The Outsider

When food can be eaten next to a view like this, you know you're on to a winner. Luckily, the Outsider, nestled unobtrusively in Old Town doesn't just rely on the view to pull in the hungry people of Edinburgh.

When Ben and I popped in for a late lunch, we were greeted by polite staff and shown to our seats in the light and airy restaurant. We ordered some bread to munch on while we made our choices. The bread, though delicious, fresh and cut into enormous chunks, was fairly standard. However, the green dip that came with it was out of this world. Essentially, I think it was just garlic infused oil, but there was another taste I couldn't identify, and I stupidly forgot to ask the waiter what it was later on. So you'll just have to take my word that it's worth ordering the bread just to get some of that dip on your taste buds!

For mains, Ben went for a crab and crayfish linguine with lemon, herbs and spinach. It was absolutely jam packed with crab and crayfish, which is so satisfying, as so often you come across meagre sprinkles of the key ingredient on the top of dishes like this.

I decided to stray a little bit away from my comfort zone and went for the rabbit, leek, mushroom and tarragon pie, served with mash. Pie is something I wouldn't usually order - I don't enjoy vast amounts of pastry - but I love rabbit, so I decided to risk it. Luckily, my risk paid off! The pie was definitely filling heavy not pastry heavy, and the rabbit was pure melt in your mouth deliciousness. 

All of this plus two soft drinks (I highly recommend the ginger cordial with sparkling water) came to around £19, which when you consider the price of other restaurants in the area, the size of the portions and the quality of the food is very reasonable. I had a nose at the dinner menu, and while it's a bit more pricey, it's definitely something I'm going to be back to sample soon. There also seemed to be a really good range of daily specials.

You can find The Outsider at
15 - 16 George IV Bridge,
Old Town, 
Edinburgh,
EH1 1EE