The 9 best new restaurants and bars in Edinburgh - including ‘unbeatable value’ baked potato concept

Patatino - which takes its name from an Italian term of endearment (literally ‘little potato’) - has opened recently in Edinburgh’s Hoxton hotel.

The restaurant is inspired by the traditional trattorias and lemon grove-lined streets of Sorrento. 

The menu has hearty, Italian dishes using local Scottish produce and includes antipasti, house-made pastas, sourdough pizzas, beef and seafood cooked over hot coals in the Josper - and classic Italian desserts to round off the meal with something sweet. Pastas and Scottish meat and seafood are all available to share for convivial dining, or as a single portion for those who want to keep the dishes to themselves.

The drinks list offers creative spins on quintessential Italian cocktails, including spritzes - from the classic Aperol and Hugo serves to a refreshing Grapefruit and Olive Spritz - as well as ‘House Special’ negronis, finished tableside with a choice of peach, strawberry or Amalfi lemon mist garnishes.

Chef Barry Bryson opened the doors to his first independent fish restaurant on Edinburgh’s waterfront at the Shore in Leith in February. Since then, he has quickly established ‘Barry Fish’ as one of the city’s most popular dining venues for local diners and visitors by showcasing the best fish and seafood from Scotland.

At Barry Fish, diners can enjoy views directly into the open plan working kitchen from the pass, as well as out over the Water of Leith from the comfort of the restaurant. 

The newly launched Barry Fish summer menu now features whole lemon sole with shrimps, greens and sauce vermouth; barbecued monkfish brochettes with pickled beetroot and dill dressing; and Swanfield Royale – roast chicken, pancetta, cider and chestnut mushrooms baked in a pie with a big green salad and rouille.

Firm favourites still include shelled half lobster with smoked fish agnolotti, brown butter sauce and pickled fennel; Barry Fish pastrami with aioli, capers and dried grapes; ceviche of sea bream with orange, pickled fennel, red onion and cardamom; as well as octopus, whipped feta and a blood orange dressing.

Barry Fish is open for dinner Tuesday to Saturday from 5.30pm. The Big Snacks menu is served during the day Thursday to Saturday, 12pm to 2.30pm; and evenings Tuesday to Saturday, 4.30pm to 8.30pm.

A new brasserie-style bar and restaurant has opened its doors on Hamilton Place in the Edinburgh neighbourhood of Stockbridge just in time for Festival season in August.  

Following months of planning, the team behind ‘The Captain Darling’ has now unveiled the venue as a social hub for the whole community on the local high street, as well as festival goers in search of a more relaxed dining experience away from the city centre crowds. 

A dedicated bar space has been created for people to drop in for a leisurely drink and snacks seven days a week from lunchtime until late. 

Edinburgh chef Scott Smith has teamed up with Òir Group to oversee the kitchen at The Captain Darling and help with the launch phase of the new venue. The focus of the menu is on classic, well-made, seasonal dishes that are created to be full of flavour. 

A separate dining area is now serving an all-day brasserie-style menu. Starters include Cumbrae oysters; prawn cocktail, Caesar salad and haggis croquettes. Highlights of the main menu include handmade savoury pies and a selection of meats cooked over coals.

The Captain Darling Sunday roast with all the trimmings is another star of the show, including rare breed pork porchetta; dry aged sirloin roast beef and confited chicken leg finished on the barbecue.

Those with a sweet tooth can enjoy lemon posset; sticky toffee pudding and milk chocolate mousse.

The Captain Darling is the latest addition to the Edinburgh-based Òir Group, an independent hospitality company that has operated restaurants like Bodega and Lucky Yu within the city for over a decade. A series of other new venue openings is being lined up by the group over the next nine months.

Crybaby is the latest venture from the Tiny Cup Collective and will open its doors on 24 July on Dean Street in the heart of Stockbridge, bringing unapologetically fun cocktails, cult-favourite wings, and laid-back service to one of the capital’s most characterful neighbourhoods.

Inspired by the playful, sun-soaked simplicity of holidays in the Caribbean and Miami, Crybaby is a deliberate departure from the overly refined. Expect big, bold, colourful drinks - especially margaritas - and food that doesn’t take itself too seriously. “We want Crybaby to feel like the place you stumble on and immediately know it’s your new favourite spot,” says co-founder Chris Grierson.

Opening hours run from 4pm to 1am Wednesday and Thursday, and from 11am to 1am Friday to Sunday. Brunch is available on weekends from 11am to 3pm.

A first of its kind for the city, Nishiki, a Japanese-fusion Izakaya is due to open in August, by the team behind Yamato, one of Edinburgh’s leading Japanese restaurants.

The 40 cover restaurant opening in the west end of Edinburgh will be one of Scotland’s first sake-dedicated bars. 

The drinks menu will be built around the famous Japanese beverage, with food inspired by izakaya-style dining, Japan's answer to a gastropub. Nishiki will offer an all day dining menu and serve breakfast, lunch, Afternoon Tea and dinner with a focus on sharing plates and authentic Japanese flavours.

The breakfast menu will feature traditional breakfast dishes, alongside Japanese fusion dishes like Japanese style French toast. 

There will be a drinks menu centred around premium Japanese teas and a curated matcha selection, all made using ceremonial-grade matcha powder.

After breakfast, the menu will transition to a variety of izakaya-style small plates, including freshly hand-rolled sushi and a selection of grilled dishes. The bar will feature a carefully curated list of sakes, Shochu-based cocktails, and Japanese whiskies. In addition, Nishiki will serve its own signature IPA.

Edinburgh’s favourite Irish-American bar, The Boston Bar, has launched the Boston Spud Co. - a new baked potato concept serving up bold toppings, comforting flavours and unbeatable value from the heart of the city.

The Boston Spud Co. menu puts a new twist on the classic baked potato, with big, fluffy, buttery spuds loaded with a mix of comforting, character-filled toppings. Drawing inspiration from both traditional Irish staples and Boston Bar favourites, each option offers a generous, flavour-packed meal that’s quick and affordable.

The new offering brings some familiar flavours into a fresh format, including a spice bag-inspired mix of chicken, peppers and onions with rich curry sauce, nodding to one of the bar’s most popular dishes. 

You’ll also find a slow-braised Irish beef stew with mushrooms, carrots and green beans; a warming Balti curry (available with chicken or chickpeas); and a whipped beer cheese option topped with bacon crumb and spring onions. 

Cheese lovers can go for a loaded triple cheese spud, while a Greek-inspired version with feta, olives and cherry tomatoes adds a lighter, Mediterranean option.

Each spud is priced at £8 and comes with a half pint of any draught or a soft drink, making it an ideal lunch option for nearby offices, shoppers and students alike. 

Available daily from 11am to 4pm Mondays to Fridays, the full menu can be enjoyed sitting in, taken away, or soon to be available via Deliveroo.

This Leith pub, which was made famous by Irvine Welsh’s novel Trainspotting has reopened. 

The bar, which was formerly The Dog House, features prominently in Irvine Welsh's cult 1993 book, and is famous for being the scene of Begbie's violent meltdown after losing a game of pool.

Now The Volley, as the Volunteer Arms was affectionately known, has been brought back to life by Paul McJimpsey and John Lonergan, the owners of Edinburgh’s The Earl of Marchmont, and Glasgow’s the Record Factory and The Palais.

Following an extensive refurb, the bar’s interior has been given a new lease of life, and has been transformed into a bright, breezy space flooded with natural light and neon signage much like its sister locations.

This ‘an old man’s pub for all ages and sexes,’ opened in the spring on Brougham Place, replacing the former International Bar. It’s open seven days a week, with live music on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 5pm.

The bar offers a range of stouts including their very own Seamus’s Stout which they say is a ‘smooth and creamy dry stout, delivering layers of roasted coffee and cocoa’. The drinks menu also includes cocktails including mojitos, French martinis, spritz cocktails and margaritas.

Pala, a new pop-up for the summer serving Roman-style pizzas by the slice and tiramisù, has opened its doors in Leith.

Taking over the front of Twelve Triangles’ prep kitchen on Jane Street, Pala is a collaboration between Rachel Morgan and Emily Cuddeford, the co-founders of Twelve Triangles, and pizza chef Alessio Dossena. It takes its name from pala romana, the Roman-style pizza served on its namesake paddles (pala) in Italy’s capital. 

The pizzas are made with a biga (an Italian pre-ferment), using a very small amount of yeast and slow cold fermentation. 

The dough is then mixed the following day, shaped in large trays, and baked straight onto the oven stone. Sharing Twelve Triangles’ commitment to working with quality, often local suppliers, Pala sources its seasonal ingredients from producers including Il Fruttivendolo, The Ham & Cheese Co., Mossgiel Organic Farm, Wildfarmed and Mungoswells Malt & Milling. 

Visitors can expect pala romana pizza slices with toppings such as roast fennel and salami; potato, garlic and salsa verde; and aubergine, ricotta and tomato, as well as a selection of Italian soft drinks, and homemade tiramisù to finish.