Restaurant Martin Wishart

Leith has been fashionable for a few years now and the rejuvenation and reinvention of the area has been well and truly successful. There are lots of bars and restaurants, a real buzz about the place and, behind an unassuming frontage by the water's edge, a world class restaurant. Restaurant Martin Wishart opened in 1999 and has built a reputation that spreads beyond the city, across the borders into England and throughout the country. This is not provincial cuisine, although fine Scottish produce is prominent on the menu, but refined, complex and exciting cooking, based on a modern French foundation. The dining room has the look of a serious venue: mature but not stuffy, chic but subtle. Colours are chosen from the in vogue natural palette of browns and beige, with elegant panelling, eye-catching contemporary artworks and well-designed light fittings giving it an air of sophistication. Tables are elegantly dressed in crisp white linen and immaculately set, while the service is appropriately professional, focused and unstuffy. A combination of acute technical ability and an appreciation of texture and balance of flavours results in menus of innovative and appealing dishes. There are tasting, lunch and à la carte menus, even a vegetarian version, all at fixed prices and each preceded by fabulous canapés (haggis bonbon among them) and amuse-bouche (poached quail's egg with beetroot, black pudding and bacon tuile). Calves' kidney, potato and Epoisses cream comes with winter cabbage and Armagnac jus in a starter displaying fine flavours and demonstrating the creative skills of the kitchen. Main-course John Dory, mussel and almond gratin is no less inventive, served as it is with leeks, salsify and Sauternes and curry jus, and a dessert of fromage frais and lemon curd served with sablé biscuit and camomile sauce makes a beautifully crafted finish. The seriously impressive wine list does justice to the food.

Please telephone for directions/map on website
Nearest station: Waverley

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