Eat The Festival

Restaurants / Eat-In

‘The Dogs’ Empire
A recession-bucking, ever-expanding phenomenon that prides itself on locally sourced, often overlooked products (coley, smelts, lamb sweetbreads) cooked with flair and served at worryingly cheap prices to you, the lucky punter. Flagship restaurant The Dogs dishes up meat-centric Scottish classics, Amore Dogs goes Italian and Seadogs... oh, you can probably guess. You can even retire to the Underdogs bar for a pre or post dinner Stoli & tonic.

The Dogs, 110 Hanover St; Amore Dogs 104 Hanover St; Seadogs, 43 Rose St, www.thedogsonline.co.uk

The Mosque Kitchen

Winner of the office ‘where’s cheap and cheerful?’ poll by a landslide. A brilliant curry (meat or veg) for a fiver bang in the centre of the city. We need say no more on that. If you’re particularly ravenous however, you can get an all you can eat vegetarian curry buffet at Kalpna on St Patrick Square.

Edinburgh Central Mosque, 50 Potterrow, www.mosquekitchen.co.uk Kalpna 2-3 St Patrick Square, www.kalpnarestaurant.com

L’Escargot Bleu
Avoid in the evenings if you’re on a budget, but it rocks for lunch if you want a lip-smacker of a main course. More adventurous diners may get the chance to sample their controversial horse tartare – something to put on your postcards.

56 Broughton St, www.lescargotbleu.co.uk

Chez Jules
The special sells for a mere £5.50. They throw in a huge salad, a decent slab of paté and loads of bread for free and bring the tap water without waiting to be asked. There’s only one dish at this price so you can’t be picky, but it’s usually ace.

109 Hanover St, www.chezjulesbistro.com

Takeout

Kebab Mahal and Palmyra Pizza
It’s almost a sin that these two are so close together as it means you need to decide which one to opt for. Both are great, although Palmyra has the added bonus of brilliant falafel wraps for the veggies.

Palmyra Pizza 22 Nicholson St; Kebab Mahal 7 Nicholson Sq, www.kebab-mahal.co.uk

Café Truva
Excellent Turkish café offering your standard fry-up as well as some delightful mezze platters, stuffed vine leaves and the occasional moussaka. They can do take-away, so if they weather is nice, take your swag to the Water of Leith and enjoy the river.

77 The Shore, Leith www.cafetruva.com

Sicilian Pastry Shop

If you want to satisfy your sweet tooth, then pick up a pastry from these guys – their pastries and cakes are second to none in Edinburgh. Grab a cake and head to the gardens with your bag of goodies and lashings of ginger beer

14-16 Albert St, www.sicilianpastryshop.com

Edinburgh Farmer’s Market
Feast on hog roll, ostrich burgers, boar sausages or just some plain old healthy porridge, plus pick up locally made sweeties and even wine for alternative souvenirs. Nice way to spend a Saturday morning and the toasties for the veggies get a special commendation.

Every Saturday morning, Castle Terrace, www.edinburghfarmersmarket.com


Late Night Fuel

Café Piccante
Famous as the ‘disco chip shop’ (yes, they have a DJ on the corner over weekends) it’s central, cheap and also serves beer and wine. You won’t get much of your 5-a-day here, but what the hell – it’s the festival after all.

19 Broughton St

Bar Napoli
Always plenty of seats and cheap eats – open until 1am if you want to go down the pizza and pasta route rather than chips and a kebab. The semi-official late night haunt of performers at Assembly, this could be your chance to spy Abi Titmuss over some carbonara. The glamour.

The Outsider

Serves high-quality bistro staples until 11pm (sometimes later during festival). Atmosphere is subdued and intimate, despite being permanently heaving – book ahead if you’re planning on bringing a group. Healthy monkfish kebabs sit alongside possibly the best steak frites in the city.

15-16 George IV Bridge

Cafés

Qupi
An unassuming little café that does a nice Croque Monsieur (or a Croque Madam if you’re that way inclined). A quaint alternative to the full Scottish fry-up.

171 Leith Walk

Word of Mouth Café
One of the few affordable places where your food is cooked from fresh before your eyes. This can make the service a little slow, but it’s worth the wait. Just don’t go half an hour before you’re due to see a show. Open late on Fridays and Saturdays and offers lots of veggie options.

3a Albert St, http://wofmcafe.tumblr.com/

Eteaket
Soup, sarnies, cakes and a choice of roughly 5 million teas to pick from. A nice change from your chain coffee houses and food that actually tastes like it was designed to be in your mouth.

41a Frederick St, www.eteaket.co.uk

Meadow Wood Café, Bread Street

A perfect pit stop for all manner of tasty Asian food and drinks including pearl milk and iced green teas. Inexpensive and a mere ten minutes walk from the top of the Royal Mile and the West End of Princes Street. Divert youself there for a lunch that will please the palate without punishing the pocket.

15 Bread St, www.meadowwood.co.uk

Café Renroc

Excellent nosh, beer on tap and tables outside for those sunny summer days. Just off Leith Walk but mainly frequented by locals so escape the visiting crowds and chill out. The space also includes a gallery and holistic relaxation centre

91 Montgomery St, www.neosgallery.com