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Green velvet banquettes curve beneath a chandelier and patterned wallpaper at Restaurant Martin Wishart, Edinburgh.
Edinburgh

Restaurant Martin Wishart

French cooking with Scottish produce on the Shore at Leith, in a converted warehouse, where Martin Wishart opened in 1999 and has held a Michelin star since 2001.

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Welcome

On the Shore at Leith, the name is set in raised letters on a white wall, above tall windows looking out over the water.

Visited and photographed by Simon Hird

The dining room is quiet and polished. Green velvet banquettes curve beneath clusters of glass chandeliers, against dark geometric wallpaper and timber panelling, and the tables are topped with weathered marble. Small bronze acrobats perch on black plinths between the booths. The plates arrive one at a time and carefully made: a seafood course at the centre of a wide textured bowl, a seared duck breast with a pastry roll and purée, its sauce poured at the table, each with a glass of wine chosen to go with it. Book for lunch, when the light comes off the river, and leave the afternoon free.

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Before you go

A market menu and a longer tasting menu, with a fish tasting menu and a vegetarian one.

Lunch from Wednesday to Saturday and dinner from Wednesday to Friday, in the season that ran into May 2026.

Where
On the Shore, Leith, overlooking the Water of Leith.

Opening hours

Book
Monday
Closed
Tuesday
Closed
Wednesday
noon–1.30pm, 6.30pm–10pm
Thursday
noon–1.30pm, 6.30pm–10pm
Friday
noon–1.30pm, 6.30pm–10pm
Saturday
noon–1.30pm, 6.30pm–10pm
Sunday
Closed

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Did you know

Black leather chairs surround marble-topped tables beneath teal curtains in an Edinburgh restaurant.
Did you know

Nearly a carpenter.

Martin Wishart left school at fifteen thinking of becoming a carpenter, until he was offered an apprenticeship in a hotel kitchen in Edinburgh.

Cluster pendant lights hang above green banquette seating and marble tables in an Edinburgh restaurant.
Did you know

On a doorstep in Burgundy.

At twenty he left his job at Cameron House on Loch Lomond and turned up at the door of Marc Meneau's restaurant in Burgundy, and Meneau took him in.

A sign reading Martin Wishart Restaurant is mounted on a white wall in Edinburgh.
Did you know

Seven years looking.

He decided at twenty-three to open his own restaurant, and took nearly seven years to find the building in Leith.

A seafood starter is plated beside a glass of wine and a vase of flowers on a marble table in an Edinburgh restaurant.
Did you know

Wobbly chairs.

Martin Wishart tiled the kitchen and painted the walls himself, and the first dining room had wobbly chairs and a concrete floor. The Michelin star came two years later, in 2001.

A rolled napkin and seafood starter sit on a marble table beside a vase of flowers in an Edinburgh restaurant.
Did you know

Delivered alive.

The langoustines, scallops, crabs and lobsters all arrive at the kitchen live.

A seared meat course is plated beside a glass of red wine and a rolled napkin on a marble table in an Edinburgh restaurant.
Did you know

A first for a chef.

In 2012 he became the first chef to be given an honorary degree by the University of Edinburgh.

Ben Lerwill

From our guide to Edinburgh

As one of the top chefs in the UK, Edinburgh-born Martin Wishart has a reputation that precedes him. This eponymous restaurant offers top-notch Michelin-starred dining with a European influence.

Read more
A plated dish, wine glasses and pink flowers are arranged on a marble table in an Edinburgh restaurant.
What is on

What is new across Edinburgh, day by day.

New places, news and stories, as we find them.

What is on in Edinburgh
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Where it is

On the Shore in Leith, overlooking the Water of Leith.

Close byThe places nearest Martin Wishart, on the Shore at Leith.
  1. Leith ShoreLeith ShoreThe old quayside of Leith, where Mary Queen of Scots and George IV came ashore.Under a mile 1 min by road
  2. Friends chat round a candlelit table beneath a "Guest Keg" chalkboard menuTeuchters LandingA bar in the old waiting room for the steamboat ferry to Aberdeen.Under a mile 2 min by road
  3. Royal Yacht BritanniaRoyal Yacht BritanniaThe royal family's floating home for 44 years, berthed at Leith.Under a mile 4 min by road
  4. Water of Leith winding through Dean Village's stone tenements and old mill buildingsWater of LeithA walkway along the river through the quieter corners of the city.Under a mile 4 min by road
  5. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society - The VaultsThe Scotch Malt Whisky Society - The VaultsThe Society's members' rooms in a bonded warehouse of 1787.1 mile 5 min by road
  6. Mimi's shopfront with award chalkboards for Scottish Bakery and Café of the YearMimi's BakehouseA family-run bakery in Leith, known for its cakes.1 mile 6 min by road
Directions
The green front of Malt & Hops on the Shore, with hanging baskets, barrels and pavement tables.BarsMalt & HopsA step away
The room at Chez Bernard, with red pillars, wooden tables and chairs with red seats, and racks of wine behind the bar.BarsChez BernardA step away
A fillet of fish on greens and green beans in an orange sauce, on a white plate at a table at Barry Fish.RestaurantsBarry Fish0.2 miles
Stone townhouse with sash windows and dark green door on Custom WharfShoppingBard0.3 miles
Fairy lights strung above a cobbled courtyard with wooden benches and stone buildingsCafeWilliams & Johnson Coffee Co0.3 miles
The hall at Brown's of Leith under its timber roof, with the Haze counter on the left, a round steel table and people at tables by the tall windows.RestaurantsBrown's of Leith0.3 miles
The Keelson's stone building on the Shore at Leith, seen across the Water of Leith on a sunny day, with gulls on the river.BarsThe Keelson0.3 miles
Nobles bar frontage with ornate blue façade and pavement tablesRestaurantsNobles0.3 miles
Petrucciolis Coffee shopfront with chalkboard menus and outdoor café tablesCafePrintworks Coffee0.3 miles

Recommend to a friend

Stay nearby

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