Ask EADith: Where are the best restaurants for tourists in Edinburgh?
Got a food dilemma? Need a killer rec to seal the deal? Or just want the inside track on Glasgow and Edinburgh’s eating and drinking scene? Then why not ask EADith, our Eat & Drink team’s helpful agony aunt. This time around, she practises the fine art of tourist avoidance, which truly is so vital for a successful Edinburgh summer
Dear EADith
I’m showing some visiting friends Edinburgh’s tourist hotspots, mainly around the Royal Mile, lord help me. Any tips for good, casual food and decent drinks that aren’t overpriced tourist traps or a load of tartan hoo-ha?
TerryNaeTat
Dear TerryNaeTat,
I too am averse to the tartan hoo-ha ever since that unfortunate stramash with Moira Anderson many moons ago which I cannot discuss for legal reasons. But (strictly entre nous) she started it. I digress. Here am I going on about what I believe the kids these days call ‘beef’ and you’re desperately waiting for me to disseminate some words of wisdom. So here you go: beef. Not the Moira kind. Beef as in burgers. As in those at Salt Horse, an establishment just far enough down Blackfriars Street to escape the heaving masses of the Royal Mile but close enough to not tax anyone’s bunions.
Their meat is 100% pasture fed and comes from those fine Fifers at Bowhouse, with a tight menu of excellent smash burgers, fried chicken sandwiches, wings and loaded fries. I favour the 5oz burger with tangy sauce, bourbon pickles and monterey jack cheese, while Mr E loves getting sticky fingered with a pile of barbecue wings. Currently he’s a martyr to his insides, so anything too spicy or vinegary is an absolute no-no. I, on the other hand, have the constitution of a particularly robust ox so will happily polish off a couple of Bloody Mary-pickled eggs on the side.
Drinks you say? Goodness, there’s more craft brews here than real men at one of little Tommy Robinson’s flag-waving jamborees. I’m not a massive beer drinker (a figure this trim is not brought to you by a lifetime skulling pints) but Mr E is a total hop-head. Salt Horse has more than 200 different cans and 14 rotating draught lines from all over the world (he quaffed a lovely drop from NZ-based Garage Project on our last visit). You see, in many ways, our different tastes are the key to our continuing blissful union. As young Shavonne down the street is oft heard screeching at her latest beau, ‘you do you babez’.
Salt Horse, 57–61 Blackfriars Street, Edinburgh; £23 for a burger and beer; Picture: Paul McLean.