Cafe Hub, The

An important part of the Edinburgh Festival Centre, the Hub goes on all the year, and that includes the excellent café/restaurant which must be offering some of the best value in Edinburgh, coupled with real quality. Part of a very successfully converted church in the Royal Mile the café occupies a major part of the upper floor, and is bright, cheerful, and full of buzz at any time, let alone August.

Amongst the starters is wild rabbit and pigeon terrine with wild mushroom and game jus, or seared scallops with truffle risotto. For a main course my eye strayed to the lamb cutlets with wild mushroom and pearl barley risotto and roast garlic jus, and a tabbouleh with olives, filo and tzatziki (a salad of yoghurt and cucumber flavoured with mint). For pudding we were in customarily dangerous country with warm chocolate pudding with rum and raisin right at the head of the list.

Good also to find a restaurant with a reliable coffee deal struck - how many, when you complain limply tell you it's the franchised brand and that's it. The whole Centre is sponsored by the Bank of Scotland, with Caledonian Brewery. If either of those organisations is closely associated with the catering they deserve praise in full measure.