The story
Mirin is an Asian fusion restaurant at 9 Albert Place in Leith, Edinburgh, and Gault&Millau awarded it 13.5 points in 2026.
Chef Nicolas Van Kerkhoven leads the kitchen. Gault&Millau praises ingredients that are prepared with care, and flavours that stay clear and balanced. The owners describe their own approach as a mix of deliberately unorthodox junk food and delicate cooking.
The menu is built around small plates, with a minimum of two dishes per person and two or three as the usual order. Dumplings come in broths, including smoked haddock with pear, celeriac and laksa. The chilli crunch noodles arrive with Laoganma chilli oil, a confit egg yolk and spring onions. Kombu cured halibut and yakitori of BBQ chicken thighs with shoyu tare show the kitchen's range. The Good Food Guide describes the restaurant as one of the more innovative Asian eateries in Edinburgh.
The room is low-key, with bare bulbs, wooden benches and stools at the counter. Service is warm and the music is good. The Good Food Guide notes that tables are hard to get and turnover is tight, so book ahead and plan around your sitting time. The wine list favours low-intervention bottles and includes orange wines made with skin contact, poured by the glass. Desserts on the sample menu include pineapple cheesecake and a coconut panna cotta with kaffir lime and forced rhubarb.
Recognition
Details
History
What began as a hip little ramen spot on a side street off Leith Walk is now one of the most innovative Asian eateries in Edinburgh. Sharif Gergis and Elizabeth Elliott, (the couple behind Gulp Ramen) garnered a cult following, but the level of broth-watching (simmered for over 60 hours) eventually took its toll. The Mirin rebrand has seen the focus shift to experimental small plates – the owners recommend two or three per person. But that’s not easy when the first three dumpling dishes all sound so enticing, especially an Asian take on Cullen skink: fat, chewy parcels of smoky fish in a puddle of chilli-infused coconut cream. Another inspired mash-up involves hand-ripped noodles, thick, al dente and coated in a spicy wild boar and Stornaway black pudding ragù (an Asian bolognese, if you like), while dessert might bring a miso-infused tiramisu. There’s a good list of wines by the glass (including skin-contact orange varietals). Mirin's interior is low-key, with bare bulbs, wooden benches and stools at the counter. It's hard to get a table, so you must book ahead – also bear in mind your sitting time, as they run a tight turnover.
At Mirin, chef Nicolas Van Kerkhoven continues his rise. His cuisine emphasizes meticulously prepared ingredients, always seeking balance and clarity of flavor. The dishes stand out for their precision and cohesion, without over...
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