Stuart Ralston's Garden Room kitchen inside the Kimpton Charlotte Square in Edinburgh, opened 2014 and relocated in 2020, a no-choice market-driven tasting.
Must order: The six-course harvest tasting menu changed weekly; lunch is GBP 45 for four courses.
Tip: The hotel terrace takes walk-ins for a glass of fizz before service; smart casual.
Address: Garden Room, The Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel, 38 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh EH2 4HQ
Paul Gunning's Stockbridge basement dining room on St Stephen Street in Edinburgh, opened 2014, a 20-cover tasting kitchen running monthly-changing six-course menus.
Order: The six-course evening tasting menu; lunch runs a slimmer four-course at GBP 40.
Tip: BYO Tuesday with a GBP 7 corkage is a cheap way to bring a bottle from the wine merchant down the street.
Paul and Lisa Wedgwood's Royal Mile dining room on Canongate in Edinburgh, opened in 2007, a family-run kitchen with a focus on Scottish foraging and game.
Order: The chef's table in the kitchen takes four for a six-course tasting with kitchen commentary.
Tip: The supper-club Sunday is half the price of weekday dinner and runs a slimmer four-course menu.
Tom Kitchin's Leith dining room on Commercial Quay in Edinburgh, Michelin-starred since 2007, the kitchen that brought Scottish provenance back to fine dining.
Order: The Land and Sea five-course tasting menu, with optional wine pairings from a 400-bottle list.
Tip: Saturday lunch tastings are the most reliable booking; the chef's table in the open pass accepts two with 30 days notice.
Martin Wishart's Shore dining room in Leith, Edinburgh, Michelin-starred since 2001, the city's longest-running French-leaning tasting kitchen.
Order: The six-course Seasonal Tasting Menu or the half-priced lunch four-course Tuesday to Friday.
Tip: Lunch is GBP 50 for four courses; same kitchen, same sommelier, less than half the dinner price.
The Radford family's Lady Lawson Street dining room in Edinburgh, Michelin-starred from 2024, a foraging-led courtyard kitchen built into a former timber warehouse.
Order: The full tasting menu; the kitchen pulls from its own garden and the wild foraging team across the Lothians.
Tip: The summer courtyard under the oak takes 12 covers and is unreservable as a section; ask at booking.
Sam Yorke and Tom Hagger's Henderson Street kitchen in Leith Edinburgh, Michelin-starred from 2024, an open-pass small-plates room on the Water of Leith.
Order: Whatever is landed at Scrabster that morning; the menu changes daily.
Tip: Counter seats face the open pass; ask at booking. Bar counter takes four walk-up seats from 18:00.
