Reviewing Food We Tried in Edinburgh

     Edinburgh's bustling streets are packed with small restaurants waiting to be explored. With cozy dine-ins and welcoming sandwich shops, food is sometimes the only way to escape Edinburgh's bitter wind. While the city lacks the diversity of flavors compared to metropolitan cities such as New York, its restaurants promise quality and comfort. For visitors to Edinburgh, we advise you to eat near the Royal Mile for convenience; especially since the quality of food is very similar everywhere in the city. We also recommend using apps such as TripAdvisor and Google Maps to find highly-rated restaurants near you. Today, I will be reviewing the restaurants I sampled during my trip to Edinburgh.

Makars Gourmet Mash Bar Company (Royal Mile) Score: 7.5 

    Makars famous restaurant is welcoming and cozy, serving comfort food on top of their famous mashed potatoes. Situated just off the Royal Mile, its convenient location makes it a hotspot for visiting tourists. The mash bar is actually formed of two adjacent restaurants. One is for walk-ins while the other accepts reservations. Being a group who rarely plan ahead, we waited in line for the walk-in restaurant. During the summer, expect the line to be long. You could be waiting outside in the bitter Edinburgh wind for as long as an hour. Once we entered the restaurant, our orders were quickly taken and served. Overall, we enjoyed our dishes. The meat was quite tender and fell off the bone easily. However, the flavors were only mediocre. That said, many other tourists seemed to love the restaurant. One couple dining beside us had been to the restaurant for two consecutive days. I would not recommend tourists doing this especially if they are staying only a few days. The highlight of the restaurant was actually the dessert. We really enjoyed the Sticky Toffee with ice cream and the fruit crumble was also delicious. Overall, the food was decent but far from incredible. 

The Scran and Scallie (Comely Bank) Score: 7.5   

    Far from the busy Royal Mile lies The Scran and Scallie, a spacious restaurant serving elevated Scottish cuisine. We reserved a table at the restaurant after reading rave reviews from multiple sources. Upon arriving, we were delighted to find a variety of dishes with appetizing descriptions and ingredients. We ordered the smoked salmon, fish pie, steak pie, and pork shoulder. When the food was served, a thick aroma surrounded the beautifully plated dishes. However, once we bit into the dishes, we were underwhelmed by its flavor profile and uniqueness. Each dish was rather basic and lacked complexity in its taste. Overall, I found the pork shoulder to be the most enticing, with a lovely puree to complement the meat. While this restaurant doesn't top any lists, it is a nice place to sit down and enjoy lunch or dinner. 

Oink (Victoria Street) Score: 6

    This popular sandwich shop has amassed attention across the UK with multiple eateries opening throughout Scotland and England. Almost all of its restaurants have a long line stretching out into the streets. The Oink we visited sat on Victoria Street, rumored to be the inspiration for Diagon Alley in Harry Potter. As I bit into the sandwich, I was immediately disappointed. The textures clashed with each other and the absence of sauce left the meat dry. I do wonder if other sandwiches taste better because the popularity seemed undeserved. 

Alandas Gelato (Near Victoria Street) Score: 8.5   

This ice cream parlor is a must-visit for tourists in Edinburgh. Voted Scotland's Ice Cream Champion (I wonder who created that tournament), Alandas is well deserving of its title. The ice cream is creamy and fresh almost as if it were soft-serve; and while the flavor options are generic, they remain tasty and delicious. 

Knoop Hot Chocolate (Victoria Street) Score: 7

There are cafes, juice bars, and pubs, so why not hot chocolate shops? Knoop serves about 20 hot chocolate variants with different cocoa percentages and ingredients. They also provide large, homemade marshmallows to float on top of the chocolatey drink. While the hot chocolate was very good for what it was, there can only be so much done with this classic drink. For a place as chilly as Edinburgh, Knoop is a great place to relax and rest. 

Thank you for reading Flavor Fusion! If you have any recommendations, questions, or tips, make sure to write them below in the comments. Tune in to learn more on Tales, Tastes, and Travels!