FESTIVAL PREVIEW
FOOD
Where to ’at and drink close to favourite Festival and Fringe venues.
ASSEMBLY ROOMS
I Cafe St Honore 34 Thistle Street Lane. 226 2211. Mon—Sun
9.30am—1 1pm approximately; dinner from 6pm. Cool. bustling French cafe serving excellent buttery patisserie and proper coffee all day. and very reasonably priced bistro-style food at mealtimes. Lunchtime can get busy.
I Hendersons 94 Hanover Street. 225 2131. Mon—Sat 8am- 10.30pm. licensed till midnight. Old Edinburgh faithful serving large portions of wholesome vegetarian food in a large. faintly hippy/artisan basement. Not as cheap as it used to be. but still pretty good value. Wine or draught beer to wash it all down. I Martins 70 Rose Street North Lane. 225 3106. Tue—Fri noon—2pm; Tue—Sat 6.30—10pm. Civiliscd. intimate. and in a discreet backstreet — just the place for lunch before an afternoon show. Notably good cheeseboard and winelist. booking advisable. Set price lunch at @695 is a bargain.
I Patio 87 Hanover Street. 226 3653. Mon—Sat 1 1.30am—2pm.
5—1 1 .30pm; Sun 5—1 lpm. Unremarkable-looking family-run Italian but worth exploring (it‘s bigger than it seems). particularly for the daily-changing fish and seafood specials. Large portions and reasonable prices.
I Bamboo Garden 57a Frederick Street. 225 2382. Mon—Sun noon—midnight. Consistently good city centre Chinese serving Cantonese. Pekinese. and some Szechuan food. and excellent dim sum until 6pm.
I Cale Royal Oyster Bar 17a West Register Street. 5564124. Mon-Sat noon—2pm; Mon—Sun 7—10.15pm. Small expensive seafood restaurant (next to the cavernous tiled Cafe Royal bar). Best value is Sunday Brunch; three courses with coffee and buck‘s fizz for ((1: 10. (Sun only 12.30—2pm).
I Milnes 35 Hanover Street. 225 6738. Mon-Thurs 11am—11pm; Fri 1 lam—midnight; Sat 11am-1 1 .30pm; Sun [2.30-2.30pm. 6.30—11pm. ‘The Poets Bar‘ is a traditional
j serious-drinking pub with
bare boards and pictures of poets on the walls.
I Fingers Piano Bar6ia Frederick Street. 225 3026. Mon—Sat 7pm—2am; Sun 7—1 lpm. Comfortable , atmospheric dive with squashy sofas round the edge and live music most nights.
I Edinburgh Wine 8ar110 Hanover Street. 220 1208. Mon—Sat 1 1am—2am: Sun 6.30—11pm. Food (salads. soups. pates. hot dishes) Mon—Wed noon—6.30pm; Thurs-Sat noon—8pm. Large upstairs wine bar with just enough mirrors to pose in and a bearable cross-section of advocates. yahs. and ne‘er-do-wells providing the background buzz.
I Madoos George Street. 225 3408. Open 11am. licensed till 4am Mon—Sat. actual closing times vary (Sun Ham—midnight). Dinner 6.30-10.30pm. Still doing the best cocktails in town. just not as charmingly sleazy as it was before the revamp. The eating area now seats up to forty-five and describes itselfas an American seafood and steak restaurant; they also do burgers. salads etc. which you can eat at the bar if you like. Good range of bottled beer.
LYCEUM/ FILMHOUSE
I Filmhouse Bar and Restaurant Filmhousc. Lothian Road. 228 6382. Bar: Mon—Sat l lam-1am; Sun 6.30—11pm. Food: Mon—Sat 8am-late (hot food stops at 10.30pm); Sun from 12.30pm. In new bands since the last Festival. the Filmhousc restaurant is now an even better place to grab something to eat before or after a film. especially for vegetarians. The menu is reasonably priced, eclectic and changes daily. I L'Aperitif Lyceum Theatre, Grindlay Street. 229 8663. Mon—Sun
10am—midnight. Inexpensive restaurant downstairs serving good soups. baked potatoes and French-influenced food. Upstairs is the theatre bar. which obviously gets very full during intervals but is otherwise fairly quiet. with huge red sofas.
I Ber ltella 100 Lothian Road. 229 0451. Mon—Sun 5pm—late (1.30-2am). Loud. busy. Italian with archetypal exuberant - Italian waiters. Booking advisable — or you could try the Bar Roma in the West End. which is run by the same people, but is if anything even busier.
I Great Wall (used to be called the Imperial -only the name has changed) 105/109 Lothian Road. 229 7747. Mon—Sun noon-1.45pm. 4.30-11.30pm. Vast, plush Cantonese restaurant and friendly staff.
I Cate BerTahee 36 Castle Terrace. 229 2730. Mon—Sat noon—midnight. Hot food: noon-3pm. 6.30—l0pm. Relaxed wine bar with a short. daily changing menu prepared by the chef of Wheelers fish restaurant next door. Inexpensive.
I Whiohams l3 HOpc Street. West End, 225 9717. Mon—Thurs and Sat Ham—midnight; Fri llam—lam. Food: noon—2.30pm. Ever popular wine bar in an old cellar with interesting food at lunchtimes. Has a tendency to get packed with merchant bankers. I L’Attache 1 Rutland Place. 229 3402 (Rutland Hotel). Mon—Sat noon-1am; Sun 2pm—lam. Food: Mon-Sat noon—2.30pm. Above average bar food and restful subterranean gloom, always handy if your hangover has hung around till lunch. Creaky leather chairs, candles and a decent selection of wine too. Live jazz some nights.
TRAVERSE
I Traverse Cate Grassmarket, 226 2633. Food: Tue-Syn
10am—10.30pm. Bar: Tues—Sat 10.30am—2am; Sun 6.30-11pm. Reasonably priced hot dishes. soups. salads and home baking in a crumbling (trompc l‘oeil) Tuscan villa just downstairs from the theatre.
I Pierre Victoire 10 Victoria Street. 225 1721. Relaxed ambience and convincing French food. Service is erratic but fun and overall experience is to be recommended and still very good value for money. Booking advisable. (If you know the place you may want ot specify a table).
I Merchants 17 Merchant Street, 225 4009. Mon—Sat noon—2pm. 6.30— 10pm. Sophisticated upmarket restaurant for special occasions. Nouvelle cuisine practised here — not to the point of ridiculousness. but watch out for exotic fruits in the sauce. Ceiling fans. parrots and unnoticeable service add to the ambience.
I 08818 7 Victoria Street. 226 5260. Mon—Sat till 1am. Food (burgers etc) till midnight. Small. lively bar with well-stocked Wurlitzer jukebox and Rolling Rock beer to drink whilst easy listening. I Mamme's 30 Grassmarket. 225 6464. Mon—Sun noon—midnight (Fri and Sat. till lam). Friendly invent-your- own-pizza parlour run by Americans. They will also deliver.
FRINGE CLUB/BEDLAM THEATRE
I Neoociants 45/47 Lothian Street. 225 6313. Mon-Thurs 9am-2am; Fri/Sat 9am—3am; Sun 10am-1am. Relaxed bar/restaurant specialising in Indonesian/Malaysian cuisine. unusual imported
The List 11— 17A»
OOIT. OVERLEAFV