It's by the sea – Newhaven Harbour is across the street – the interior looks like a well-appointed surf shack and it has ceviche, chowder, lobster, mussels and oysters on the menu. Meanwhile the specials board could bring scallops with black pudding, sea bream with potatoes, samphire and potted shrimp, and other simple, fresh dishes. Given the owners are Thai – and the premises used to house a Thai restaurant – there may be even be some Asian-inflected options at times. Fish haters can resort to burger and fries; desserts might be affogato or fruit crumble.
What is a seafood restaurant? Some of the best restaurants in Edinburgh offer a seafood tasting menu these days featuring accomplished dishes like langoustine with parsnip and white chocolate, verjus, smoked butter and shrimps. Meanwhile a less formal outfit like the Mussel & Steak Bar with its two branches (Grassmarket and Jeffrey Street) serves up oysters and pots of mussels but it clearly devotes a great deal of its energies to beef (looking for beef? Try Edinburgh's best steak restaurants). Like a number of other decent eateries Sweet Melinda's (Roseneath Street) might have Cajun-spiced salmon on the menu, sea bass with olive mash as a special, but it will also have roast chicken or an Aberdeen Angus burger as well. None of these are really seafood restaurants per se, even though they serve seafood. To qualify, the bulk of the menu choices must be fish or shellfish and it definitely helps if the décor has a maritime theme – or some concession to matters nautical. With that in mind, here are Edinburgh's finest spots for seafood…