Iglu

We walk by Iglu so often, it was nice to finally go in and give it a try. Cozy, appealing interior with a small bar area and a handful of tables. Short menu of creative, interesting dishes emphasizing local and seasonal food. Service was friendly and prompt. Nice selection of wines by the glass. Of the two mains I sampled, one was good (a giant marrow stuffed with lentils) and one fell a bit short (spinach haggis parcel’s contents were too gummy for my taste). The profiteroles were lovely. Free well-​functioning wifi. Will definitely be back.

We went back again to Iglu tonight to give it a second try, and the experience and food were both highly improved! The staff were actually very friendly this time and they were attentive (they were neither last time, though). I had the lamb with potatoes and salad this time and Mason had the chicken with potatoes. Both dishes were superb and really delicious. There was a bit of a wait for them, though, and we were glad we had ordered the potatoes in Scottish cheese with a little salad and home-​made pesto to start. The food was really delicious although the mains were not actually that hot after they arrived and were only luke-​warm. However, I was so impressed with the improved quality and quantity of the dishes as well as the friendliness of the staff that I have upped my review to four stars.
My only other comment to add is that I thought the menu could have been improved. Although I don’t mind having only four or five starters and six or so mains to choose from, I think that the menu was only slightly altered since the last time we came here a month ago. I was only really interested in one or two of the dishes last time and again this time, so I went for the lamb for a second time. It was served with lentils last time and now with potatoes, but generally it was a very similar dish and the chicken, fish and burger options on the menu were all generally very similar to last month’s slim choice of offerings. I hope a few more changes are made before I come again so I will be inspired to try sometime else next time.

Was on a itison voucher and felt like I was treated as though I was on a voucher and not like a customer:
Some what neglected…
Not great value for money…
Great atmosphere though…

Recently visited Iglu for dinner on a Sunday. The main restaurant was half full but easily done as the space is very small, cosy with it though. We were seated along the banquet seating next to the bar, I remember thinking the place needs a good spring clean though. Like Laura D noticed downstairs, we had a lovely view of dust under the coffee maker too, just at eye level! Tis the time for spring clean eskimos! I liked the array of board games and art/​healthy eating books available you can borrow while there. Gives you a sense they aren’t in a hurry to push you out the door to make room for the next customer.
It was great 90% of their ingredient is organic and sourced from Scotland, however the price truly reflected this! £16 for a main course? Ouch! Saying that is was very tasty, I ordered baked cod with lemon and parsley crust, it also came with dauphinoise potatoes & spinach. The cod and spinach was lovely but the the dauphinoise potatoes were a little al dente, which I though a little odd, fine pasta, but potatoes? Hmm…
Anyway the staff were super friendly, especially the Aussie guy who was actually really funny! Makes a difference to the dining experience. I will return, but will need to save up for it. Wait for a special occasion.

I bought an itison voucher so I could take my friend out for her birthday. It was described as «Michelin recommended» which sold me as it wasn’t the cheapest voucher either. I’d been before a long time ago and from what I could remember the place, albeit small, was rather lovely with homemade bread. Well. None of this was offer on Easter Sunday. In fact the top restaurant was closed for some kind of clothes swap (not mentioned when I booked!!) so the only place to eat was downstairs in their extremely cold bar area beside a huge coffee machine smothered in dust underneath. Not what I like looking at when eating!
The menu was small which is fine with me as long as its fresh. I had pigeon to start which was so tiny and very overlooked that I bitterly regretted not choosing the soupi swithered over. That also might have warmed me up! My friend’s blue cheese salad didn’t have blue cheese on it but some kind of cheddar. Now, she likes cheddar but come on! Tell us BEFORE you serve the food that something has changed from that described on the menu.
My beef stew with roast potatoes and pan fried pak choi was rather tasty luckily. There was just so much of it. Very heavy. The beef was slow cooked so it shredded away which I like. Quite yummy. My friend’s chickpea curry also went down well. Just what you need when you are freezing your ass off. Neither dish were Michelin quality though, more just «home cooking». It did provide a good stomach lining for the copious amounts of Stockbridge’s finest cocktails later though! :)
I feel really bad. That’s 3 vouchers I’ve used with this particular friend recently and they’ve all been disappointing. Maybe the concept of impressing someone so much they’ll come back is lost on these places!

Iglu provided one of the most memorable experiences on our trip from Scotland! We visited here for a whisky tasting and dinner, and it was one of the best we had on our trip.
The manager of the bar came and sat with us, and walked us through the whiskies we were tasting. She was very knowledgeable, and very patiently answered all of our questions. There were 5 drams in all, and I enjoyed the experience.
The food was fabulous. We had 3 courses of local, sustainable ingredients. Everything was delicious.
The atmosphere is cosy and quaint. We went on a quiet Sunday night, so we were seated downstairs next to the bar. I really enjoyed listening to the banter of the locals.
All in all, I firmly believe that Iglu can’t be missed!

Great for vegetarians, meat lovers, coeliacs, people with dietry issues and anyone who wants to encourage the sustainable sourcing and creation of food.
The chef (self-​trained) and restaurant manager are both gluten intolerant, so they are very good at accomodating for people’s dietry requirements. They do excellent game dishes, and a wonderful wild mushroom dish — and I’ve heard that they are aiming to have a 50% split between vegetarian and meat dishes on the menu over the next year so will add to the vegetarian offering of the city very nicely.
The upstairs restaurant is cute and cosy (but can seat around 60), and their menu changes twice a season to accomodate local produce changes. A nice bunch of people and a welcoming spot, part of the Slow Food Movement and very careful about sourcing their ingredients (including drinks). Very reasonably priced lunch menu if you want to try it but have a low budget.
p. s. Would definitely give 4 and a half stars if that was possible! And look forward to going back and experiencing more.

I can’t believe Iglu is not more highly Unilocaled! I first discovered this cute, friendly, little bar after a Saturday in Stockbridge and vowed to return for dinner which I finally did at the weekend.
A parental visit meant I booked Iglu for an early dinner as we hit Stockbridge market in the afternoon. Iglu pride themselves on local and organic produce but despite the ‘local’ and ‘organic’ tags, they offer an early evening menu priced £12 for 2 courses and £15.50 for 3 courses.
Iglu cater for coeliacs and gluten free isn’t an issue — I was given an adapted menu marked by the chef showing what I could have.
Now, I like my food but I wouldn’t normally see myself as ordering the pressed ox tongue but I did! It was divine — two large triangles of pure meat, with tangy horseradish celeriac and salad. My dad opted for the same and mum went for the mackerel tartar which was gorgeous (and she was still raving about it two days on).
For mains, I went for the chicken in peas, spring onions and new potatoes. A lovely summery dish and as a pea addict I was in heaven. My dad loved his boar burger with triple cooked chips (they are fab!) and my mum loved her steak porter pie, full of steak pieces.
We couldn’t fit in dessert. Food was amazing and I am desperate to go back. The early evening menu was a great deal — 2 courses for three, 2 sides, beers and wine was £63 and even with the early evening menu (we booked for 6pm), we still had our table for 2 hours and weren’t rushed due to the relaxed, friendly service.
Have attached some pics somewhere of the Ox tongue and the chicken dish — yum!

After getting 50% of the christmas shopping done, we thought of getting a relaxing dinner here. And we got what we wanted. The place upstairs has a calm ambiance and very charming. Downstairs is the coffee place. Wait staff were very friendly and polite thoughout the evening. It’s myt 3^rd time here and the food is still magnifico! The chocolate desert ended our meal just right. Will definitely keep returning.

My husband and I had our small wedding meal here, and were one of the restaurant’s first «occasion» events after they opened. Everything was of the highest quality — three years on and the guests we had are still talking about the venison and how good the chocolate puddings were.
Have been back since then, and am really pleased to see that they’re doing so well — working with some of the best ingredients that the Lothians has to offer makes their menu really engaging and different (but absolutely, deliciously accessible) from a lot of the other restaurants of similar price range in the New Town.

Iglu is a dinky bar, situated slightly deeper inside the New Town than a lot of other drinking establishments, and so because of this is never really packed with a big perspiration fest of people, which unfortunately some of the more central bars can descend into of a weekend.
Iglu may be miniature in size, but the banterful qualities of its interior ambience make up for what it lacks in spaciousness. There is a great range of varieties on the bar’s wine list, plus some tasty organic cider, and I’m always a happy bar attendee if decent cider is on the cards. It’s very cosy and relaxed in here too, and it’s always a sign of a decent bar when you feel you can sit for most of the evening having drinks and chatting away, and not feel the inclination to move on. There are board games to be played, which is unarguably amazing, for what could be better than a nice glass of wine plus some competitive, but friendly (sometimes) board game glee? The food here is also consistently yummy, so this bar comes well recommended for an evening meal plus after dinner beverages.

Iglu sits tucked away on a side street in the new town. Set over two levels, the bar/​restaurant is committed to serving local, seasonal and organic food to its customers.
On entering the bar on the ground floor, I was struck by how small it was: there are only seven wee tables (I could easily eavesdrop on the other three occupied tables…). The exposed stone walls and stripped wooden floors and tables give the place a rustic and homely feel, whist the leather seats and contemporary art on the walls ensure that the clientele know that they are in a modern, urban bar.
Whilst the bar area was nice enough, they only do two whites/​reds by the glass and a ‘large’ glass contains only 175ml. I enjoyed my shiraz, but I would’ve enjoyed a properly sized large glass even more. Also, in spite of saying to the barman that I was planning on eating later on, I wasn’t offered a menu to look at so I decided to cut my losses and go for dinner somewhere else. I’m pretty sure this place can do better than this and I hope they sort it out soon.

I really like this place with it’s small but delicious menu and friendly staff. The Hake was one of the best «fish and chips» I’ve ever had with a lovely light batter and succulent fish and amazing rustic chips. The boar burger went down a treat with 2 of the other diners and the macaroni pie seemed popular with the fourth of our party although it seemed strange to put pasta in a pastry pie to the rest of us.
A lovely bottle red and good coffee to follow. A great, funky, unpretentious restaurant.

Wow! This is a gem of a place. It is small and unassuming and only becomes a ‘restaurant’ when there are enough people to warrant sitting upstairs. As it was, on a Tuesday night, I had my delicious meal in the small, ground level bar.
The menu is based on organic, local produce and is priced at a level that everyone can enjoy. My wood pigeon starter with black pudding looked as good as it tasted. The syrup served with it should perhaps be bottled and marketed as a national condiment.
I went for the wild boar burger (boarger) as a main. Quite rightly there is no sesame seed bun in this, by name only, burger (mmm? must check origin of the ‘burger’ — is it a meat sandwich? Is it just meat?). The juices are best mopped up by the chunky chips. A small salad to go with…
Hey presto! Bloody marvellous. Not often in Edinburgh. Will make this the place to eat when I am.

Iglu gave me chills — because everything was so amazing! My friend did well to introduce me to some of Edinburgh’s finest cuisine by taking me to Iglu for dinner the first night of my visit. The kitchen is serving up truly great food for a reasonable price, all with an eye toward animal welfare. Vegetarian haggis spring rolls are a must. The smoked trout pâté appetizer was also delicious, and a large portion that we couldn’t stop picking at until it was gone! The boar burger is also a highlight — my friend who eats there often had to be convinced to order something else because she likes it so much, she orders it every time she goes. My hake was excellently prepared and the roasted potatoes were perfectly crisp and flavorful.
The beer list at Iglu is also great fun. I tried the Black Isle Wheat Beer — something I’ve never had before — and it hit the spot. The perfect combination of sweetness and hops, it was light but not boring, and I ended up with a second bottle! Keeping with their ‘sustainable food’ theme, they have a good selection of organic beers, ciders and wines. Service was impeccable — we never waited too long for anything, we weren’t rushed into our entrees, even though we lingered over that pâté for quite some time. When it came time for us to rush out of there to make our nighttime ghost tour, our waitress was speedy and prompt. We couldn’t have been happier. Definitely make Iglu part of your next eating out in Edinburgh experience.

A wonderful little bar in the new town, with great organic, locally sourced food and wonderfully friendly staff.
The drinks menu is extensive and staff are knowledgeable of what they’re serving + the décor creates a cosy atmosphere. Highly recommended for a meal and post nosh drinks!
Ess

Iglu is a great bar situated just up from St Stephen’s Church in the New Town. It has a small bar downstairs with about 6 tables and a small standing area by the bar. It has a dark wooden floors and tables look. Upstairs there is a well-​reviewed organic restaurant. The night we went there first was relatively quiet but because it is so small there’s always a decent atmosphere. A couple of times since, we’ve had to move on elsewhere as once all the tables are taken and a couple of groups are standing at the bar there’s not really any more room. Usually it’s only that busy on a weekend though, so during the week it’s ideal.

This is a good New Town bar, probably better than the restaurant that shares the building. The staff are friendly and it’s a good crowd and not too crowded, either. You can get fancy wheat beers in impractical glasses as well as normal lager, and it feels good and dark like a pub should, without being dingy.

Tucked away in the new town, like many bars in this area, it is a great find. Terming itself an ‘ethical eatery’, lovely food is served and the bar is cosy, comfortable and intimate. This bar has won many local awards in the last 2 years and the food is all ‘wild, organic and local’. This is the perfect ‘winter’ bar, a place to hide yourself away from the cold night and warm yourself with some of the choice of drinks available. Downstairs there is also a small studio that you can hire for yoga/​dance or pilates practice!