Cannonball Listed by The Telegraph

After opening our doors only four months agowe are extremely proud to be included in The Telegraphs City Guide of Edinburgh Restaurants– The best places to eat in Edinburgh, from upmarket restaurants to cafés and snack bars, in destinations including Leith, Stockbridge and Morningside. By Linda Macdonald, Telegraph Travel’s Edinburgh expert.

Contini Cannonball

The Contini family have been a part of the Edinburgh food scene for more than 100 years. So it is fitting that they should have taken on the restoration of this 16th-century building hard by the gates of Edinburgh Castle (named for the Cannonballl lodged high in an outside wall), in partnership with the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. From an awkward but fascinating building they have sympathetically created a clerestory-lit, pleasingly simple dining room with terrific views of the castle and the city, where they serve Italian/Scottish comfort food elevated to luxury status – like Orkney lobster thermidor macaroni cheese (£20). On the ground floor there is a ‘caffe’ serving quick dishes: haggis-topped Aberdeen butteries (£8.50) and draught wines from the Veneto. On the lower level you will find a traditional gelateria faithfully reproduced, serving crowd-pleasing ice-cream sundaes, shakes and floats, as well as a porridge bar, for a (mostly) authentic start to the day. You may be knee-deep in tourists, but don’t let that put you off – what’s on offer here is big-hearted, quality food. For a real celebration, keep an eye on their website for Hogmanay and Festival Tattoo/Dining special packages.