end restaurants and its influence is apparent. This is rich French-Scottish fusion food full of flavour and depth with quality ingredients. Waumsley keeps it simple with a menu of three or four dishes augmented by a specials board. Pan-fried soft and succulent scallops are a regular special, sometimes served with a neat caesar salad with shards of parmesan. Follow that with a crispy skinned confit duck leg, a delight sitting on a cassoulet topped with a crunchy crust of parmesan. The meat floats off the bone and it all tastes amazing. A ginger-rich contemporary twist on a clootie dumpling, with a light crème anglaise, is a great finale.