We visited for lunch and decided to have the set menu. Food was absolutely gorgeous and the service was outstanding. The nice little extra touches like the crackers, home made bread - with homemade butter - and the amuse bouche served in a baked onion just added to the whole experience. It was expensive, but I thought it was great value for money. Already planning a return trip to sample the tasting menu next time.
French techniques are used at this amazing Scottish restaurant that is a converted older whisky warehouse. We arrived early and had pre dinner drinks at the small bar area, it was a nice start to what was to be an amazing meal. The restaurant was very busy all night but you would have never guess cos service was quick and professional and all the dishes brill.
Attended today as a Birthday treat with my partner. Once again dining here is an experience not to be missed not just a meal. We both had the surprise tasting menu and every course was exceptional. The flavours that are put together by Tom and his team are a taste sensation all served In an unpretentious restaurant with plenty of space between the tables so you feel you are not sat on top of each other. All the staff are polite, knowledgable and take time to talk to you about your visit but are not obtrusive, but discreet but there when needed. All in all a birthday to remember- thanks to Tom and team, we will be back
Along with Castle Terrace, this is one of my favourite restaurants in Edinburgh. The food is excellent and Tom Kitchin’s philosophy of ‘from nature to plate’ means you always get incredible seasonal dishes throughout the year. The service is brilliant and the staff always attentive and extremely welcoming. The sommelier is extremely knowledgeable and the wine pair matchings work perfectly with the different dishes. I highly recommend you eat here - pricey, but definitely worth every penny.
Scottish Food Review
+4.5
We've been teasing the photos for the past few weeks, but now it's time to not review The Kitchin in Leith. Regular readers will now by now we refuse to review Michelin-star restaurants on the basis that it would be presumptuous and rude for us to think we know enough about food to challenge the rulings of the most respected food guide in the world. Oh and the matched wines usually mean our memory of the dishes at the end of the meal can be, like our vision, blurred.
We held a small party in the private dining facility. The whole experience from start to finish was fantastic. The ambience, the service and the food were outstanding.
Tom Kitchin met us on arrival and presented my new wife and I with a wonderful bouquet,he also patiently posed for pictures with us. We received food and service of the highest standard, the staff were courteous without being intrusive. I cannot praise this private dining experience enough. I would not hesitate in recommending the Kitchin to anybody looking for a venue that is intimate, exclusive with high class food atmosphere. Thank you very much Tom and your excellent staff for making our party a memorable experience which will last long on the memory as well as the taste buds
So some of our group perhaps weren’t quite as excited as I was to visit Edinburgh restaurant The Kitchin, where the eponymous Scottish chef and owner Tom Kitchin became the youngest ever winner of a Michelin star. I’d actually had the pleasure a few years ago but after a major £1m-plus refurbishment this year, it’s now far more spacious than I had hazily remembered.
Our first experience at this Michelin Star restaurant while visiting from South Africa. Loved the decor and cosy atmosphere they have created. The service was impeccable from the moment we arrived we got the star treatment. In terms of food I had the vegetarian tasting menu and all courses were perfection. I was only not fond of the carrot tart but this is down to personal taste. My husband had the razor clams for starters and the lobster for mains and he thought they were both wonderfully tasteful and far beyond his expectations. Would really recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting Edinburgh.
Back in 2013 I previously reviewed The Kitchin. Their philosophy ‘from nature to plate’, quality of cooking, service and the overall experience was above and beyond my expectations meaning I gave it my only 10/10. Since then the expansion of The Kitchin has taken place by knocking the wall down between the original ‘Kitchin’ and the restaurant next door. I was concerned that the changes would cause the restaurant to lose its charm and warmth.
I have been dying to go to The Kitchin forever and it seems I’ve spent my whole relationship shamelessly hinting (and sometimes outright begging!!) to my boyfriend to take me. So, needless to say I was pretty excited to finally get a table booked. The michelin star restaurant was extended and refurbished over the winter, so, in a way it is quite good that it took so long to visit as I got to see the updated restaurant.
After several visits up to Edinburgh and various recommendations, we finally had dinner at the The Kitchin, a former whisky bond located on Edinburgh's stylish waterfront. Opened in June 2006 and run by Tom Kitchin and wife Michaela, the food served is a harmonious unification of seasonal Scottish produce with a French style of cooking, showcasing their philosophy 'From Nature To Plate'.
I don’t even know where to start enthusing about our amazing experience at The Kitchin in Edinburgh. Tom and Michaela have created a dining experience that far surpasses anything I have ever encountered. We made a booking via email for the Friday of our visit to Scotland and we arrived at the Waterfront early enough to take a walk around the area.
Lovely food. My favourite dishes on the tasting menu were certainly the options I would never have chosen myself.
Nice atmosphere and didn't feel rushed at all.
Excellent. It was everything we expected and more, great value, great food, great service. We went this summer on our vacation and this was one of our favorite meals.
Just amazing!. The Kitchin goes down as one of my fav restaurants in Edinburgh! From the lovely blue cheese dip to start to the amazing desert everything is perfect and every element thought out so the diner as the best experience. Yes I is pricey so special occasion for dinner but their lunch special is fab and great value.
Lunch - great service; staff attentive, friendly and knowledgable, the food came very quickle. Great food; very tasty and presented well. Unusual but tasty main (braised Oxe cheek). The dessert was one of the nicest courses I've had in a while (praline souffle and ice cream). Extensive wine list (albeit very expensive, cheapest bottle £28). Finesse; crudités and dip, fresh bread, amuse bouche all come with the meal. £26 ish pp for the set 3 course meal. Would recommend.
My husband and i had the set lunch at the kichen yesterday and it was outstanding. From starter to dessert it was amazing. The staff where excellent and the food to die for. A definite must for all foodies
Tried lunch menu very good! Staff really attentive and knowledgable. Will try a la carte next time.
Just had a lively lunch, chose the set with matching wine, 5 out of 6 dishes were lovely, my wife's seafood ravioli with lobster bisque being the star of the show. Staff were lovely and attentive without being in your face. I see the negative reviews were written by people without much of a track record in eating well...
The most expensive meal we've had, a shame as we had to hold back a little, the drinks were a little ott on the price but the food, amazing! 7 course tasting menu 3 hours eating, drinking and indulgence. The staff were attentive but not overly so, the sommelier knowledgeable and very polite. I just cannot fault this experience, full deserving of its star and accolades. To top off the evening Tom visited us in the bar, was welcoming, informative and friendly, he came out and carved for a table that ordered the special, and conducted a kitchen tour. I have been to a few top end places and never seen a chef owner so involved and clearly passionate.10/10
Masterful cuisine. Grade: A
We had planned on a visit to this restaurant when we went to Edinburgh, and Chef Kitchin did an outstanding job making sure it was worth our while.
A pleasant but unpretentious dining room made for a comfortable experience. The wait staff were all young, but cared about service.
The food is based on seasonal local ingredients, all outstanding. My wife and I got the chef's tasting menu and were blown away. Fresh salmon with green apple, razor clams with chorizo, grouse, and pig's head (boned and rolled meat from the pig's head, seasoned with cumin) were all executed with excitement and flair.
I would happily return!
Heaven Sent. This is one of the best, if not The Best restaurant in the City. If you don't like it, it can only be that you do not appreciate fine and contemporary food of the highest quality.
The lunches are affordable and now offer a pamper day with Lubiju above the restaurant. Well worth the visit.
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Scotland Does Michelin, It's Wonderful. As a foodie through and through, I hold the Michelin guide in near reverence. It lists the greatest restaurants of the world and allows you (budget allowing) to eat your way around the world on meals of extraordinary delicacy & deliciousness. If it has one fault, it is that it tends to Michelinise restaurants. Chasing those stars, restaurants tend to wind up a bit samey. A slightly uniform, classic French style develops and local colour can be lost.
Kitchin is really the first Michelin starred restaurant to have a genuine Scottish flavour. The food & service is phenomenal as you would be expect, but it is the seasonality & imagination that impress. Any talented chef can take highly expensive ingredients plucked from a suppliers list which spans the globe and cook safe established classics. To take what's in season in your locale and do something wonderful with it takes a great chef & that certainly describes Tom Kitchin. It is the only restaurant I've ever been to where I wasn't just raving about how the flavours combined in a dish, but how the textures combined alongside them. I would cheerfully eat anything the man put in front of me. Especially in this wonderful, muted restaurant sited just on the water at Leith.
I will definitely go back for lunch. For dinner they have a 5 course tasting menu for £75, though wine starts about 12 quid a glass so typically for a Michelin star, it's not cheap, though, if you can afford it, I don't think you'd be disappointed. His flavour combinations just work, everything on the plate compliments each other; the fact they've kept their star for 6 years is a testament to that. It is a restaurant that I thoroughly recommend.
Kitchin is a force of nature in the kitchen. Dishes of great power and clarity encapsulate minute attention not only to flavours but also to textures. His direct, muscular style, so different from that of his starred (and also excellent) Leith Neighbour Martin Wishart, reminds us a bit of the great Koffmann, albeit with more elaborate dishes than in Koffmann’s current bistro style. A great restaurant with a chef at the heights of its powers; we’re so happy for the positive tweaks, and we’ll definitely return.
Oh My God. How glad am I that I managed to get a table!? It was amazing. We had such a great time over the three hours we were there, the food was to die for and the wines divine. I booked in January, 4 months in advance and still couldn't get a Saturday booking so went for a late dinner on the Friday giving us time to get there and settled in a hotel from Glasgow after work. We knew before we went that we'd probably have the tasting menu. Nik suggested when we got there that we have the matching wines too! As we were having a treat weekend we decided to go for it and so glad we did. Our somellier was brilliant describing exactly wh
For me the dishes that stood out during my dinner at Tom’s Kitchin were the snails and bone marrow, New Haven lobster, lamb served for two and the lemon mousse with chocolate ice-cream.
We had a great evening at The Kitchin. The food was stunning, the front of house were passionate without being overbearing and the atmospheric dining room oozed sophistication. Oh, and Sir Chris Hoy was sat a few tables away.
The cooking at Tom Kitchin's is very accomplished - ingredients shine, and are treated with respect. This is undoubtedly one of the most memorable meals we've eaten, and we can't wait to return.
The lobster itself was grilled and dusted with manioc flour and basil butter. Like everything so far, the cooking had been top notch. I was sure if it could the lobster would have jumped up and give me a kiss. It certainly did not die in vain.
...the highlight of this meal was the Monkfish, specifically Monkfish tail wrapped in pancetta with an amazing broccoli puree and pumpkin gnocchi.
For those of you who haven’t been to the Kitchin before there is a brilliant glass window into the kitchen where you can see ‘the man himself’ hard at work. Perfect view!
This is the first game tasting menu to appear on the blog and our high hopes and excitement ahead of visiting The Kitchin were amply rewarded in a stunning and unique meal that emphasises both the quality of Scottish produce and the brilliance of vision by Tom Kitchin.
I had a lot of dining recommendations for my trip to Scotland, but The Kitchin is the one I was looking forward to the most.
Saving the best to last, on our last day we went to Tom Kitchin's The Kitchin in Leith. Kitchin is one of the best known Scottish chefs. Having worked under Koffman and Ducasse he has an approach grounded in classical French cuisine and is a strong proponent of using local and seasonal produce. Needless to say I was expecting great things from the one-star chef. I'll cut to the chase and tell you that I wasn't disappointed.
I have now eaten at The Kitchin four times , once in late 2007 , twice in 2008 and most recently on Thursday 19th of August 2010 , with my family (the pictures on this post are of what I ate on this day).
Having been a fan of Tom Kitchin's TV appearances I fancied a birthday treat at The Kitchin.
Relaxed and well decorated dining room with a "show case window" into the kitchen where Kitchin was working away.
Loved the lamb cooked three ways and the awesome lemon sorbet dessert. Check out that delicate little lemon Macaron.
Pretty, intricate but filling and cooked from locally sourced ingredients.
Definitely my favorite restaurant in Edinburgh. The service is impeccable, as it would be expected in a Michelin-starred restaurant but they're...friendlier. The food is classically French but with locally sourced Scottish ingredients. Everything's perfectly balanced and presented beautifully. They do a fantastic lunch deal of £28 for three courses (they always have a souffle in their dessert options and I strongly recommend the souffle - it's like eating a cloud). And their tasting menus are also really reasonable for a Michelin-starred restaurant. Furthermore, their cheese boards are great because it's all British cheeses.
Excellent food, beautifully presented, smart service. From our table we could see directly into the kitchen which was mesmerising watching Tom and the team preparing food
Providing exceptional food, wine and service, The Kitchin is as good as it gets in Edinburgh. The staff manage to go over and above to make sure you enjoy a fantastic all round dining experience and the food is spot on.
Read my full review, with images here:
Amazing experience. We booked a late lunch here to celebrate a special occasion and we loved every minute of our experience. It’s been on my list for years and it did not disappoint.
All of the food was 10/10, we upgraded to include the cheese and this was such a special touch getting to pick what cheese we wanted. All of the staff were really attentive and made us feel so comfortable.
Only downside was we booked the last table for the lunch service, when we arrived the restaurant and kitchen had such a buzz but by the time we finished our mains the restaurant emptied and all the chefs left the kitchen. We then had to flag down waiting staff for some cocktails after our cheese as no one was really present in the restaurant - in future i would not book this time slot due to this.
Overall had a wonderful experience and Tom even came out the kitchen to say hello to us when we arrived!! Thanks to all.
Truly fabulous experience from the food to the theatre of it all and especially the staff who treated us like actual queens for the whole evening. Additionally, the wine pairings were spot on, the cocktails were original and delicious. Each course of the tasting menu blew my wee brain, and the cheeseboard was a sensation. Will return when I've replenished my bank account.
We had an absolutely wonderful evening! The food was spectacular - fresh & creative. We opted for the Prestige Surprise Tasting menu with wine pairings. The meal did not disappoint, and the wine selections were an "epiphany " match to our meal. Great detail provided in describing our meal and our wines. Chef Kitchin has an amazingly talented team, and he also came out to greet us during dinner.
What an absolute treat this was. The Kitchin has been on our list for years, and I'm so happy to say that it did not disappoint! The food was wonderful, as expected, they were able to create an incredible tasting menu for 3 separate dietary requirements, and we all loved it.
The wine pairings were innovative and interesting, AND they had a full list of non-alcoholic wines to my sober friend's delight.
The hospitality, though, was where it all came through. The service was just immaculate, so friendly and considerate. Tom (the man himself) could clearly tell how excited we were to be there and invited us into the kitchen for a drink, which really was such a highlight of my culinary exploits.
We loved every minute of our time here from when we were led to our table through the beautiful, rustic and moody decor, to them having a cab on speed dial for when it was time to leave.
What a perfect evening
One of the most enjoyable dining experiences we have ever had to attend!! Food is wonderfully prepared, atmosphere is romantic and staff is one of the most attentive we have ever experienced!! Will definitely return!!
Unique experience at this venue. Everything was carefully crafted and combination of the flavors were great. Very cozy ambience and reminded me of some Nordic restaurants I like. the service was a bit slow side but I just had bad luck at this place at the time. I might try and see how it is next time.
What a delight !!! Superb service, attentive ,ever knowledgeable, polite and professional. The food was exquisite, we had the surprise tasting menu with wine pairings. Stand out dishes were John Dory , scallops and the duck … oh and the tomato consommé and the pork cheek and the soufflé …and finally a visit from Tom Kitchin to every table sets the pattern for an amazing unforgettable night experience.
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Me and my partner went to The Kitchin for our very first Michelin starred restaurant meal and we were really excited to experience this. It was very good, but ultimately we weren't as blown away as we'd hoped for.
A canapé of a crisp potato cube with a strong whipped cheese on top was a nice opener, although the cheese was far too strong for my gf. An amuse bouche of cherry tomato in a sort of tomato consommé followed which I liked, although the tomato itself didn't smack me round the chops with the most tomatoey tomato flavour I'd ever had. The warm sourdough bread and homemade salted butter that followed deserves a special mention too. They were both incredible and probably the best bread and butter we've ever had. Actually gutted we were too stuffed to finish it.
Starters up next. I had the veal sweetbreads which were lovely and crisp with an almost charred bacon aftertaste. Everything on the plate belonded alongside the sweetbreads. I've always hated raisins, but the raisins served here were actually lovely and sweet. My gf had the boned and rolled pigs head (which was FAR outside her comfort zone) yet she absolutely loved it, especially the crispy pigs ear which she said was like the best crispy bacon she'd ever had. She couldn't finish it and took it home with her. She was carrying half a crispy pigs ear around in her handbag for days. THAT'S how much she loved it.
Now by this point, we were actually, surprisingly, almost full and wondered how we would even finish all three courses. Michelin starred food is VERY rich! People who think fancy dining with small portions is a rip off don't realise how much eating it takes it out of you! At this point I should advise anyone wishing to eat here, that the dinner menu of three courses (technically actually six courses) took almost four hours, from arrival to leaving the restaurant, so manage your time appropriately.
Mains. I had the venison. Both cuts of venison were perfectly cooked, tender, and just the best venison I'd ever eaten. There were two different variations of turnip. One was next level turnip, the other was not. My gf had the seabass and again, best seabass she'd ever eaten. Totally changed her perception of seabass based on every previous time she's eaten it. Seabass came with Jerusalem artichoke. Neither of us had ever had that before and years of watching Masterchef made us both eager to try it. It was awful. Truly horrible. Definitely an acquired taste but not for us sadly! However the fennel tops were a surprising revelation and went through a variety of flavours, ending with a taste of green apple peel. Very intriguing.
Then a pre-dessert of a strawberry on a base of some type of cottage cheese I can't recall with a sort of strawberry juice. It was astonishing. Like a mini strawberry cheesecake. Just incredible.
At this point we really began to debate whether it would be possible to even attempt to have some dessert as we were really stuffed, and our previous plates hadn't even been cleared completely. My dessert was the baked alaska. I was excited to try this based on recent user reviews and it was just... fine? Nothing about it seemed particularly impressive. My gf had the apple crumble soufflé and that was by far the biggest disappointment. It tasted of nothing but egg white. There wasn't even a hint of apple, just egg white. So that was a shame. Neither dessert came anywhere close to anything that preceeded them.
At this point the staff could have rolled us onto wheelbarrows and carted us home for our ability to move and walk.
Special mention must also go to the service, which really was next level. I lost count of how many people served us and looked after us during the courses. They were all engaging and informative. It was also pretty cool to see the big man with the big hair Tom Kitchin himself working in the kitchen, instead of adding his name to a restaurant and going off to do TV gigs like a lot of other celebrity chefs do.
Great food, amazing steak tartare, mutton and beef mains were very well executed. As well as desserts. Service was slightly disappointing, the staff were rather indifferent, never tried to upsell wine, never offered dessert wine, tea or coffee. What was surprising is that the restaurant menu pages are wrapped up in plastic, doesn’t look nice or sustainable. Sommelier brought the wine poured in glasses without bringing the bottle which was surprising as well.
What a great visit, great welcome and service throughout was exemplary, especially from the maitre d. We were also lucky as Tom Kitchin was there on the day and came out to say hello and gave me a signed birthday card
Onto the food, it was exceptional with great depth of taste and beautiful presentation. I loved the cod starter and my partner thought her beef main was great and her strawberry dessert was exceptional "the most incredibly sweet strawberries she had ever eaten".
All in all, it was a fabulous visit, superb food, wonderful service and super relaxed atmosphere. We could not believe we were there for 2.5 hours and the time flew by.
Oh and the final hurrah, a tiny birthday cake arrived and made the day complete.
For that feeling of being special, please visit The Kitchin, Tom and his team will make you feel very relaxed and super special.
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