Five of the best places to enjoy fine dining during the Edinburgh Festival

We asked ResDiary to pick out five of the best places to enjoy fine dining during the Edinburgh Festival

Published 19th Aug 2015
Updated 8 th Aug 2023

Festival Fever has gripped Scotland’s capital city with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh International Festival and The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo all running throughout August.

With so much to see and do across the city this month, you will be working up an appetite. With this in mind, we asked online reservation experts ResDiary to pick out the best of the best, with this handy top five Fine Dining restaurants in Edinburgh.

Ondine

( 2 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1AD)

Mussels Mouclade at Ondine. Picture: TSPL

Mussels Mouclade at Ondine. Picture: TSPL

Ondine, located just off the Royal Mile, is one Edinburgh restaurant you must visit during the festival. The interior is shiny, black, silver and wipe-down, there is an oyster bar in the middle and floor-to-ceiling windows which give fantastic views over Edinburgh’s old town.

The whole point of Ondine is proper seafood with amazing worldwide flavours; classic Fish Soup enhanced with North African spices, Razor Clams with Iberico chorizo and Sicilian lemons or Shetland Mussels cooked in an Asian broth of fermented ginger & black bean with freshly shredded coriander. If you are travelling on a budget but want to enjoy the finer things- then we recommend stopping in for Oyster Happy Hour 5:30-6:30pm Mon-Fri 5 varieties of oyster to choose from at just £1 a shuck!Ondine, located just off the Royal Mile, is one Edinburgh restaurant you must visit during the festival.

The interior is shiny, black, silver and wipe-down, there is an oyster bar in the middle and floor-to-ceiling windows which give fantastic views over Edinburgh’s old town. The whole point of Ondine is proper seafood with amazing worldwide flavours; classic Fish Soup enhanced with North African spices, Razor Clams with Iberico chorizo and Sicilian lemons or Shetland Mussels cooked in an Asian broth of fermented ginger & black bean with freshly shredded coriander. If you are travelling on a budget but want to enjoy the finer things- then we recommend stopping in for Oyster Happy Hour 5:30-6:30pm Mon-Fri 5 varieties of oyster to choose from at just £1 a shuck!

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Restaurant Mark Greenaway

( 69 N Castle St, Edinburgh EH2 3LJ)

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Picture: Restaurant Mark Greenaway

Picture: Restaurant Mark Greenaway

With 3 AA rosettes for Culinary Excellence and named number 13 of the top 100 restaurants in the UK by Square Meal; Restaurant Mark Greenaway is one of those dining in Edinburgh experiences that you will remember always. Scottish ingredients, modern cooking techniques and innovative presentation styles make these plates like pieces of art, very appropriate if you are attending one of the biggest international arts and culture festival in the world!

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Timberyard

( 10 Lady Lawson St, Edinburgh, Midlothain EH3 9DS)

Bass with clams, celery, wild leek and cider at Timberyard. Picture: TY

Bass with clams, celery, wild leek and cider at Timberyard. Picture: TY

Timberyard is a family run Edinburgh restaurant a short stroll from the city centre, with a farm-to-table ethos and food that is perfect for the festival culture vulture in town.

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Ingredients are carefully sourced from local artisan growers, breeders, producers, suppliers & foragers- and feature almost medieval sounding delights such as knot root! Their growing patch of raised beds keeps the kitchen supplied with the freshest herbs & edible flowers too.

This ethos isn’t just limited to the food, Homemade syrups, infusions & brews by The Kernel, Partizan & Beavertown and in-house filtered & chilled Edinburgh water fill the drinks list and sit alongside an eclectic European wine list with excellent British examples. With a courtyard, wood burning stove and tartan blankets to wrap up with, this is one dinner in Edinburgh that will suit the long Scottish summer nights during the festival.

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Restaurant Martin Wishart

( 54 Shore, Edinburgh, Midlothian EH6 6RA)

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Sea bream, glazed vegetables and straw potatoes. Picture: RMW

Sea bream, glazed vegetables and straw potatoes. Picture: RMW

If you are looking for Michelin Star dining in Edinburgh then look no further! Opened in 1999, Restaurant Martin Wishart is situated in Edinburgh's historic Port of Leith.

More than a decade later, the restaurant continues to bring the very best traditional and modern French cuisine to Edinburgh, using only the finest Scottish ingredients. Under Martin's expert direction, the restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in 2001, an accolade that has been repeated every year since.

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Kyloe

(1-3 Rutland St, Edinburgh, EH1 2AE)

Picture: Kyloe

Picture: Kyloe

Meet Kyloe- Edinburgh’s first gourmet steak restaurant. Kyloe, an old Scots word for Highland beef cattle, was chosen for the restaurant as it represents the strength and versatility of Scottish beef produce. They use cuts from pedigree Aberdeen Angus – supplied by some of Scotland’s top farms and butchers.

This Edinburgh restaurant can be found in The Rutland Hotel at Edinburgh’s West End and boasts enviable views of Edinburgh Castle. With menus created by award-winning head chef John Rutter, this is the best steak dining experience in Edinburgh, and a great accompaniment to any festival visit.

Book With ResDiary Reservation System

 

• ResDiary.com allows you to book at the best restaurants, at the best times. With over 54 million diners choosing to #BookWithResDiary each year - isn’t it time you joined them?

ResDiary is an online restaurant booking system that provides restaurateurs with industry leading technology to improve front of house operations, customer service and revenues. With over 4k restaurants worldwide, ResDiary.com is fast becoming the go to portal to book top restaurants.

Gary Hall is a Digital Executive at ResDiary.com responsible for delivering their web content marketing strategy and growing social community. With almost a decade’s worth of experience, working for major hospitality groups and events companies, Gary has a passion for telling stories and conveying experiences online. When not tweeting frantically he can be found dining out, cooking, or dancing to classic Madonna records.
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