“Hit List” in The List Eating & Drinking Guide

This gem of a restaurant may seem to cater for tourists, being, as it is, slap-bang on the trail (The Royal Mile) but it is quite a find and well worth the trek to the Royal Mile for locals.  Set beneath The Scotch Whisky Experience and close to Edinburgh Castle, the plain yet elegant dining room sits alongside a wonderful whisky bar.  If you don’t know – or don’t like – your whisky, you’ll still enjoy a fabulous range of whisky-based cocktails prepared by the exceedingly knowledgeable staff.  All the dishes on the extensive menu show a strong Scottish influence and are derived from local and mainly organic produce.  Starters include pink woodpigeon matched with smoky bacon and baked figs, and a hefty slice of prawn and monkfish terrine that perfectly blends the meaty textures of the two.  For main courses, be prepared for meat that is of the highest quality and cooked to perfection, including saddle of venison or fillet of Buccleuch beef.  The wine list nearly matches the whisky in its breadth.  If ever a restaurant strived to encompass all that is great about Scottish cuisine, Amber is it.  They’re as serious about their whisky as they are about their food, and, fortunately not everything on the menu is drowned in it.

+ Perfectly-cooked local beef
- Not enough room for another whisky cocktail.