Eat Out Edinburgh!Reviews and related sites
Giuliano's (18–19 Union Place, Edinburgh) | The List
food
Bang opposite the Playhouse, big, booming Guiliano’s captures the theatre crowds pre- and post-show, springing into life like a waterhole in the rains.
That’s when it’s at its best: a packed house, a hen do or two, with tartan-waistcoated waiters working the room.
The sprawling menu should please the crowds, with standards from garlic bread and buffalo mozzarella through big-ticket pastas, 20-odd pizzas and risottos to seafood and meaty main courses.
Best to avoid the disappointing pizzas; you’d be better going for in-season specials such as slow-braised venison or the more adventurous agnello chimichurry – lamb chops with spiced barbecue dressing.
But they can’t have the giant coppa Guiliano’s, a spectacular and startlingly alcoholic concoction that will set up your night on the town – who needs cocktails?
Al Fresco (22 Union Place, Edinburgh) | The List
food
There’s something of a Giuliano’s theme to this stretch of Union Place, with the original restaurant, the takeaway next door and this incarnation just a few doors down.
Regarded as the 'rustic' version of the original Giuliano's, Al Fresco is also the venue more frequently utilised for group bookings.
A good value pre-theatre menu plays to the Playhouse crowd, although this can mean that it gets a bit quiet when the doors open over the road.
The menu tends towards comfort rather than adventure, with cold and warm antipasti, a dozen pasta options, generous mains of steak, veal, stuffed chicken breast and lamb, plus a line-up of crowd pleasing desserts from gelato to hot chocolate fudge cake.
[See also entry for Giuliano's below.]
Giuliano's: Edinburgh Restaurants Review - 10Best Experts and ...
location menu
Giulianos Italian Restaurant has a great city center location, at the top of Leith Walk across the road from The Playhouse.
It is a classic Scottish-Italian restaurant with an impressively large menu... Read More Giulianos Italian Restaurant has a great city center location, at the top of Leith Walk across the road from The Playhouse.
It is a classic Scottish-Italian restaurant with an impressively large menu including all of the usual favorites (as well as a few surprises) and a good selection of ice creams and sundaes .
The interior is fresh and clean, with a large dining area decorated with pictures of Italy.
They have a good pre-theater menu, and are very welcoming to children, but it is later in the night that this restaurant really comes into its own.
The City
food ambience location
By basing yourself at the Abbotsford, you are well placed to explore Edinburgh Castle, the National Museum of Scotland, two out of the four National Galleries of Scotland, the Royal Botanical Gardens, and the port of Leith, home to the Royal Yacht Britannia – to name only a few attractions.
Leith Walk, the main road at the end of our street, has a wide range of general purpose shops, but also includes specialist and ethnic shops, charity shops, supermarkets and other outlets.
For fashion, gifts and tourist items, head up towards Princes Street, Edinburgh’s main shopping street.
Here you’ll find a large range of shops, cafes and entertainment options, including the Royal Yacht Britannia and the Vue cinema complex.
It is also the site of the world famous Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo (3-25 August Hill overlooks the east end of Princes Street, and includes several buildings of interest, notable for their Greek-influenced is a popular point from which to view the Virgin Money Fireworks Concert – the official ending to the Edinburgh International Festival – and Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Fireworks (more below).