Mussels from Nira Caledonia's restaurant, Blackwood's
A breathtaking castle; a profoundly beautiful city centre; those cobbled streets. Stop it, Edinburgh, you're showing off. But beyond all the pretty stuff is a city whose food culture isn't always near the top of the list when it comes to reasons to visit. Nira Caledonia, a townhouse-style hotel not far from the heart of the city's Old Town, exemplifies why it should be: its rooms are the requisite level of chic, spacious and comfy, but its restaurant, Blackwood's Bar & Grill, is a cracker.
Given Edinburgh's proximity to the Scottish coastline, it'd be remiss to stick to local fare and not dip a toe into the seafood scene, and at Blackwood's that's exactly what the menu encourages. You can start off with cocktails before diving into some genuinely stunning seafood, like the smoked moules marinière, with freshly baked bread to mop up – an absolute showstopper – and great scallops with parma ham. There's also a beautiful half lobster with all-too-moreish mustard mash (we washed ours down with a Wente Hayes Best Foot Forward chardonnay), or grab a sumptuous mixed grill with a malbec. There aren't too many restaurants in the city whose food could top it.
10 Gloucester Place, EH3 6EF; niracaledonia.com
Edinburgh's best bites:
Thirsty? Pop into nightspot Red Squirrel, a cool bar and restaurant with a huge emphasis on craft beers from Scotland and beyond. It's dark, and you can expect beards aplenty, but a sneering hipsters' haven this is not: the cocktail list is bang-on (if you try just one, make it the Bloody Mary), there are some absolute gems among the beer selection (the Franciscan Wells Chieftan IPA was a favourite of ours) and the kitchen serves up quality burgers and smokehouse-style meat dishes.
If you're up for something a little more intimate, it'd be a crime not to check out Usquabae, a self-proclaimed "whisky bar and larder" on Hope Street: great food is accompanied by more than 400 bottles of whisky, ranging from approachably priced to pretty punchy (the guy next to us at the bar ordered a dram of pre-war Macallan for £200). The staff are friendly, not pushy, and eager to help you find a few whiskies that suit both your palate and your wallet. A must-visit destination for experts and novices alike.
Of course, being a big, royal city, there are a few knockout dining options for a special occasion. If you're that way inclined, the Galvin brothers' enormous brasserie at the Waldorf Astoria in the Old Town is a standout – it serves a lot of what you've come to expect from the Michelin-starred duo's restaurants, with the addition of boat-loads (and field-loads) of great Scottish produce. Perthshire lamb fillet? Check. Orkney scallops? Check. Oh, and there's also a prix fixe menu if you want to keep half an eye on the bill.
If time is of the essence but you still need feeding, you could do a hell of a lot worse than the simply named Burger (no prizes for guessing what it sells). Pop into one of its three branches, take a seat and peruse the menu of juicy burgers slathered with oozing toppings and accompanying fries (which also come slathered with oozing toppings, if you want them to) and pig out to your heart's content. The off-the-wall option came in the form of a chicken katsu burger, although we stuck to one with blue cheese, bacon and ranch dressing.
It's not just London that excels at gin making – a few other towns and cities around the UK are setting up distilleries and creating unique spirits with a genuine sense of place thanks to the use of local botanicals. Edinburgh is one such place, and at the Edinburgh Gin distillery, in the city's West End, you can book a tour ranging from a quick in-and-out (45 minutes for £10) to a three-hour gin-making masterclass (£75). You can keep the bottle you create, too.
Getting there: British Airways currently flies from London City to Edinburgh up to 12 times a day, with a flight duration of 1hr 20 mins. Each-way hand baggage-only fares are priced between £52 and £63, dependent on one way or return travel.
