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Vibrant and lively during the day, guests dining at Iggs Restaurant in Jeffrey Street can enjoy lovely views to the north of the city through the large front windows. A modern Spanish menu with a Scottish bias delights the palate with its variety. In the evening, candles cast their warm glow providing an intimate ambience.

Using the finest ingredients imported directly from Spain alongside the best of local, seasonal Scottish produce, the restaurant's interesting menu embraces Spanish specialities such as air dried Iberian meats, braised haunch of garnacha glazed rabbit, slow cooked pig cheeks, seared loin of peppered tuna and rare rib of beef with black truffle tapenade. The chef's novelties complement the traditional cooking well to add a creative touch to the menu.

A sumptuous meal here could begin with seared scallops, crisp pork belly, chestnut purée and hazelnut powder or haggis bon bons in breadcrumbs with a veal tongue jus. For mains you consider presa Iberica, acorn-fed wild black pig found in only certain parts of Spain, and served as Iberian pork, pig cheeks, morcilla purée and cider caramel or pan roast fillet of sea bass, slow braised duck breast, duck crackling and smoked velouté. Rapid lunch and pre-theatre menus are also available.

Dessert of traditional almond tart and homemade vanilla ice cream, crema Catalana with chocolate fondant and banana ice cream or a Spanish cheese board conclude a satisfying meal with panache. Iggy's thoughtfully crafted wine list holds its own to complement the food perfectly.

Part of St Martin's Lane Hotel, Tuscan serves modern classics with a twist. Renowned for its sharp image and business-like attitudes, the deal is quite simple, you get three courses for £20, plus a 'complimentary' cocktail. Should you be so unwise as to stay at your table longer than two hours you will be asked to move on, presumably the fruits of bitter experience in the past which, given the location, is understandable.

Start with a Tuscan Caesar salad before tackling the excellent smoked fillet of salmon with pumpkin gnocchi Napoletana. Their gazpacho is highly spoken of and the quality of the intensity of staff chatter as they serve you is impressive even by the standard expected in such circumstances.

With expansive views over the Shore at Leith, Edinburgh's historic seaport, The Raj Restaurant promises its patrons, a feast of authentic and delectable Indian and Bangladeshi dishes served in relaxed and comfortable surroundings. Opened in 1986, the restaurant has a bright and attractive red façade that is easily visible, giving diners a hint of the kind of spicy food served within. Ingredients are locally sourced wherever possible and then subtly flavoured with spices and sauces from the Indian sub-continent.
 
The lunch menu features a number of traditional dishes with contemporary touches, including starters of chicken or lamb tikka, finger sized cashew and potato rolls with spicy sauce, and essar bora, a dish of crushed prawns prepared with onion and spiced ghee. These are followed by mains of Kashmiri lamb made with banana, pineapple and lychee sauce, and vegetable karrai with selected vegetables, herbs and spices. The dinner menu is even more extensive and offers a number of vegetarian dishes, kurma and Madras curries which can be had with the restaurant's famed biryanis or variety of baked breads.

The evening can be finished with relaxing and flavoured hookah that is traditionally shared with other guests.

Channings, which has been awarded 2 AA Rosettes, is one of those discreet, utterly comfortable Edinburgh hotels that give hotel-keeping a good name. Unlike so many others throughout the world they do not concentrate with blinkered vision on the letting of rooms as an end in itself as they waffle on about trouser presses, but give attention to other matters as well, in particular to their dining rooms and kitchens.

Done well this produces the sort of results to be seen at Channings where Scottish ingredients combine with Gallic cuisine to produce such delights as seared King scallops with boudin noir, cider butter sauce, apples and celery. The fillet of Buccleuch beef with a crust of Scottish Dunsyre (the only Scottish cheese that can come anywhere near a Stilton), caramelised pumpkin, cracked pepper seasoning and a pumpkin jus is good almost beyond belief; follow it with the poached pineapple in dark rum and vanilla syrup coconut sorbet and you have the perfect end to any day.

Channings has also recently introduced a luxury 7 course 'taster' menu, enjoy such sumptuous dishes such as 'seared hand dived scallops with preserved lemon and argan oil, mango and chilli salsa' and 'red snapper with soba noodles, chilled cucumber and avocado soup with a basil, mint and bean sprout salad'.

A fifty-strong wine list stays mostly under £20, with house wine at £12 or £3.50 a glass.

Six miles from the buzz of Edinburgh lies the elegant Norton House Hotel, built in 1840 as a luxurious retreat, a role which it still fulfils for its guests today. The black leather banquettes and dark woods of the Brasserie create a relaxed, informal atmosphere in which to enjoy the menu of modern classics such as battered haddock with chunky chips and Toulouse sausage and mash.

One of the places to be in Edinburgh, particularly round about 5 pm on a Friday, when the place is stacked high with people relaxing at the end of a long hard week. Primarily a place in which to drink the need for something more has long been recognised and it currently comes through the head Chef Neil Fox.

Procini and truffle ravioli at lunch or pan seared scallops with pea puree and crispy pancetta to start at dinner is a great way to start of your meal. To follow how about spiced Moroccan lamb shank with herb couscous or confit of duck leg with out lentils and red wine jus. Then to finish who could resist the banoffee cheesecake?

Maybe it's the groovy nature of the place but Indigo is blessed with much better than normal staff which, in a place like this is fundamental to the atmosphere. No wonder one of their top cocktails is called 'hot kiss'.