Leftover roast meat slow-cooked with potatoes, onion and stock until everything collapses together. A Sunday-roast next-day plate from Edinburgh's working kitchens.
Where to eat it: 4 restaurants across 1 city.
Stovies began as a Sunday-roast leftover in nineteenth-century Edinburgh tenement kitchens, where the cold roast meat got reheated in dripping with onion and potato through Monday lunch. The dish carries no fixed recipe; family arguments over corned beef versus lamb and whether to add carrots are the working tradition. Burns Night suppers still serve stovies as the next-morning hangover plate, and Edinburgh pubs run it as the Sunday-evening special when the kitchen needs to clear down Monday's prep.
Tip from the editors. Stovies improves the next day. Make a double batch on Sunday, eat the rest on Monday.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Tom Kitchin and Dominic Jack's Stockbridge gastropub in Edinburgh, opened in 2013, the casual sibling to The Kitchin running British classics in a Comely Bank.
Order: Fish and chips with mushy peas, or the Sunday roast that books out a week ahead.
Tip: Children's menu is taken seriously here; meatballs and mash is a proper plate.
Howies on Victoria Street in Edinburgh, the Old Town flagship of David Howie Scott's Scottish-bistro mini-chain opened in 1990, the city's everyday Scottish.
Signature: Haggis bonbons with whisky cream, Aberdeen Angus steak
Order: Haggis bonbons with whisky cream as a starter and the Aberdeen Angus steak with peppercorn sauce.
Tip: Pre-theatre two-course menu from 17:30 to 19:00 is the value play. The Waterloo Place branch is the second-best room.
The Dome on George Street in Edinburgh's New Town, opened in 1996 inside the former Commercial Bank building, a glass-domed grand brasserie room running.
Signature: Scottish smoked salmon platter, Roast beef Wellington
Order: Smoked salmon platter at lunch and the roast beef Wellington at dinner under the central dome.
Tip: The Georgian Tea Room at the back is a quieter alternative if the main hall feels too touristy at peak hours.
The Caley Picture House on Lothian Road in Edinburgh, a JD Wetherspoon pub in a grade-B listed 1923 cinema, serving budget food from 08:00 until kitchen close.
Try: Full Wetherspoon kitchen including pies and burgers
Tip: The listed art-deco interior is impressive regardless of the Wetherspoon context. Look up at the original ceiling before ordering.
More cities are in research. Want stovies covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.