Various Edinburgh Recommendations
Most of these I can back from my own experience, while others are recommendations from people I think would have a good opinion. If they’re good, your welcome. It not, it was someone else.
Cafés ☕
Cult Coffee – specialty coffee on a nice street
Origin Coffee – specialty coffee, good for eavesdropping
La Barantine – no seating, coffee mid, but pastries are honestly goated, weird opening hours
Not Just Coffee – good treats but more expensive then they’re worth tbh, dotted around town
The Milkman – big line but never let me down with genuinely banging pastries and cakes
Margot – Fancy shmancy café restaurant but cakes look good
Books n’ Cup – open till late, nice vibe
Food 🍜
Freddy’s – touristy but honestly great and lowk cheap
The Green Mantle – mid pub but the burgers were surprisingly good
Old Bell Inn – good food pub, expensive
Teutcher’s – great food pub and with nice vibe, expensive
Kalpna – great vegetarian buffet lunch, dinner too expensive to be worth it
Tanjore – authentic South Indian food, get the thali
Taco Libre – haven’t been but supposed to be very good and authentic
El Dorado Taqueria – authentic Mexican food + tamales
Noodles Home – busy but really good
Noodles and Dumplings – really good
Dumplings of China – really good I’ve heard
津宴 Amazing – really good, huge portions, cheap
Satoru – moderately good, huge portions, cheap
Xiangbala Hotpot – recommended to me as best for hot pot
Nanyang Malaysian Restaurant – Huge portions of good Thai food
Hoi An – banging vietnamese
Pomelo – recommended to me as extremely good fusion, long waiting list
Starter Culture – new, haven’t been, looks great though
Moratti – best doorty kebab, huge, cheap, pizzas are meant to be good too
Nile Valley Café – cheap big wraps that are actually decent
Mosque Kitchen – cheap good cafeteria type indian, iykyk
Bánh Mì Brothers – cheap bánh mìs for lunch
Pubs + Bars 🍻
The Ventoux – cool rustic bar, near the meadows
Brauhaus – my favourite bar, cool wine and beer selection, rude staff though
Seamus’ – genuinely good Irish pub, near the meadows
Earl of Marchmont – youthful local pub, good character
Royal Oak – small pub teetering on old man-y, good tunes though
Captains Bar – bit touristy but can be relied upon for mid touristy live music
Cabaret Voltaire – haven’t been but some locals go so idk
Sandy Bell’s – maybe worst (Irish) pub I’ve been to, touristy Irish music, staff are genuinely rude and often horrible people, worth going if you want an unironic bad experience
Powder Room – nice little pub with live music on a Thursday
Southsider – extremely cheap local bar with students, you’re getting what you pay for
Dagda – my favourite pub, lovely and cosy, small though
Decanter – lovely wine + picky bits bar, in lovely part of town too
Margot – I believe this turns into a wine bar in the evening
False Widow – really love this pub, cool romantic rustic, very very small though
Joker and the Thief – nice pub on Leith walk
Cloister’s – english-y pub but lots of good beers actually, supposedly they have a good lunch and pint deal
Pear Tree – mid and expensive, but huge beer garden in city centre
Summerhall – nicer beer garden, near the Meadows
Things to Do 🧗♀️
Portobello – Seaside neighbourhood with padel courts and loads of lovely cafes
Pentlands – Quick Bus to a solid hike, bus to Flotterstone Inn, then walk to Currie, shorter and longer hike options, high recommend if you have a (half-)day of time, plan rough bus schedule ahead of time
Queensferry – busable nearby town, actually lovely and cute but also small so don’t expect much
Blackford Park – nice walk if you’re in the area
The Meadows – sit out and chill if it’s nice outside, there’s also a hippy co-op there with a small cafe, always stuff on to people watch, this will be you’re outside resting area
Arthur’s Seat – hike, takes maybe one hour, in the city
Botanical Gardens – Good not Great, HUGE houses nearby to have a look at
Surgeons Hall Museum – worth going and free for students I think, kind of gross but yeah cool
National Gallery – free, yeah
Fudge Kitchen – delicious fudge, free samples
Alien Bloc/Roc – haven’t been, climbing gym
Roxy Lanes – haven’t been, bowling and pool
Armchair Books – best bookstore in Edinburgh probably, very cool and cute
Tills Bookshop – cute bookstore, expensive though
Armstrongs – second hand vintage clothing shops dotted around the city, good and fairly cheap, cool interiors for the most part
Black Lion Games – cute little board game shop if you’re nearby
Ancient Robot Gamers – good board game shop in Leith, recommend if you have a free evening
Bedlam Theatre – small nice theatre with a cute bar inside
Cameo – cool cinema w/ cheap tickets, bar and café inside, renovated
Filmhouse – cool cinema w/ cheap tickets
Sol Sauna (Granton) – nice sauna experience, far out but there’s a market thing nearby for food and pints and coffee and bits
Areas
Grassmarket – touristy but it’s just a great spot, good Saturday market
Stockbridge – fancy area with nice places and lots of charity shops, expensive
Morningside – fancy area with nice places and lots of charity shops, expensive
Leith – nice, working class but gentrified, like Phibsborough
Bruntsfield – my favourite, near the Meadows, nice cafés and posh pubs