Edinburgh restaurant named in top 10 fine dining restaurants at Tripadvisor Awards 2022

An Edinburgh restaurant owner has reacted to being named one of the top 10 fine dining restaurants in the UK by Tripadvisor.

Dean Banks at the Pompadour scooped the accolade just days after its sister restaurant Haar St Andrews collected three AA rosettes.

The Pompadour in Princes Street went straight in at number nine in the hugely popular review site’s Travellers’ Choice awards 2022.

Highlighted comments included “a very agreeable and delicious evening” and “thought-provoking gastronomic experience”.

Dean Banks at the Pompadour in Edinburgh's Princes Street scooped the accolade

Edinburgh chippy takes titles of Scotland’s best fish and chips at national awards

Reacting on the win, Dean said: “Coming on the back of three rosettes for Haar St Andrews so soon after opening, plus our long-standing three rosettes award for the Pompadour, this has honestly left me quite taken aback.

“Things are so difficult for all of us at the moment and we are trying too hard to help our teams – so this sort of recognition is priceless.”

Dean said: “It shows people are genuinely getting what we are trying to deliver – a truly different fine dining experience.

Dean Banks at The Pompadour interior

“What makes this accolade all the more rewarding is the fact it comes from diners’ reviews, the people who come in night after night and pay their own money to enjoy the best of Scottish produce presented our way.

“To be rated one of the top 10 fine dining restaurants in the UK within our first year is genuinely humbling.”

It comes after Makars Gourmet Mash Bar on The Mound was named the number one restaurant in the whole UK in Tripadvisor’s Everday Eats category.