GetStuffed FoodDrinkRestaurants
Deals on meals
With restaurants, a bargain can be anything from £25 for a meal that should cost twice that much, or £6.90 for a three-course lunch. Niki Boyle and Donald Reid present a bundle of the best value-for-money deals on offer this month
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B’est
FINER DINING
You don’t always have to lower your sights when it comes to dining out on a budget. Pre-theatre menus are often available at higher-end venues, and while you might not be tucking into the fancy dishes of the à la carte menu, for half the price you’ll still be enjoying the same setting, level of cooking, good ingredients and top-notch service. You’re not even obliged to go to the theatre afterwards. In Edinburgh, for example, The Tower Restaurant has a very respectable pre-theatre menu available from 5pm to 6.30pm offering two courses for £13.95. Sister-establishments Rhubarb and The Witchery have similar offers, giving you an affordable way to check out some of the city’s most striking dining rooms. Pre-theatre menus aren’t the only departure from the norm that
10 THE LIST 21 Jan–4 Feb 2010
can provide attractive deals: Café St Honore has a ‘Seasonal Menu’ at £20.50 for three courses operating Sunday to Thursday evenings and pre-theatre at weekends. Other good set price deals include The Stockbridge Restaurant’s weekend lunch menu with two courses for £12.95 and three courses for £14.95, or three hearty Scottish courses with coffee for £25 at Jacksons on the Royal Mile. If you’re looking for a treat, don’t dismiss lunch for its indulgent possibilities – after all, a long lunch is a luxury while a long dinner is a drag. In Glasgow, the attractive ‘Amazing Grazing’ menu at Michael Caines @ Abode offers two courses for £12.95 or three for £15.95 at lunch; these options are also available between 6 and 7pm for £14.95 and £17.95 respectively. Hotel Du Vin at One Devonshire Gardens are currently offering
Roti
online lunchtime vouchers allowing two courses for two people for £20, or £30 with a carafe of wine.
Elsewhere in the city, the pre/post theatre menus at each of the Two Fat Ladies restaurants are well worth a look: the West
End branch has a lunch/pre- theatre menu of two courses for £13.50 and three for £15.50, which is the same as the post- theatre menu in the city centre; pre-theatre in the Blythswood Street branch costs £16 for two courses and £18 for three.