'But it's only a vegetarian sort of bistro,' carp the purists, 'it's got tofu noodles as a main course, it can't be that good.' David Bann took vegetarian cooking by the scruff of the neck in Edinburgh some years ago and remains peerless in the craft and inventiveness he brings to his eclectic range of meat-free dishes. Yes the venue looks like a swish, modern bistro and maybe there isn't a Master of Wine sommelier advising you over your choice by the glass but the cooking is as good as this genre gets in Scotland. Three courses might bring olive polenta with roast vegetables and goat cheese curd to start; chilli pancake with grilled sweet potato, courgette and chocolate sauce as a main; apple, cinnamon and calvados tart for dessert; bottle of biodynamic Austrian pinot noir to wash it all down.
