The story
Martin Wishart is a modern French restaurant at 54 The Shore, Leith, Edinburgh, EH6 6RA, and it holds one Michelin star (2026). The kitchen works in a modern European style that draws on classical French technique and Scottish ingredients.
Edinburgh-born chef Martin Wishart trained under Albert Roux, Michel Roux Jr, Marco Pierre White and John Burton-Race, and their classical French methods still shape the cooking. Head chef Stuart Frier, who joined in 2018, works with him on the dishes and keeps the cooking consistent. Shellfish and game are central to the menu, and langoustines, scallops and crab arrive live from Scottish producers.
The tasting menus have featured Orkney scallop ceviche with avocado cream and ponzu-marinated keta roe, and Loch Fyne langoustine with crab, tomato tuile and asparagus cream. Dessert might be a passion fruit crème brûlée with ginger and lemon sorbet, or a Valrhona chocolate délice with pistachio crémeux and pomegranate. Menus change with the season, so the current list is the one to check when booking.
Recognition
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High quality cooking
A well-respected aristocrat on Leith’s regenerated waterfront since 2001, Martin Wishart’s flagship has weathered the storms of fortune and continues to please locals and visitors alike. It helps that the ‘lovely’ dining room is a gently civilised, reassuring space with light wood panels, black leather chairs, discreet lighting and immaculately laid tables. Wishart has refined his vision of modern French cuisine over the years, although his loyalty to Scottish seasonal produce remains as strong as ever. Dornoch lamb is roasted and served with goat’s cheese gnocchi and baby gem, while mallard from the Borders could arrive with creamed cabbage, braised salsify, pomme florentine and Armagnac jus. Seafood from Scottish waters is a perennial winner: a ‘genuinely inspired’ dish of Gigha halibut paired with kohlrabi rémoulade, compressed cucumber and a luxe caviar sauce was the highlight for one diner, but the haul could also include sea bream (rendered as a ceviche), John Dory or cod (steamed and served with pomme parisienne, baby leeks and hollandaise sauce). This is well-rounded, assured contemporary cooking without pyrotechnics or showboating. The kitchen also shows its class when it comes to dessert – a Valrhona chocolate fondant needs nothing more than a black cherry sorbet and some crème fraîche, while a composition of honey mousse with lavender and apricot curd strikes a more modern note. If there is a bugbear, it has to do with the service which readers report lacks its usual panache and courtesy. Thankfully, all is well in the drinks department: a tip-top wine list takes oenophiles on a world tour, pitching rare treats from lesser-known countries alongside French regional classics; half bottles are in good supply, as are superior selections by the glass.
4 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence
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