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The dining room at The Kitchin, with grey stone walls, dark beams and blue-green chairs at tables laid for dinner.
Edinburgh

The Kitchin

A restaurant with a Michelin star in a converted whisky bond on Commercial Quay in Leith, opened by Tom and Michaela Kitchin in 2006.

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Welcome

There's something special about a meal at The Kitchin, and for many people it is the reason to come down to the old docks at Leith.

Tom and Michaela Kitchin opened it in 2006 in a converted whisky bond on Commercial Quay, and it won a Michelin star the following year, which it has kept ever since. The kitchen works from nature to plate, as the Kitchins put it: the finest Scottish produce in its season, cooked with French technique, with the meat and fish butchered and filleted in the kitchen every day. Go all in with the Chef's Tasting Menu or the Prestige surprise menu, or come at lunchtime for the well-priced set lunch. The dining room is calm and polished, all stone walls, dark wood and soft blue-green chairs. It's open from Tuesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner, dress is smart casual, and tables are booked through its own site, so plan ahead for a weekend.

Close byFishers in LeithA seafood restaurant at the foot of a seventeenth-century stone watchtower on the Shore at Leith, the original Fishers, open since 1991.3 min by roadSee itThe round stone watchtower on the Shore at Leith, with Fishers' blue and white restaurant front at its foot on a cobbled corner.
Before you go

Open from Tuesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner, closed on Sunday and Monday.

Book through its own site; for seven or more, call the restaurant.

Where
78 Commercial Quay, Leith, EH6 6LX.
Open
Tuesday to Saturday, 12pm to 2.30pm and 6pm to 10pm. Closed Sunday and Monday.
Menus
The Chef's Tasting Menu and the Prestige menu at dinner and for lunch guests arriving before 2pm; the à la carte and the set lunch menu at lunchtime.
Booking
Through its own site; call for parties of seven or more.
Dress
Smart casual; no sports shirts.
Dogs
Not allowed.
Access
A wheelchair-accessible entrance, seating, toilet and parking.
Phone
0131 555 1755

Opening hours

Their website
Monday
Closed
Tuesday
noon–2.30pm, 6pm–10pm
Wednesday
noon–2.30pm, 6pm–10pm
Thursday
noon–2.30pm, 6pm–10pm
Friday
noon–2.30pm, 6pm–10pm
Saturday
noon–2.30pm, 6pm–10pm
Sunday
Closed

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Where it is

On Commercial Quay in Leith, by the old docks, EH6 6LX.

Close byLeith and the Shore.
  1. Stepped gable buildings and the Toast shopfront reflected in Leith's still waterLeith ShoreThe old quayside of Leith along the mouth of the Water of Leith, where Mary Queen of Scots and George IV came ashore, now lined with bars and restaurants.Under a mile 2 min by road
  2. BardBardA shop and gallery of Scottish craft and design in the old Custom House on Leith's Customs Wharf, opened by Hugo Macdonald and James Stevens.Under a mile 3 min by road
  3. Water of Leith winding through Dean Village's stone tenements and old mill buildingsWater of LeithEdinburgh's river, followed by a 12-mile walkway from Balerno through Colinton, the Dean Village and Stockbridge to the sea at Leith.Under a mile 4 min by road
  4. Royal Yacht BritanniaRoyal Yacht BritanniaThe royal family's floating home for 44 years, launched on the Clyde in 1953 and berthed at Leith since 1998, from the bridge to the engine room.Under a mile 5 min by road
  5. The dark painted front of DogStar on Portland Place in the evening, its name on the lit window.DogStarA small restaurant in a former pub on Portland Place in Leith, from chef James Murray and the Nauticus team, with sharing plates that change daily.Under a mile 5 min by road
  6. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society - The VaultsThe Scotch Malt Whisky Society - The VaultsThe members' rooms of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society in Leith, in a wine merchants' bonded warehouse of 1787 that has been its home since 1983.1 mile 6 min by road
Directions
Friends chat round a candlelit table beneath a "Guest Keg" chalkboard menuRestaurantsTeuchters LandingA step away
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 Leith0.2 miles
Fairy lights strung above a cobbled courtyard with wooden benches and stone buildingsCafeWilliams & Johnson Coffee Co0.2 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 Keelson0.2 miles
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
The room at Chez Bernard, with red pillars, wooden tables and chairs with red seats, and racks of wine behind the bar.BarsChez Bernard0.2 miles
Restaurant Martin Wishart's white frontage with large paned windows on Leith's waterfrontRestaurantsRestaurant Martin Wishart0.2 miles
The round stone watchtower on the Shore at Leith, with Fishers' blue and white restaurant front at its foot on a cobbled corner.RestaurantsFishers in Leith0.3 miles
Sunlit table set for two beside a leather booth and windowRestaurantsRoseleaf Bar Café0.3 miles

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Stay nearby

Places to stay near The Kitchin, and when each is next free.

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