First review of The Cottage at Royal Terrace: I tried the £55 lunch menu at this new Edinburgh gem
This distinctive building has a new chapter ahead
I arrived at The Cottage at Royal Terrace in a hippyish mood.
My beau had been talking about gratitude, because he’s been listening to podcasts again.
Apparently, if you make it a daily practice to acknowledge ten good things that happen in your day and thank the universe for them, you can train your brain to be more positive.
We’re both of a saturnine disposition, so I liked the sound of this tip.
Instead of dwelling on the stratospheric pollen count, I registered that it wasn’t raining - yet - as we trekked along London Road to this new venue.
It’s a neat 19th-century William Playfair designed building that was created as a home for the resident gardener, and it had a long spell as a popular restaurant, Gardener’s Cottage, which closed back in December 2024 after 12 years. Now, it’s been taken over by Edinburgh sommelier and hospitality mensch, Peter Adshead, who has worked at various venues, including Number One at The Balmoral and The Lookout. He also has Polwarth’s Cafe Florentin.
Hooray that this building - one of the city’s best locations - has an appreciative proprietor again.
He’s freshened up the front garden with its butter yellow azaleas, lovage, rhododendron and blackcurrant bush, and redecorated the dining space.
It’s neutral, smart and remains communal, with two long blonde wood tables to seat eight. They’ve got one dining room open for lunch, then they open the second for dinner.
We were there at 1pm, when there’s a choice of an a-la-carte at two courses for £25 or three for £30, or a very reasonable five-course version of the evening seven-course tasting menu (£85, and an additional £55 for matching wine) at £55, and add wine for another £35.
The food is cooked by head chef Jamie Stapleton, formerly of Edinburgh’s Cannonball restaurant.
Additional snacks to start you off are £7.50, and are definitely worth the extra cost. I’d pay that alone for the puffy aged Parmesan gougeres, which are as cheesy as a Ricky Astley track and I’m never going to give them up. There’s also a pair of compact and crispy pork cubes, each anointed with a translucent and tangy apple gel, and two lightly dissolving trout and creme fraiche tarts dotted with tobiko.
Next is a slab of sourdough each, with some bright green lovage butter, made with their own garden’s herby wares.
Then, a beautiful starter of asparagus, with tips that are topped by an eyelid-curlingly zingy charred lemon gel, another of black garlic, and a frothy veloute with herby oil.
As Ian Dury sang; “Reasons to be cheerful, part three”.
he next disTh has got to be my favourite of the year. It was a silky and pale piece of halibut, with a lush and dill-heavy sauce, barbecued leeks that didn’t get strung between your teeth, and a decadent beurre blanc that was studded with a brunoise of crispy bits - celery and apple, we thought - as well as red grapes, and more orange roe.
I’m going to have to note down this venue’s phone number, so that when I’m eventually interred on death row and have to order my last supper, I can get my gaoler to call them and tell them to whip this up.
It could’ve been a comedown from here on, but the hogget dish was beautiful too, with buttery pads of meat, and a crispy caramelised slow cooked bit, as well as a subtly feral dollop of ewe’s milk cheese, and a rich meaty mahogany jus. Oh my.
The pudding was a final triumph. I am a sucker for a nutty dessert, and this had toasted candied walnuts on the top of a rich chocolate tart, with a quennelle of creme fraiche and miso gel for a salty sweet heavenly bite.
We’d also gone for the matching wines, you can’t not. Peter really knows his stuff. Highlights included an amazing Madeloc Banyuls Cirera 2022 berryish and umami dessert wine, and a glorious and ‘beeswaxy’, as Peter described it, Le Blanc Vom Kalkstein 2021 that elevated our fishy dish.
For afters, you can stick around for George Mewes cheeseboard and all the trimmings for £18. There’s also a Santu coffee pour-over, or Shibui tea and petit fours for an additional £6.
Anyway, at this point, I’d already used up my ten daily nuggets of gratitude.
In fact, I’d probably splurged a whole week’s worth in just three joyful hours.
That has to have been my favourite meal of 2026 so far. Thank you, universe (and, of course, Peter and Jamie).
The Cottage at Royal Terrace, Edinburgh, www.thecottageedinburgh.com
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