Covid safe drinking/dining in Edinburgh
November 6, 2022 7:46 AM Subscribe
A pal wants us to dine out with them in Edinburgh in December. But no restaurant advertises clean air or ventilation as Covid precautions - just useless stuff like hand sanitising, based on the wrong model of transmission. I would settle for a large airy place with few people in it - but that's also impossible to predict. It's too cold for outdoors at night. Has anyone any ideas?
Best answer: A few ideas - Bonnie & Wild in the St James Quarter is big and fairly open but don't know if it will be crowded, hard to predict this time of year. Dishoom on the upper floors has very high ceilings and feels ventilated but the tables are not spaced very far apart. The main restaurant at The Dome on George Street is a big open space with high ceilings, again it might be crowded (they do a big Christmas decorations thing so it's a popular spot for festive dinners). Gorgeous in there if you can get a table.
Bit of a rogue suggestion - if you go out to Ocean Terminal shopping centre in Leith, they have a really big atrium with some restaurants, there is a Zizzi, a Pizza Express, and a Nandos along with a few others. Definitely feels like you're eating in a big airy open space because...it's a big airy open space, and also it's often pretty dead due to the death of shopping malls etc etc especially midweek. If you google pictures of the Zizzi there you'll see what I mean. Having said that, OT is kind of on the downswing so it's not the most fun atmosphere for dinner... I think looking out at the water is pretty though.
If you'd be willing to eat outside with heaters, along George Street there are a few restaurants that have an outdoor space on the street - I'm sorry I can't remember the names but if your friend lives in/near Edinburgh they might be able to do a recce. Also all along the Grassmarket many of the pubs have seating in the street. I have also eaten outside at Indigo Yard in the west end, the courtyard at Summerhall which is near the Meadows, and McLarens in Morningside. I'm not for sure that any of the above will be open this winter but if they are I'd assume they all have heaters. I know McLarens does and it also has little ski pods you can book.
posted by cpatterson at 10:24 AM on November 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
Bit of a rogue suggestion - if you go out to Ocean Terminal shopping centre in Leith, they have a really big atrium with some restaurants, there is a Zizzi, a Pizza Express, and a Nandos along with a few others. Definitely feels like you're eating in a big airy open space because...it's a big airy open space, and also it's often pretty dead due to the death of shopping malls etc etc especially midweek. If you google pictures of the Zizzi there you'll see what I mean. Having said that, OT is kind of on the downswing so it's not the most fun atmosphere for dinner... I think looking out at the water is pretty though.
If you'd be willing to eat outside with heaters, along George Street there are a few restaurants that have an outdoor space on the street - I'm sorry I can't remember the names but if your friend lives in/near Edinburgh they might be able to do a recce. Also all along the Grassmarket many of the pubs have seating in the street. I have also eaten outside at Indigo Yard in the west end, the courtyard at Summerhall which is near the Meadows, and McLarens in Morningside. I'm not for sure that any of the above will be open this winter but if they are I'd assume they all have heaters. I know McLarens does and it also has little ski pods you can book.
posted by cpatterson at 10:24 AM on November 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
Echoing cpatterson's suggestions. The Edinburgh Winter Festival will be on during this time - so there is an open air Christmas market that will be serving food and catering to people who are eating outdoors. But there may be far more people around than would be Covid-safe. Edinburgh does have a wealth of places with very high ceilings - and there will likely be places which are not full (at all). I'd recommend a walk along George street and adjoining streets - keeping an eye out for places that don't look too busy.
posted by rongorongo at 11:30 AM on November 6, 2022
posted by rongorongo at 11:30 AM on November 6, 2022
The Devil's Advocate, in an old Victorian pump house, has high ceilings in the bar section and a heated terrace
12 outdoor dining and drinking spots in Edinburgh to enjoy year-round lists some heated, sheltered outdoor spaces
Reserve a heated 3-sided 'hut' in a beer garden: The Garden at Teviot ("Avoid bar queues with table-delivery service through our app")
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:40 AM on November 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
12 outdoor dining and drinking spots in Edinburgh to enjoy year-round lists some heated, sheltered outdoor spaces
Reserve a heated 3-sided 'hut' in a beer garden: The Garden at Teviot ("Avoid bar queues with table-delivery service through our app")
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:40 AM on November 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Just a note to say disabilities preclude wandering about checking places out. We need to know where exactly we are going and to be able to get transport directly there with little if any walking.
posted by Flitcraft at 12:02 PM on November 6, 2022
posted by Flitcraft at 12:02 PM on November 6, 2022
Best answer: Forrester's Guild pub in Portobello has wooden beach huts in the back yard, which you can reserve and eat in. They're individual huts with open doorways and have overhead heaters and it says they're OK to eat in year-round. IIRC you have to walk through the pub (which will have zero covid precautions and be crowded) to get to the yard, but if you don't mind masking up for that bit, that's not insurmountable. The toilets are inside so you'd need to mask for that too.
If you've got proper big coats, I've definitely sat under the heaters outside The Fishmarket in Newhaven for their excellent fish and chips, in bad weather, and been OK, albeit in a slightly 'we're being hilariously stoical' kind of way. It's a lovely spot though, overlooking the old stone harbour.
I think that's the nearest you're going to find to clean air/ventilation - I don't know of anywhere that has actual air filtration or anything.
Also seconding many of cpatterson's suggestions:
Indigo Yard - I'm one of the few covid cautious people left in the city as far as I can tell, and have eaten in the outside space there a couple of times and enjoyed it, you can specify an outside table when you book on their website. Their heaters were pretty good, but I was eating there on coolish August days, not December so YMMV. I don't think you can get a taxi right to the door - it's on a lane off the road, probably about a 50m walk.
I was also in Ocean Terminal last week and thought it seemed pleasantly covid-friendly because it's so empty. As well as the main eating area, if you go up to the top floor landing, there's also an area about halfway along that has some tables and chairs that look like they're just a remnant of a closed down restaurant or something but are still all there, so you could get takeaway Wagamamas and eat there. But that bit's definitely not a place to go for atmosphere, somewhat dispiriting unless you're one of those people who has a retro thing for forlorn shopping centres. The main restaurants might be OK though.
I saw someone say today that The Dome opened its Christmas season bookings back in February so you might struggle to get in there. I've never been inside but it's *the* place to go at Christmas so imagine it would be very crowded. The Christmas markets get absolutely packed and even though they're outside, I wouldn't class them as covid safe (and not friendly for those with limited mobility).
posted by penguin pie at 3:43 PM on November 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
If you've got proper big coats, I've definitely sat under the heaters outside The Fishmarket in Newhaven for their excellent fish and chips, in bad weather, and been OK, albeit in a slightly 'we're being hilariously stoical' kind of way. It's a lovely spot though, overlooking the old stone harbour.
I think that's the nearest you're going to find to clean air/ventilation - I don't know of anywhere that has actual air filtration or anything.
Also seconding many of cpatterson's suggestions:
Indigo Yard - I'm one of the few covid cautious people left in the city as far as I can tell, and have eaten in the outside space there a couple of times and enjoyed it, you can specify an outside table when you book on their website. Their heaters were pretty good, but I was eating there on coolish August days, not December so YMMV. I don't think you can get a taxi right to the door - it's on a lane off the road, probably about a 50m walk.
I was also in Ocean Terminal last week and thought it seemed pleasantly covid-friendly because it's so empty. As well as the main eating area, if you go up to the top floor landing, there's also an area about halfway along that has some tables and chairs that look like they're just a remnant of a closed down restaurant or something but are still all there, so you could get takeaway Wagamamas and eat there. But that bit's definitely not a place to go for atmosphere, somewhat dispiriting unless you're one of those people who has a retro thing for forlorn shopping centres. The main restaurants might be OK though.
I saw someone say today that The Dome opened its Christmas season bookings back in February so you might struggle to get in there. I've never been inside but it's *the* place to go at Christmas so imagine it would be very crowded. The Christmas markets get absolutely packed and even though they're outside, I wouldn't class them as covid safe (and not friendly for those with limited mobility).
posted by penguin pie at 3:43 PM on November 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Pic of the Forresters Arms beach huts on Instagram.
posted by penguin pie at 3:46 PM on November 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by penguin pie at 3:46 PM on November 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks very much Mclarens looks promising!
posted by Flitcraft at 2:11 PM on November 7, 2022
posted by Flitcraft at 2:11 PM on November 7, 2022
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I mean, keep looking, but also maybe gear up for this to be a picnic and start looking for nice outdoor spots. Also be prepared to be an outlier in public. You could try doing takeout and then finding an under-used section of one of the malls downtown?
There are two by Calton Hill that are recentish (Omni & St. James) which were not entirely full of shops yet so there’s spots with fewer people as of last month.
posted by aramaic at 8:58 AM on November 6, 2022