Battered haddock with thick-cut chips, salt and malt vinegar. Edinburgh's chippy default is haddock not cod, and the Old Town counters serve it through the small hours.
Fish and chips became an Edinburgh fixture in the late nineteenth century when the rail link to Aberdeen put boxed white fish in the city overnight. Haddock, not cod, became the Scottish default and remains so; The Tailend on Albert Place and L'Alba D'Oro on Henderson Row have served the same fish for decades. The Edinburgh chippy plates the chips first, the fish on top, with salt and brown sauce or vinegar at the customer's choice. The deep-fried Mars bar (Stonehaven, 1995) is not from Edinburgh but appears on every Royal Mile late-night menu as souvenir.
4 editor picks for Fish and chips in Edinburgh, ranked by editorial score. All Edinburgh signature dishes · Fish and chips across every city.
L'Alba D'Oro ★ 4.7
new-town · 7 Henderson Row, Edinburgh EH3 5DH
L'Alba D'Oro on Henderson Row in Edinburgh New Town, opened 1975 and named UK's best fish and chip shop by The Times, sourcing haddock fresh daily from Peterhead.
Ondine ★ 4.6
old-town · 2 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1AD
Roy Brett's George IV Bridge oyster bar and dining room in the Old Town of Edinburgh, opened in 2009, a Royal-Mile-adjacent seafood kitchen with day-boat fish.
Fishers in the City ★ 4.3
new-town · 58 Thistle Street, Edinburgh EH2 1EN
The New Town offshoot of the Leith Fishers seafood mini-chain in Edinburgh, on Thistle Street since 2001, a brasserie-style room running East Coast fish.
Bertie's Proper Fish and Chips ★ 4.0
old-town · 9 Victoria Street, Edinburgh EH1 2HE
Bertie's Proper Fish and Chips on Victoria Street in Edinburgh Old Town, a sit-down and takeaway chippy opened in the former Grassmarket arch, cooking fresh.