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Enjoy a Little La Petite Mort in Edinburgh | Edinburgh Foody
menu food ambience desserts drinks
Formally the Skean Dhu, provocatively-named La Petite Mort is making noises on Edinburgh’s food scene with its creative and modest menu.
For mains I was very pleased with my sea bass and tempura aubergine; a great carb-light combination, with a generous portion of celeriac and apple puree and wilted spinach.
Mmm nom nom… For dessert – which was driven by greed rather than necessity – we had the cheese selection and the Earl Grey fondant.
A lot of thought has gone into the menu at La Petite Mort and give or take a few wrinkles, it’s well delivered and reasonably priced.
With a thoughtful selection of wine and cocktails, a visit to La Petite Mort makes for a wonderful evening out.
The Kilderkin (67 Canongate, Edinburgh) | The List
drinks
Alongside some of the capital's tourist hotspots – the Museum of Childhood, Holyrood Palace and the Scottish Parliament – lies the Royal Mile's self-proclaimed most exciting pub.
Standard pub lunch fare (a pretty decent burger, chunky fish of the day and a ginormous portion of bangers and mash) is blown out the water come 5pm when 35 varieties of pizza come topped with your favourite zoo animals.
Otherwise it's Led Zeppelin, Metallica and such like on the stereo, with the owner's love of old school rock proudly displayed in a wall of hanging vinyls.
There are stags’ heads on another and a further side room is lined wall to wall with whisky bottle cases.
Kilderkin | Venue number 227 | Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Situated at the foot of the Royal Mile, this traditional bar offers a wide selection of PBH Free Fringe shows daily.
Kilderkin also boasts one of Edinburgh's finest selections of rums with over 100 to choose from.
Edinburgh Free Fringe: PBH | Edinburgh Guide
location food drinks
Free Fringe: PBH 276 CC Blooms The long-standing gay bar and hi-NRG night club has a late licence and two bars on two floors.
Free Fringe: PBH 171 The Voodoo Rooms Attractively refurb'ed restaurant, bar, live music, and club venue housed in a 200 year-old building above Cafe Royal (just off the East end of Princes Street).
Free Fringe: PBH 221 Sneaky Pete's One room club 90 capacity live music and nightclub venue down in the Cowgate.
Free Fringe: PBH 248 Hispaniola Formerly, Rutherford's Bar, reputedly Robert Louis Stevenson's favourite drinking haunt, this restaurant has been converted into a homage to the famous Scots authors most renowned novel- 'Treasure Is Free Fringe: PBH 79 Whistlebinkies Whistlebinkies is a late-licence, live music venue.
Free Fringe: PBH 158 La Belle Angèle Live music, performances, and late night DJs at long-running Edinburgh nightclub.
Case Study James Nisbet, The Kilderkin, Edinburgh | Star Pubs & Bars
drinks food
Known then as Jenny Ha’s it was James’s and his wife Jacqui’s second Star lease.
At the time, the pub had a poor reputation, attracting a rough crowd, but James could see its potential.
James immediately changed the pub’s name, took out the TVs, juke box and pool tables and started introducing more diverse, premium drinks and improving the quality and availability of food.
A fan of rum, James set up the Edinburgh Rum Club, instigated weekly whisky tasting events, cocktail nights and acoustic music sessions.
Since James took on the Kilderkin trade has gone from £2k a week to £20k a week during the festival with food accounting for 40% of turnover.
The Kilderkin | Bars and pubs in Old Town, Edinburgh
drinks
An unfussy pub offering whisky and rum tasting nights, and £1 pizza on Monday nights Heading down the Royal Mile towards Holyrood Park and the Scottish Parliament, Kilderkin is near the bottom on the left, opposite a primary school.
It had been the popular but slightly dusty boozer, Jenny Ha’s since the 1960s, before changing hands in 2011 and now draws a new crowd of rum lovers, pizza fans and pub quiz regulars, who sit alongside the remaining hardcore punters propping up the bar from its Jenny Ha’s days.
The spirits selection is good, and thanks to Kilderkin’s neighbours across the road, the independent whisky bottler, Cadenheads, there are regular whisky and rum-tasting nights with guidance from a Cadenhead expert (5 drams for £25).
Although midweek can be quiet, Monday nights are very busy because of an exceptionally cheap £1 pizza night - be sure to get there very early though - unsurprisingly peak times can suffer from a backlog in orders, and long waits.
Keep an eye on Kilderkin’s Facebook page for £4.95 cocktail nights, Tuesday pub quiz information and occasional open mic nights.