We will be in Edinburgh for 5 nights early June as part of a 3 week trip to Scotland.Does anyone have any specific recommendations for restaurants and pubs? We love food and wine but don't like really fancy restaurants lingering over 3 courses etc. We love English pubs and are expecting to find similar in
Scotland - do they serve food at both lunch and dinner? We are also hoping to take advantage of the longer (warmer?) days and be able to sit outside.

We are staying in a rental property in Windsor Street which seems very central.

Many thanks in advance

Where to start! Maybe by getting a citycentre map.

Windsor street is central and you'll find all manner of retaurants nearby. There are some nice pubs on George St and Rose St which serve good lunch.You're also close to an area known as "The Shore" (at the bottom of Leith Walk) which has a good selection of more formal and also less formal restaurants.Two that spring to mind are the Waterfront Wine bar and Fishers (I believe they now have a second restaurant called Fishers in the city http://www.rampantscotland.com/besteating/best_eating_dev_fishers.htm which is in Rose St.) If you like to take your own bottle of wine with you then there are a few "Howies" restaurants dotted through the city too... http://www.howies.uk.com/

It all depends what you like to eat but you'll find Italian, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Tapas (this is a fun if noisy one! )http://www.tapasole.co.uk/) etc etc very close to where you are.

This site has a list of some good places to eat in Edinburgh too.
http://www.rampantscotland.com/besteating/best_eating_index.htm


Happy eating and drinking

Hello

Just got back from a week and a half in Edinburgh, and it was quite lovely. But honestly, the food left some to be desired overall. Here are a few places we found to be quite good:

Pizza Express (I know!): Not a fast food place, but a lovely pizzera with a few locations. Fresh crust, delicious toppings. Some of the better meals we had.

Rose Street is lovely - I had a beef pie at Robertsons Bar (and met a lovely gent). Friendly - no kitchen tho - just pies, sandwiches, sometimes soup.

If you don't mind going outside the city, about an hour or an hour and half, go to Anstruther, a small town with a harbor and the Anstruther Fish Bar - literally the BEST fish and chips ever. Probably the best meal I had in Scotland - perfect fried fish, perfect chips. Light not greasy. Ignore the homemade ice cream and just get the fish and chips with a soda. YUMMY! And great scenery outside.

Take the Literary Pub Tour, if you don't mind a bit of walking, and like history and theatre. It's really fun! http://www.edinburghliterarypubtour.co.uk/home/faq.html