Best New Restaurants In Edinburgh 2025: 7 Hot Openings And Unmissable Places Coming Soon

The capital of Scotland is also, arguably, the capital of the country's restaurant and dining scene (we'll let you argue that one out, with the likes of Glasgow and St Andrews - voted the UK's best seaside town for food and drink - also in the running). Edinburgh is home to plenty of glorious restaurants, but when only 'new' will do?

Discover the best new restaurants Edinburgh has in store, spanning places tipped for a coveted Michelin star, innovative venues using wood shavings from their hand-crafted dining tables to smoke duck, those with delicious tasting menus, and even somewhere backed by a Marvel film director and producer.

7 Best New Restaurant Openings In Edinburgh

Moss

When: 29 January 2025

Where: 112 St Stephen Street EH3 5AD

Three Michelin star Copenhagen restaurant, Noma, was a career highlight for young chef Henry Dobson, who also spent time at Michelin-starred restaurants Kabi and Maz in Japan. He's bringing all that top-quality experience to Moss, his new farm-to-table restaurant that'll take over the former site of French spot Satine Saint Stephen. Expect a Scandi-inspired dining space with a minimalist feel, designed by Dobson's wife Akiko, as well as a focus on 100% Scottish produce and British drinks like natural or low-intervention wine.

Dobson's family farm in Angus will provide the majority of the restaurant's seasonal ingredients, with East Lothian organic farm, Phantassie, and East Neuk of Fife's Bowhouse butchery also making the cut. Committed to unique preservation techniques, slow food ideologies, and his Scandinavian and East Asian influences, this venue will serve an innovative menu to match. Think ceviche cured in acid from wild sorrel, duck smoked with leftover shavings from crafting the dining tables out of wind-fallen Lime trees, and fluffy, Japanese chiffon cake.

Form chef at Noma, Henry Dobson, in his new Edinburgh restaurant, Moss.

Stockbridge continues to solidify itself as the home of the best new restaurants in Edinburgh city centre with the arrival of Moss.

Sotto Enoteca & Trattoria

When: Now Open (October 2024)

Where: 28 Deanhaugh Street EH4 1LY

Any wine buff and Italian food fiend would be mad to miss out on Sotto, the enoteca and trattoria (that's wine bar and restaurant, to you and me) making Stockbridge its home. This is the first venture from Edinburgh-born sommelier James Clark, whose selection of over 200 Italian wines served in the 25-seater upstairs space has to be experienced to be believed.

Downstairs is home to a 36-seat restaurant area and a private dining room, with Calabrian head chef Francesco Ascrizzi (formely of Divino Enoteca, Mono and Tipo) at the helm. Menus here combine British ingredients with classic Italian flair. You've probably heard of Japanese omakase (chef's choice), but did you know about Sotto's own version? Order ‘Fai Tu’  (translating to ‘you do you’) to enjoy four courses served sharing-style; the finest feast, chosen by the chef.

Sotto Enoteca & Trattoria's contemporary plaster pink walls and green leather seating on the right, next to a classic Italian pasta dish with Calabrian sausage ragu.

Classy and unpretentious in equal measure, Sotto Enoteca & Trattoria is a must-visit.

Cabo

When: Now Open (August 2024)

Where: 99 Hanover Street EH2 1DJ

Named after Mexico's famed party destination, Cabo calls itself Edinburgh's first Pacific-fusion restaurant. Stone accents, terracotta tones and plenty of foliage span the snap-worthy space here, while live DJs take to the decks from Thursday to Sunday; adding to the feeling of being abroad without having to leave Edinburgh.

On the menu? Baja Californian fusion and Mexican dishes served alongside Latin American-inspired cocktails like the mezcal and Aperol paloma. Think ancho braised pork belly stuffed inside rolled taquitos and Cabo crab toast (adobo-spiced crab and prawn fried inside a sesame bao bun).

Instagrammable party destination Cabo and its orange-toned interiors alongside a plate of tacos featuring charcoal corn tortillas.

A fun one on the list, Cabo transports you to the Baja California peninsula.

Nàdair 

When: Now Open (August 2024)

Where: 15 Roseneath Street EH9 1JH

Partners in life and in the kitchen, head chef Alan Keery and pastry chef Sarah Baldry are the brains behind Nàdair, an independent neighbourhood restaurant in Marchmont. Tying together their joint experience at Wedgwood The Restaurant - a long-time favourite of Edinburgh's restaurant scene - and a penchant for Scottish produce and foraged ingredients, it's only natural that the couple's venue takes its name from the Scottish Gaelic word for 'nature'.

Focussing on "Scotland's larder" - to quote Keery - with Scandinavian influences, the restaurant's ever-changing five-course tasting menu boasts dishes like brioche butter-poached cod and beef served with turnip, black garlic, and forgotten Roman vegetable, Alexanders. Meanwhile, the options for drinks at Nàdair focus on Scottish wild flora and fauna across house infusions. There are forage-based cocktails including the quince negroni and grapefruit and pine martini on the cards, alongside a largely natural wine list. 

Earthy sage green walls and wooden tables at Nàdair, with chef Alan Keery pouring jus onto a meat dish.

Letting Scotland shine: Nàdair.

Avery By Rodney Wages

When: Now Open (July 2024)

Where: 54 St Stephen Street EH3 5AL

Already featured in the Michelin Guide mere months after opening, Avery By Rodney Wages is set in a stunning Georgian townhouse in Stockbridge. American chef Rodney Wages came to Edinburgh on holiday and fell so in love that he moved here with his family, bringing his acclaimed San Franciscan restaurant with him. Having earned a Michelin star back in 2021, the success of the original Avery restaurant is something we're hoping Wages can emulate here in Edinburgh.

The 12-course tasting menu (£149) is both an ode to California, with some of the chef's favourite dishes from his San Francisco venue featuring, and to Scottish produce. Embracing everything from Orkney scallops to Highland venison but with a Californian spin, dishes here are bold and beautiful in flavour. The accompanying drinks flight is just as varied, spanning sherry, sake, wine and Scotch whisky.

Striking black and white interiors at Avery by Rodney Wages, including artwork from San Francisco-based artist Victor Reyes.

Is a Michelin star inevitable for Avery?

Under The Table

When: Now Open (April 2024)

Where: 3A1, Dundas Street EH3 6QG

Replacing El Paso Latino on Dundas Street in Edinburgh New Town, Under The Table is found underneath - you guessed it - The Table. The original restaurant opened in 2015 and has a loyal following of returning diners, who love the 10-person dining concept where they can interact with chef-patron Sean Clark while he cooks their meal. This new venue downstairs is backed by one of those fans: Marvel and Captain America director and producer, Joe Russo.

Under The Table is a modern bistro serving European-style dishes at a competitive price compared to similar, high-quality restaurants and has already garnered rave reviews. While roast pork loin with confit onion puree and rhubarb chutney and sea bass with kalamata puttanesca and fennel puree come out of the kitchen, chef Sean Clark's business partner, Paul O’Donoghue, sorts out an equally impressive wine list. Rounding off a meal here? Chocolate and maple syrup ganache with sweet potato. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.

Roast pork loin with confit onion puree and rhubarb chutney alongside bright interiors at Under The Table.

Rave reviews and reasonable prices? Sign us up.

Cardinal

When: Now Open (March 2024)

Where: 14 Eyre Place EH3 5EP

Since launching Leith's neighbourhood fine dining restaurant, Heron, with fellow chef Sam Yorke in 2021 - which earned a Michelin star within two years - and opening subsequent joint venture Skua in 2023, Tomás Gormley has showed no signs of slowing down. With Heron still safely under Yorke's wing and Skua remaining under Gormley's watch, the speed of Cardinal's March 2024 opening came as a welcome surprise.

This debut solo venture from Michelin star chef Tomás Gormley aims to take his previous casual fine dining concepts to a new level, adding a touch more theatre and ramping up the connection between guests, chefs and front of house staff. The result? A 13-course tasting menu (£120; or £95 for 10 courses) with a seasonal, Scottish leaning.

Fermentation, pickles and open-fire cooking are just some of the key techniques found across contemporary and creative dishes here, which are accompanied by low-intervention and natural bottles on an international wine list or the curated drinks pairings. A fast favourite in Stockbridge and the rest of the city beyond, the restaurant has already earned itself a spot in the Michelin Guide just months after opening.

Simple yet sultry interiors at Tomás Gormley's Cardinal restaurant in Stockbridge.

One of the most anticipated new restaurants opening in Edinburgh has already lived up to expectations.

Discover more of the best restaurants in Edinburgh.