City Of Edinburgh, Fish & Seafood Restaurant Guide

This “marvellous” seafood bistro beside Edinburgh’s Meadows from chef Phil White and FoH Rachel Chisholm pleases guests with “carefully prepared food” – “and if you get a seat at the window you see a mile of green space with a volcano in the distance (inert), in the middle of a capital city”. Top Menu Tips – “lovely hake, and the octopus was cooked to perfection”.

In a converted city-centre warehouse, this “popular and well-run fish venue” is a “dependable” and “excellent value” spot that has been going strong for a decade (and earned a special shout-out this year for its “delicious lobster”). You’ll find the original Fishers near the Leith shore, right by their Shore Bar and Restaurant, offering classic British food with a Euro spin.

The “superb choice and quality” of the fish and seafood at chef Roy Brett’s “lovely” 15-year-old venue in the Old Town make it “an Edinburgh favourite”. “The food (which these days includes some meat dishes) is always cooked to perfection”.

The grand hall of the former Bank of Scotland HQ provides a dramatic setting for this northern outpost of the famous London-based steakhouse chain. As with last year, feedback on its menu of native-bred beef and Scottish seafood remains surprisingly limited, hence we’ve removed a rating for the time being.

With its imposing facade, stained glass, corniced ceilings, polished wood and brass, we maintain a listing for this busy Victorian institution (est. 1863 and nowadays run by the Metropolitan Pub Company) as much as a cultural experience as it is a culinary one. Seafood dishes and platters are the best choices here.

This “bustling and lively upstairs venue” in the New Town is the latest from chef Dean Banks (also of the nearby Pompadour and Haar in St Andrews), who “certainly knows how to cook fish – the octopus in the starter was tender and tasty, and the sole main course was well cooked”. The Scotsman’s Gaby Soutar was also impressed, in particular by the “sybaritic and rich” lobster crumpet.