ADVERTISING FEATURE
Southside
This week we conclude our selection of Festival restaurants with a look at Edinburgh’s Southside. This area is crammed with Festival venues of all shapes and sizes ranging from the Pleasance, the Gilded Balloon and the Queen’s Hall to small, converted church halls. The range of restaurants cater for everything from those looking for a quick snack to award-winning gourmet specialities, but wherever your taste buds lead you it is best to book ahead at this time of year to be sure of a table.
I The Grain Store 30 Victoria Street, 225 7635. Open noon—3pm,
5.30—1 1pm. In one of the capital’s most beautiful streets, the original 17th century food store for Edinburgh Castle has been transformed into a highly- rated eatery offering the finest Scottish ingredients cooked in a predominantly French style. During the Festival there will be a constantly changing menu (a three course dinner is available for £11—£l8), with a £6.95 inclusive a la carte special lunch. Lunchtimes also offer a range of snacks (salads. filled baguettes, etc) so you can soak up the history without having to go for a
Inspiring French/Scottish
Cuisine
Fresh Produce From Local Markets Menu Changes Daily
v Fixed Price. Provide your own wine (Available at Dairy)
Small Weddings A Speciality Quality Outside Catering
63 Dairy Road Edinburgh Tel: 031 313 3334
75 St. Leonard's St Edinburgh Tel: 031 668 291%
w
whole meal.
I "0110’: Fountain 7 Grassmarket, 229 7884. Open Mon-Sat 10am—8pm; Sun 11am—6pm. A well established wholefood restaurant wedged under the Castle Rock at the West End of the Grassmarket, Helio’s cafe is located at the back of a colourful shop selling a whole raft of interesting and unusual goods. Salads are £1.90 per bowl, quiches £1.85, and pizza £1.65, and there’s a different hot dish each day at £1.95. Everything is strictly vegetarian, and health-orientated — and there is always something for vegans to enjoy.
Unlicensed.
NATURE 'S GATE RES TA URAN T/CAF E
Discover the delights of Persian Vegetarian/Vegan cooking Introductory offer 3-course dinner plus wine for 2 in a homely atmosphere Only £16
Mon - Sat 9.30am — 9.30pm Sun 12 noon - 4.30pm
83 Clerk Street (next to Queen's Hall) Edinburgh Tel 031 668 2067
Highly recommended by major food guides. Restaurant of the year The Independent.
2-3 St. Patrick's Square, Edinburgh EH8 9EZ
Tel: 031—667 9890
I Howie’s 75 St Leonard Street. 668 2917. Open noon—2pm. 5.30pm—10.30pm. Sister restaurant to the Dairy Road Howie‘s, this is one of a pair of exceptional Scottish establishments offering an inviting army of traditional fare including venison and salmon specialities. Although slightly off the beaten track. Howie's offers great value — dinner is around £14 per head — with everything prepared fresh on the premises. You can bring your own wine, and for the Festival they have abandoned their usual set sittings — allowing diners a leisurely two hours instead. Be sure to book. I Kalpna 2/3 St Patrick‘s Square. 667 9890. Open noon—2pm (not Sun). 5.30pm—l lpm. Award-laden vegetarian Indian restaurant offering subtle confections of western and southern Indian cuisine. Close to the University. Kalpna is handily placed for a post- Festival dinner (which comes in at around £12) or a simple. pulse-based lunch. Friendly service. restrained decor. and some of the best food you'll get in Edinburgh. I Le Sept 7 Old Fishmarket Close. 225 5428. Open Fri. Sat noon—l 1.30pm; Sun 6.30pm—10pm; Mon—Thurs noon—2.15pm; 6pm—l lpm (Thurs 10pm). Perennially popular French eating-house nestling in an atmospheric, vaulted building in one of the Royal Mile closes. Upstairs there‘s a bistro-style menu specialising in a large variety of crépes (at around £5). while downstairs there’s a larger 51 la
carte line-up. with regulme changing special dishes. If the weather‘s decent, you can sit outside on a genuine terrasse. which is sheltered enough to make traffic fumes merely a bad memory.
I Nature’s Gate 83 Clerk Street, 668 2067. Open 9.30am-10pm. Nextdoor to the Queen’s Hall you‘ll find Edinburgh’s only Persian restaurant, serving vegetarian dishes like ku-ku (a kind of inside-out leek quiche) and «ma (bowls of vegetables and rice. topped off with a spicy sauce). It's not licensed. but there's an off-licence upstairs where you can buy organic wines and lagers to take in with you. Altematively. bring your own.
I Queen’s Hall South Clerk Street. 668 3456. Open 10am—5pm. Attached to Edinburgh's most sophisticated music venue is an equally stylish cafe/wine bar. It’s a big. airy space, with a buffet- style servery offering an extensive range of vegetarian and meat dishes (trout and almonds, for example. at £3.80). The bar is open at the same time, with its wide selection of wines, lagers and beers. In the evening, you can pick up filled rolls for a pre- or post-concert snack.
I Seeds West Nicolson Street. 667 8673. Open Mon—Sat l lam—11pm; Sun noon—9pm. During term time, this tiny vegetarian cafe is a major student hangout.justly renowned for its excellent vegetable soups (you can almost stand your spoon up in them), casseroles and salads. You are also offered doorsteps of hot-from-the-oven
QUEEN'S HALL ‘ RESTAURANT
‘ g "A legendary meeting place for performers and public alike" 10.00am-5.00pm Monday to Saturday
__ . and for concert goers in the evening 1" " when indicated in the Queens Hall
D.
The Queen's Hall Clerk Street Edinburgh EH8 916 Telephone 031-668 3456
54 The List 27 August—9 September 1993