What is the best vegetarian restaurant in Edinburgh?

David Bann in the Old Town. It has been meat free for years, I stop there every time I am in Scotland, and the cooking is genuinely inventive rather than dutiful. Nova Pizza in the New Town is the other one I recommend without hesitation, and nearly all of it can be made vegan.

Where can I eat healthily in Edinburgh Old Town?

David Bann on St Mary's Street for a proper sit-down meal and Hula Juice Bar in the Grassmarket for breakfast, juice and plant-based plates. Both are walkable from the Royal Mile without you having to settle for a sad sandwich.

Which Edinburgh restaurants grow or forage their own produce?

The Gardener's Cottage cooks from its own kitchen garden and Timberyard works with foragers, fermenters and small Scottish growers. That is the transparency I look for, and both will tell you exactly where the plate came from if you ask.

Is there good vegan food in Leith?

Heron on the water is vegetable-forward and will cook a full plant menu with notice, and The Little Chartroom on Leith Walk handles it well too. Leith has changed enormously and its kitchens now treat vegetables as cooking rather than as an allowance.

Do I need to be vegan to use this Edinburgh guide?

No. This guide is plant-forward, not plant-only. Some of these kitchens are entirely meat free and others simply cook Scottish vegetables with the seriousness they deserve. Eat as you like, but eat the vegetables.

How does an Edinburgh restaurant get on this list?

I choose it, and I ask about sourcing before I write a word. Purity, wholesomeness, organic where the chef can manage it, and real quantities of fresh vegetables, pulses, grains and seeds. No payment, no arrangement, no advertising.

Edinburgh · Scotland

Gillian McKeith's guide to healthy restaurants in Edinburgh.

Written by Gillian McKeith

Scotland grows some of the most extraordinary produce in Europe, and I am delighted that Edinburgh's better kitchens have finally started cooking as though they know it. The restaurants I have chosen work with small growers, seaweed harvesters and organic farms, not a lorry from a national depot.

For meat-free dining rooms, David Bann in the Old Town is my first stop whenever I am in Scotland. It has been vegetarian for years and the cooking is inventive rather than worthy, which is the difference between a restaurant and a lecture. Nova Pizza Vegetarian Kitchen in the New Town is entirely vegetarian with almost everything available vegan, and the Neapolitan bases are the real thing. Paradise Palms off Nicolson Street is a vegetarian bar kitchen with a Southern American streak and no interest in behaving itself. Hula Juice Bar in the Grassmarket does cold-pressed juice and plant-based breakfasts properly, and Söderberg bakes plant-based Swedish pastries that do not taste like a substitute for anything.

Then there are the omnivore kitchens whose vegetable cooking I would order from all week. The Gardener's Cottage cooks from the garden outside its own door at communal tables, which is my idea of a good evening. Timberyard works with fire, ferments and foraged Scottish produce. Heron in Leith is vegetable-forward on a tasting menu, Baba on Charlotte Square puts Levantine mezze on the table where the vegetable plates carry the meal, and Café St Honoré has a serious local-produce habit that predates the fashion. The Little Chartroom, Purslane and The Palmerston all cook seasonally and all treat a plate of vegetables as a dish rather than a side.

I have sat in these rooms myself and asked the awkward questions about sourcing, because a chef's answer tells me more than any menu does. Nobody buys their way onto this page, and if a kitchen slips, I take it off.

13 restaurants in Edinburgh

Open in full directory

Levantine

Baba

Edinburgh, Scotland

Levantine mezze where the vegetable plates carry the table.

Best for: Levantine mezze for a table. Order the vegetable plates and let the rest look after itself.

French

Café St Honoré

$$$

Edinburgh, Scotland

French-Scottish bistro with a serious local-produce habit.

Best for: French-Scottish cooking with named local suppliers. A proper lunch, unhurried.

Vegetarian bistro

David Bann

Edinburgh, Scotland

My first stop in Edinburgh. Proper vegetarian cooking that is inventive, not worthy.

Best for: My first stop in Edinburgh. A proper vegetarian dinner in the Old Town where the cooking does the arguing for you.

Modern Scottish

Heron

$$$$

Edinburgh, Scotland

Riverside Leith tasting menu with a vegetable-forward hand.

Best for: A vegetable-forward tasting menu by the water in Leith.

Juice bar

Hula Juice Bar

Edinburgh, Scotland

Grassmarket juice bar and plant-based breakfast counter.

Best for: Breakfast and cold-pressed juice in the Grassmarket before a long day on your feet.

Italian

Nova Pizza Vegetarian Kitchen

Edinburgh, Scotland

Entirely vegetarian Neapolitan pizzeria in the New Town.

Best for: A vegan pizza night in the New Town. Ask for the plant cheese and do not apologise.

American

Paradise Palms

Edinburgh, Scotland

Entirely vegetarian bar kitchen with a Southern US streak.

Best for: A late, loud, entirely vegetarian night out. Not health food, and it does not pretend to be.

Modern Scottish

Purslane

$$$

Edinburgh, Scotland

Basement Stockbridge restaurant named after a leaf.

Best for: Stockbridge, downstairs, set menu. Good value for cooking of this standard.

Bakery

Söderberg

Edinburgh, Scotland

Swedish bakery and kitchen with plant-based baking done properly.

Best for: Plant-based baking that stands on its own. Coffee, cardamom buns, no substitutes tasting like substitutes.

Scottish

The Gardener's Cottage

$$$

Edinburgh, Scotland

Communal-table cooking from the kitchen garden outside.

Best for: Dinner at a communal table with produce from the garden outside. My favourite room in the city.

Modern British

The Little Chartroom

$$$

Edinburgh, Scotland

Small Leith Walk dining room with sharp seasonal cooking.

Best for: A small, sharp seasonal dinner on Leith Walk. Book well ahead.

Modern British

The Palmerston

$$$

Edinburgh, Scotland

Bakery, butchery and dining room in one, with real veg cooking.

Best for: Bakery, butchery and dining room in one. Go for the bread and the vegetable dishes.

Modern Scottish

Timberyard

$$$$

Edinburgh, Scotland

Fire, ferments and foraging in a converted warehouse.

Best for: An occasion meal built on fire, ferments and foraging. Ask what came in this morning.

Eating well in Edinburgh: your questions

What is the best vegetarian restaurant in Edinburgh?: David Bann in the Old Town. It has been meat free for years, I stop there every time I am in Scotland, and the cooking is genuinely inventive rather than dutiful. Nova Pizza in the New Town is the other one I recommend without hesitation, and nearly all of it can be made vegan.
Where can I eat healthily in Edinburgh Old Town?: David Bann on St Mary's Street for a proper sit-down meal and Hula Juice Bar in the Grassmarket for breakfast, juice and plant-based plates. Both are walkable from the Royal Mile without you having to settle for a sad sandwich.
Which Edinburgh restaurants grow or forage their own produce?: The Gardener's Cottage cooks from its own kitchen garden and Timberyard works with foragers, fermenters and small Scottish growers. That is the transparency I look for, and both will tell you exactly where the plate came from if you ask.
Is there good vegan food in Leith?: Heron on the water is vegetable-forward and will cook a full plant menu with notice, and The Little Chartroom on Leith Walk handles it well too. Leith has changed enormously and its kitchens now treat vegetables as cooking rather than as an allowance.
Do I need to be vegan to use this Edinburgh guide?: No. This guide is plant-forward, not plant-only. Some of these kitchens are entirely meat free and others simply cook Scottish vegetables with the seriousness they deserve. Eat as you like, but eat the vegetables.
How does an Edinburgh restaurant get on this list?: I choose it, and I ask about sourcing before I write a word. Purity, wholesomeness, organic where the chef can manage it, and real quantities of fresh vegetables, pulses, grains and seeds. No payment, no arrangement, no advertising.

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Gillian McKeith, author of the Gillian McKeith Restaurant Guide

About the author

Written by Gillian McKeith

I'm Gillian McKeith: television presenter, creator of the global hit show You Are What You Eat, writer, nutritionist, and the editor behind this guide. Every Edinburgh entry here is chosen and written by me. I judge kitchens on the things that actually matter: real ingredients, honest sourcing, vegetables cooked with care, and food you feel better for eating.

Nothing on this page is a paid placement. Restaurants cannot buy a recommendation, and any listing marked as sponsored is labelled as such. If a kitchen slips, it comes out of the guide.

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