4 Edinburgh restaurants win Tripadvisor Travellers' Choice Awards as Leith eatery named 13th best in the world

Edinburgh ranks joint second in the UK for places to eat out, according to Tripadvisor

The best restaurants in the UK have been named by Tripadvisor – and Edinburgh has dominated the winners list for Scotland.

It comes as the world’s largest travel guidance platform announced its final Travellers’ Choice Awards for 2023: Best of the Best Restaurants.

Analysing 12 months of review data, the winners span six continents, 58 countries and 478 destinations – with 49 UK restaurants scooping awards this year, eight of them in Scotland.

The world's best restaurantst have been named by Tripadvisor – and Edinburgh has dominated the winners list for Scotland, and is ranked as the second best city in the UK for eating out.

Overall, London comes out top with five winning restaurants, followed closely by Edinburgh and Bath, with four each.

The awards are divided into six categories: Fine Dining, Everyday Eats, Date Night, Hidden Gems, and two new subcategories for 2023, Family-Friendly and Vegetarian-Friendly Restaurants.

Scotland’s best restaurant for 2023 is Michelin star chef Tom Kitchin’s The Kitchin, in Leith, which has also been named 13th best Fine Dining restaurant in the world.

The Kitchin, which presents modern British seasonal cuisine influenced by French cooking techniques and an appreciation of the best quality ingredients available, also comes in as 7th best Fine Dining restaurant in Europe.

Edinburgh also dominates the leaderboard in this year’s Everyday Eats category, taking three out of the top 10 spots for the UK. Makars Gourmet Mash Bar is named No. 4 this year, while Dine and Howies Waterloo Place come in at No. 8 and No. 9 respectively.

South Asian cuisine comes out top in the UK’s Hidden Gems list, with Ganesha Authentic Indian Cuisine in Bristol taking the No. 1 spot followed by Gurkha Bar and Restaurant Musselburgh at No. 5 and London’s The India – Best of the City at No.6.

Rural romantic escapes are popular with diners this year, with two of the UK’s top 10 Date Night restaurants located in Scotland’s Hebrides. Uig Sands Restaurant on the Isle of Lewis tops the charts at No. 1 and The Galleon Bistro on the Isle of Mull at No. 6. The Old Bank in Lynton, Exmoor National Park, has been named No. 8.

Sarah Firshein, Head of Editorial at Tripadvisor, said: “Restaurants provide a great way for travellers to get immersed in a destination's history and culture. This year’s Travellers’ Choice Restaurant winners – whose diversity and geographic reach reflect the fact that the last remaining pandemic-era travel restrictions have lifted – are especially exciting.

“We know Tripadvisor travellers seek out first-hand intel and guidance, and that’s exactly the spirit of these lists: All of our winners were selected not by professional food critics or editors, but by real diners who have left their feedback on Tripadvisor within the past year.”