Edinburgh is nothing if not greedy when it comes to festivals and August is when things reach fever pitch. Over the course of the month, the city hosts the International Festival (2 – 24 August 2024), the Fringe Festival (2 – 25 August 2024), the Art Festival (9th – 25th August), the International Book Festival (10 – 25 August 2024) and the International Film Festival (15 – 21 August 2024). Around 3 million visitors flock to the capital for the month, roosting in and around the resident population of just over 500,000. The streets groan under the weight of mostly sensible footwear (heels and cobbles are not good friends), while the air thrums and throbs with febrile expectation.
While festival season elicits mixed feelings amongst Dunediners, there’s no denying the economic boost the crowds bring to the city’s businesses. Edinburgh is a kind city but also a modest one and, for visitors during August, it can be hard to read and discover its real-life charms beneath the festival dazzle. Recently, Wallpaper* rounded up the best of modern Scottish fine dining restaurants, but to help anyone planning a jaunt in the coming weeks to get more out of their experience beyond the tents and stages, here’s a comprehensive guide to some of my preferred haunts around the city.
What to see and do in Edinburgh
Where to stay
100 Princes Street
The youngest hotel in the capital boasts one of the best views too, over Princes Street Gardens to the beast of Edinburgh Castle, perched on its hulking volcanic plinth. The Red Carnation group worked with several Scottish craftspeople to bring a sense of place with a dose of drama to the interiors. Araminta Campbell’s bespoke tartan grounds the experience beautifully, without feeling overbearing, while quality levels of comfort and service ensure the experience lives up to the design.
100 Princes Street is located at 100 Princes St, Edinburgh EH2 3AB, 100princes-street.com
Fingal
For something a little different, Fingal is a 22-cabin floating hotel in the port of Leith. Commissioned by the Northern Lighthouse Board in 1963, Fingal was the last ship to be built by the Blythswood Shipbuilding Company in Glasgow. She was bought by the Royal Yacht Britannia Trust in 2014. Fingal opened as a hotel in 2019 following a 2-year and £5 million redesign. The result is elegant, glamorous and cinematic – as staying onboard a historic boat should be. You will certainly enjoy A Night To Remember (and not in the Titanic way).
Fingal is located at Alexandra Dock, Edinburgh EH6 7DX, fingal.co.uk
The Pavilion at Lamb’s House
In the shadow of the mighty Lamb’s House, built in 1610, Lamb’s Pavilion is one of the city’s best-kept secrets. The three-bedroom self-catering gem was designed and built by the owners and residents of Lamb’s House, Nick Groves-Raines and Kristín Hannesdóttir, who are Scotland’s foremost restoration architects. Together with their son Gunnar Groves-Raines, their practice GRAS is designing buildings and interiors all over Scotland, combining vernacular rigour with contemporary sensibility. Lamb’s Pavilion was completed in 2016 and is a warm haven of materials and hues, craft and detail, light and shadow. Consider yourselves warned: it will be hard to leave.
The Pavilion at Lamb’s House is located at 11 Waters’ Cl, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6RB, lambspavilion.com
Where to snack
Ardfern
Star of the Edinburgh restaurant scene, Roberta Hall McCarron, added Ardfern to her firmament earlier this summer. The all-day café, bar and bottle shop is next door to The Little Chartroom (her flagship restaurant) and is a thoroughly soothing snack joint. Beautifully designed by Leith-based practice Studio Niro, come for the Kedgeree fritters and stay for the Full Scottish – it’s the closest a fry-up could ever get to fine dining.
Ardfern is located at 10-12 Bonnington Rd, Edinburgh EH6 5JD, ardfern.uk
Lannan Bakery
Stoic queues and breathless reviews are daily occurrences for Darcie Maher’s exquisite bakery. The self-taught baker from The Scottish Borders is still in her twenties; to have her own bakery is achievement enough, but Maher is no ordinary talent. Lannan was awarded La Liste’s 2024 Best Pastry Opening – akin to an Oscar for the global food industry. Maher’s pastries speak for themselves; words simply don’t do them justice. Take it from us – the queues are definitely worth it.
Lannan Bakery is located at 29-35 Hamilton Pl, Edinburgh EH3 5BA, @lannanbakery
Pomelo
A 5-minute stroll from The Meadows, Jun Au cooks Chinese-inspired comfort food in abundance with love. Hand-pulled noodles, slow-braised beef shin, plump dumplings and fried chicken sandwiches fly from kitchen to stomach (often via Instagram). Pomelo has all the charm of the perfect neighbourhood café, whilst serving some of the most delicious food on the planet. To justify that rather hyperbolic claim, Au was awarded Chinese Restaurant of the Year by the Asian Catering Federation last year.
Pomelo is located at 27 Sciennes Rd, Edinburgh EH9 1NX, pomelocafe.co.uk
Where to dine
Fin & Grape
Chef patron Stuart Smith’s restaurant is the go-to joint for Edinburgh’s chefs and cooks. Fin & Grape is wisely open on a Monday when most other restaurants are closed for this very reason. As the name suggests, fish and wine are the protagonists here – but there’s plenty more besides, including excellent cocktails from drinks master Hamish Bremner. Smith is a generous chef with a deft hand at making ingredients sing their best tunes. The menu is focused and mighty, combining small plates and sharing platters of whole fish served on beds of seasonal vegetables with crunchy fries and salad. Delicious food and an unpretentious, convivial mood means every meal here feels like a celebration.
Fin & Grape is located at 19 Colinton Rd, Bruntsfield Pl, Edinburgh EH10 5DP, finandgrape.com
Mirin
This small and unassuming restaurant on Leith Walk is one of the city’s favourite secrets and the place to head if you feel like a proper meal but can’t face a dining room. It owns its Asian-inspired menu as ‘a deliberately inauthentic mix of deranged junk food and delicate cooking’ – a bold and modest statement, simultaneously. It’s also quite true. The kitchen uses Scottish ingredients with glorious imagination: smoked haddock laksa; scallop, black pudding and Gochujang butter; and venison tataki are all highlights.
Mirin is located at 9 Albert Pl, Edinburgh EH7 5HN, mirin.uk
Montrose
A sister establishment to Timberyard – one of the city’s cherished, Michelin-awarded joints – Montrose opened in late 2023, with the children of Timberyard’s Radfords at the helm. Far from childish, Montrose is a sophisticated balance of elegant dining upstairs and relaxed grazing on the ground floor. Wines are natural, cocktails are seasonal and food is healthy and indulgent – that cleverest of combinations. The Radford family bring flair and soul to the atmosphere and operations, and Montrose has quickly taken up residence in the hearts of the city’s food lovers.
Montrose is located at 1-7 Montrose Terrace, Edinburgh EH7 5DJ, montroserestaurant.co
Where to drink
Nauticus
Iain McPherson and Kyle Jamieson are behind some of Edinburgh’s excellent beverage establishments and Nauticus is the jewel in their crown. They opened in 2018 with a mission to champion as many Scottish ingredients, brands and suppliers as possible. And they have held themselves to account, today claiming around 90% of their offer with origins in their homeland. Beyond a beautiful collection of whiskies and beers, cocktail ingredients might include sugar snap pea cordial, Birch syrup and Scottish berries in myriad forms. Nauticus is a cocktail bar dressed up like a fine old boozer and it’s a winning combination for a raucous time on the tiles.
Nauticus is located at 142 Duke St, Edinburgh EH6 8HR, nauticusbar.co.uk
W Lounge
While that faecal bronze twist on the skyline might not be to everyone’s tastes, standing on the 12th-floor roof terrace of the W Hotel you are blessed with 360-degree views of the capital without the eyesore in sight. The W Hotel opened in 2023 and graced Edinburgh with a dose of Balearic glamour in the process. If ending the day on a high is your thing, the W Deck is the place to head. Classic and seasonal cocktails are on offer with a DJ for vibes and igloos for shelter should the heavens open. Occasionally, a cocktail, a view and a ntz ntz beat really hit the spot.
W Lounge is located at 1 St James Square, Edinburgh EH1 3AX, marriott.com
The Oxford Bar
At the other end of the spectrum and New Town, The Oxford Bar is one of the capital’s older, more legendary bars, quenching the thirsts of the city’s literati and artists since the early 19th century. More recently, it has garnered great fame as the preferred hangout of Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus. With wooden settles, tables and chairs, arsenic walls and no music, the dour interior belies the friendly atmosphere and warmth of the craic. This is the place for a pint of Tennent’s and a whisky chaser. Repeat.
The Oxford Bar is located at 8 Young St, Edinburgh EH2 4JB, oxfordbar.co.uk
Where to shop
Ætla
If it’s jewels you’re after, then head to Ætla where Keira Wraae-Stewart shows a compelling global edit with several contemporary Scottish jewellers in the mix. Here you will find Grainne Morton, Fraser Hamilton, Alison Macleod and Ellis Mhairi Cameron, to name just a few. Each jeweller is presented in their own brass-lined glass case in a breezy, white-washed environment that feels somewhere between a gallery and home. Wraae-Stewart imparts her passion and expertise warmly and wisely, offering bridal, bespoke and antique consultations alongside her showroom.
Ætla is located at 46 St Stephen St, Edinburgh EH3 5AL, aetla.co.uk
Bard
Full disclosure, Bard is me and my husband’s shop and gallery, but it feels remiss to omit it in a list of places to experience Scottish-ness whilst visiting Edinburgh. We opened Bard in late 2022 in part of Scotland’s oldest customs buildings, as a home for Scottish craft and design, beyond the more obvious tropes of tartan scarves and Nessie fridge magnets. On two floors we show and sell the work of around 60 makers, designers and studios from all over Scotland and the islands. From everyday homeware to artworks, antiques to found objects, our mission is to celebrate the ingenuity and resilience of Scottish cultural identity.
Bard is located at 1 Customs Wharf, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6AL, bard-scotland.com
Dick’s Edinburgh
Photographer Uli Schade and editor Andrew Dick have been keeping Edinburgh folk sharply dressed and well-heeled since 2012. Dick’s Edinburgh is a Gesamtkunstwerk, beautifully realised from atmosphere to curation to service, down to every last detail. Come here to be soothed, as well as clothed in the latest collections from an excellent edit of quality small brands including Barena, Bergfabel, Massimo Alba, Margaret Howell and Toogood. Stalwarts from Scotland are also in attendance such as Harley, Begg x Co, McGeorge and Jamieson’s. A touch of brass from Carl Aubock and fragrances from Perfumer H complete the scene.
Dick’s Edinburgh is located at 3 N W Circus Pl, Edinburgh EH3 6ST, dicks-edinburgh.co.uk
Kestin
Kestin is one of Scotland’s most successful contemporary brands. The menswear designer has carved a cool and comfortable modernity into a label that feels distinctly and refreshingly Scottish. Kestin’s cues are rooted in the nation’s cultural heritage, together with inspiration from workwear, sportswear and outerwear. He works with factories and mills that take their craft and quality seriously, and the resulting collections combine an evocative mood with an archetypal simplicity. Kestin is stocked in around 90 stores globally (he is also the creative director for Henri-Lloyd) but come to his flagship for the full experience and leave clothed like a modern Scot.
Kestin is located at 7 Baker's Pl, Edinburgh EH3 6SY, kestin.co
What to do
Dovecot Studios
A world-renowned tapestry studio and centre for contemporary textile design, Dovecot was founded in 1912 by the Marquess of Bute who recruited weavers from William Morris’s workshops to make tapestries for Mount Stuart, his home on Bute. Subsequent artists who have worked at Dovecot include Henry Moore, Peter Blake, Eduardo Paolozzi and Chris Ofili. Since 2008, Dovecot has been based in a former Victorian bath house. Exhibitions take place in the three spaces, one of which wends its way around the upper half of the soaring space, while textile artists weave tapestries on looms and gun-tuft rugs by hand in the pool void beneath.
Dovecot Studios is located at 10 Infirmary St, Edinburgh EH1 1L, dovecotstudios.com
Elliott’s Studio
If you’re headed to Pomelo – Elliott’s is just a few doors down, and it is worth popping over to see if cook, food writer and Scotland’s very own lifestyle goddess Jess Elliott is in residence. From her versatile studio space, Jess hosts cooking demonstrations, meals, parties, talks and seasonal markets. For the International Book Festival, Jess has a stellar gathering of chefs, cooks and food writers lined up for a series of kitchen table talks (tickets are scarce). She also sells a wonderful range of home and kitchenware from here, which she sources and commissions from Scotland and beyond. On the off chance that you find Elliott’s closed, console yourself with her new book: Midweek Recipes – a modern kitchen classic, no less.
Elliott’s Studio is located at 21 Sciennes Road, Edinburgh EH9 1NX, elliottsedinburgh.com
Ingleby Gallery
Founded by Florence and Richard Ingleby in 1998, Ingleby is a widely respected and much-loved private gallery – in Edinburgh, Britain and the art world beyond. Coinciding with their 20th anniversary, the Ingelbys moved to a new home in a former Glasite Meeting House, sensitively converted by Helen Lucas Architects. The gallery is a mood and a world. The Feasting Hall and the Meeting Room bear the echoes of their former lives, providing two exhibition spaces of different scales and atmospheres. The Inglebys bring a roster of global artists to Edinburgh, at the same time supporting and celebrating emerging names too.
Ingleby Gallery is located at 33 Barony St, Edinburgh EH3 6NX, inglebygallery.com
