Possibly one of Edinburgh’s most anticipated restaurant openings, The Lookout by Gardener’s Cottage opened on November 24th. It’s the first ever restaurant on Calton Hill, and one that promises diners breath-taking views across the Firth of Forth and the city skyline.

Built on a cantilever so the restaurant is partially suspended over Calton Hill’s northwest slope, the restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner 5 days a week, offering an approachable, relaxed dining experience.

The Lookout by Gardener’s Cottage is the third Edinburgh venture from chef director Dale Mailley who opened The Gardener’s Cottage in 2012 and Leith bakery Quay Commons in 2017. Dale said:

“We’re so happy to have opened our new restaurant and to be able to share the amazing views we’ve enjoyed whilst developing our latest offering. We developed the menu to reflect the location, keeping everything simple so as not to compete with the views – focusing on simple, earthy ingredients that release a spectrum of good, natural flavours.”

The lunch and dinner menu is centred on inventive seasonal dishes like cured sea trout with scurvy grass, malted rabbit and hare yakitori, halibut with cauliflower and sea purslane, salt baked turnip and walnuts, and The Snowman – a baked Alaska with barley, fig and ginger.

A buffet-style breakfast featuring pastries and bread from Quay Commons, as well as locally-cured meats, smoked fish, home-made granola and jams, British cheeses, eggs and fruit is served from 10am.

The Lookout by Gardener’s Cottage is a partnership with Collective, the organisation that has redeveloped the City Observatory site on Calton Hill into a new home for contemporary art. As well as the purpose-built restaurant, the world-class development incorporates the restored City Observatory and City Dome, along with new purpose-built exhibition space The Hillside.