Angels with Bagpipes

343 High St, Royal Mile, Edinburgh

Perhaps a Saturday afternoon is not the best time to lunch on the busiest part of the Royal Mile. Angels with Bagpipes, the latest venture from the team behind the renowned Edinburgh deli Valvona & Crolla, is packed with ladies who shop, shrieking with laughter over their designer spoils. Their cackles richochet painfully off the smooth white walls and dark wood floors, but it’s worth bearing for the superb cooking. Seared scallops, just set inside, come with a sausage of spicy white pudding and sweet cauliflower purée. Pan-fried trout is tender and aromatic, complemented by chunks of tongue-tingling, syrupy poached lemon. In contrast, the slow-cooked veal flank is ideal comfort food: meltingly soft, with rich, creamy mash and deep-flavoured onion compote. On to dessert and the brown bread and honey ice cream makes an excitingly crunchy partner for a silky pistachio crème brûlée with a perfect sugar shell. What elevates this cooking to greatness is that all these distinct flavours marry together to create something that’s more than the sum of its parts. There’s a well-chosen wine list, too. You’ve got hand it to the ladies – they know how to lunch in style.