The Kilted Lobster located on St Stephen Street in Edinburgh’s Stockbridge is an award winning Seafood restaurant serving up the best of Scottish produce from our lochs, seas and gardens. They focus on building strong relationships with Scottish producers and suppliers, to ensure that the dishes they produce are seasonal, local, ethical and sustainable.
The most popular dish at the Kilted Lobster, is either a half or a whole Scottish Lobster served with seasonal veg and crayfish butter but the Kilted Lobster does cater for vegetarians, meat-eaters and those who are gluten intolerant too. Their menu features delightful dishes such as Calamari Fritte with chipotle aioli; Organic Belly Pork, Stornoway black pudding & potato croquette with red sticky cabbage and Toffee Apple Pannacotta with shortbread. They have a great wine list that has been carefully matched to their menu.
The restaurant has been open for just over a year under the watchful eye of Chef, Owner and Philanthropist, Colin Hinds.
It has come a long way since it opened in November 2015. They were the finalist in the Best Newcomer Restaurant in the Scottish Hospitality Awards and won Best Contemporary Seafood Restaurant in the Lux Awards; has hosted international bloggers and journalists for Blogmanay 2015 and was a featured Edinburgh restaurant in the New York Times Travel Publication. Musician and producer, Brian Eno and Holywood Film Director Oliver Stone have also dined here last year.
Chef Colin Hinds has had recipes featured in the Herald Scotland, Foodies Magazine and has recently become the latest member to join the Slow Food Chef Alliance alongside some of the worlds best Chefs including Marcus Wareing, Neil Forbes, Michael Roux Jnr and Paul Wedgewood
Colin puts a lot of energy into the restaurant working tirelessly training tomorrows chefs through the social enterprise arm of the restaurant, Cooking Up a Storm. Projects include : working with the Jobcentre to provide hospitality work placements; Enable Scotland for High School Work Experience; working with the Food For Thought programme part of Business in the Community Scotland and the Wester Hailes Education Centre young persons hospitality courses; and working with Bridgend Farmhouse in Craigmillar to help run their Community Café where the participants would gain training, qualifications and skills in producing healthy low cost food for the community.
But the most important aspect is that they close their doors every Tuesday evening to allow individuals and families in need to dine for free. These individuals and families that face food poverty, isolation, or just some hardship in their lives are referred to us through agencies such as Crisis, Children 1st, Christians Against Poverty, Church of Scotland, Edinburgh City Mission, Cyrenians and Citadel Youth Project to name but a few. Cooking Up a Storm also work closely with Appetite for Change and The Real Junk Food Project to help feed homeless people on Christmas Day and other worthwhile projects within the city throughout the year.
Colin has opened up a sister restaurant called Rib-Aye in Leith, which follows the same ethos. All profits from both restaurants are gift aided back to Cooking Up a Storm, to ensure that they can continue to make a difference in our communities.
The Kilted Lobster is open Wednesday to Monday from 5:30pm and open from 12:30pm on Saturdays and Sunday. To book a table, please call 0131 220 6677.
Please visit the website kiltedlobster.com or follow them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Rib-Aye, 43 Assembly Street, Leith is open Wednesday to Sundays, from 12:30pm serving lunch and dinner. To book a table, please call 0131 467 1588 or via www.rib-aye.co.uk or Facebook page.
Feature Image: Grant Mercer – Chef. 3 young people from the Wester Hailes Education Centre and Chef owner Colin Hinds.
