The best cheap eats in Edinburgh 2024

If the Fringe isn't your thing but you're still fascinated by Edinburgh's food scene, check out our guide on where to eat in Edinburgh for more general holiday inspiration. For more inspiration on foodie spots for Scotland, check out our guides on the best places to eat in Glasgow and the best places to eat in Aberdeen.

20 cheap places to eat in Edinburgh

1. Oink

Best for small appetites

Go the whole hog at Oink with its famous hog roast rolls, available in ‘piglet’ (80g) for smaller appetites, ‘oink’ (160g) or ‘grunter’ (250g) sizes. Customers can choose their bread, stuffing and sauce (for example, a white roll with haggis stuffing and homemade chilli jam). Gluten-free and the ‘three little pig’ sausage option is available, too.

Oink hog roast roll, £7.95

Where: 34 Victoria Street, EH1 2JW; 38 Hanover Street, EH2 2DR; 82 Canongate, EH8 8BZ

2. Chez Jules

Best for classic bistro vibes

Chez Jules is a much-loved French bistro in Edinburgh, partly thanks to its famed three-course lunch that costs just £12.90. Start with a French onion soup with gruyère croutons; enjoy a main of classic coq au vin in red wine with mushrooms, carrots, smoked bacon and mash; and finish with vanilla panna cotta with raspberry coulis. The price includes salad, bread and butter, pickles, pâté or rosette de Lyon. Bon appétit.

Three-course lunch, £12.90; two-course lunch, £10.90; one-course lunch, £8.90

Where: 109 Hanover Street, EH1 4DJ

3. Hula

Best for Instagrammable dishes

Aloha! For healthy yet beautifully Instagrammable dishes, choose Hula. These welcoming cafés – with green and pink décor, dashes of verdant greenery and jungle imagery – serve up breakfast, brunch and lunch from 8am in Fountainbridge (and 8.30am on the Grassmarket) until late afternoon. Hula started as juice bar, but now dishes up generous breakfasts, pancakes and poke bowls. Don’t miss the smoothie bowls, either – the açai offering has a base of strawberry, banana, açai berry, coconut milk and blueberry, plus toppings of banana, cacao nibs, granola, blueberry, goji berries and coconut flakes. A great way to kick-start the day.

Super juices start at £2.50; smoothie bowls start at £10.50

Where: 103-105 West Bow, Grassmarket, EH1 2JP; 94a Fountainbridge, EH3 9QA

4. Maki & Ramen

Best for Japanese-inspired dishes

Maki & Ramen’s founder Teddy Lee studied at Sushi School in Tokyo, and now has branches in Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle. Maki & Ramen plates up filling broth, noodles and sushi platters at decent prices in bright, modern interiors. You can’t go wrong with a bowl of classic tonkotsu – braised chashu, half ramen egg and homemade noodles – for £12.90. Upgrade to a black garlic tonkotsu for a few pennies more. Vegan and halal dishes are available, too.

Black garlic tonkotsu, £13.50

Where: 37 Leith Street, EH1 3AT; 1 Leith Street, St James Quarter, EH1 3SS; 80 Nicolson Street, Newington, EH8 9EW; 97-101 Fountainbridge, EH3 9QG

5. Piemaker

Best for comfort food

For food on the go, either sit-in or takeaway, it's hard to beat a Scottish pie from Piemaker, which promises ‘traditional pies, wholesome and freshly baked.' Try Scottish classics, such as steak & ale pie for £4.50 or a haggis pie for £3.20. There are vegetarian and vegan options, too, from a spinach & feta bugatsa, to a Moroccan-spiced bean pie. For those who fancy the ultimate carbohydrate fix, it's got to be a macaroni cheese pie at only £2.60.

From £1.90

Where: 38 South Bridge, EH1 1LL

6. Masti

Best for BYOB

BYOB (bring your own bottle) can save diners a lot of money, especially as Masti doesn't charge a corkage fee. ‘Masti’, the Hindi word for ‘fun’, perfectly describes its Indian dishes that come in under a tenner. Lamb dishes are around £8.95, then just add some steamed rice (£2.10) and a naan (£2.95), and head off to the next Fringe performance refuelled. Vegetarian and halal options are also available.

Chicken main dishes about £7.95; most lamb main dishes, £8.95

Where: 86 Morningside Road, EH10 4BY; 9 Dundee Terrace, EH11 1DL

7. Snax

Best for breakfast

For a budget breakfast in an informal, low-key setting, head to one of Snax’s two Edinburgh cafés. Highlights include an all-day breakfast of link sausages, bacon, a fried egg, black pudding, beans and a buttered roll for only £5.90. Upgrade to a ‘bigger’ breakfast for £7.60, or the ‘biggest' for £9.40. Veggie and vegan brekkies are dished up too, for £6 and £5.80, respectively. Or, just grab a breakfast roll stuffed with fried egg, sliced sausage and black pudding – whatever the filling, they’re just £3.

Toasties from £3; breakfast, £5.90

Where: 15 West Register Street, EH2 2AA; 118 Buccleuch Street, EH8 9NQ

8. Bonnie & Wild

Best for variation

This vast Scottish food marketplace works well for parties with different tastes. It’s home to 10 kitchens, a café, boutique bottle shop and three bars, with seating for 400 guests (no reservations). This means diners can choose between, for example, seafood at Creel Caught, buttermilk fried chicken at Chooks, Sri Lankan street food at Kochchi or burgers at El Perro Negro. The fact that each diner can choose what they want means there’s potentially less waste and greater satisfaction, with less compromise required. Also, look out for the monthly Bonnie & Wild ceilidh nights.

Fish tacos at Creel Caught, £10.50; classic cheeseburger at El Perro Negro, £10.50

Where: Level 4 of St James Quarter, 415-417 St James Crescent, EH1 3AE

9. The Last Drop

Best for hearty Scottish meals

This pub works for those seeking a no-fuss bar that dishes up hearty Scottish meals and pies alongside cask ales and craft gins. The Last Drop taps into the Grassmarket’s less-salubrious past, when the area was said to house the local gallows. Legend has it that condemned men enjoyed a final supper at The Last Drop before facing their maker. Today, it’s a lot more relaxed, with a traditional menu of bar meals and regular live music.

Haggis, neeps and tatties, £12.50; baked macaroni cheese, £12

Where: 74-78 Grassmarket, EH1 2JR

10. Willow Tea Rooms

Best for affordable afternoon tea

The Willow Tea Rooms are inspired by the work of great Scottish designers Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald, and therefore are a sumptuous setting for a very reasonably priced afternoon tea that includes a selection of sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, homemade shortbread rounds and a choice of cakes, such as lemon meringue tart or Victoria sponge. Breakfast dishes and lunches are also available at reasonable prices, as well as gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options.

Classic afternoon tea, £19.99; cullen skink, £9.50; roast coronation chicken sandwich, £9.50

Where: 120 Princes Street, EH2 4AD

11. Razzo

Best for Neapolitan-style pizza

Get your pizza neapolitan fix at Razzo in Leith. A simple Italian menu of antipasti, pizza, sweet treats and gelato hits the spot. Picture a wooden dining bar with high stools, simple tables and chairs, surrounded by oversized metro tiles and stripped back decor. In the background, an immensely hot pizza oven does all the hard work.

A classic margherita pizza costs £9

Where: 59 Great Jct St, EH6 5HX

12. Bread Kitchen

Best for children

This venue makes economic sense if you’re dining out with little ones. At Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Kitchen, children dine free all day, every day, receiving one free children’s meal with every adult ordering from the à la carte menu. You could order the courgette & pesto lasagne for £15, for example, and your child can get a free portion of bangers and mash. Or, splurge on the potted crab for £28, knowing your child’s meatball pasta won’t cost you a penny.

À la carte adult main dishes start at £15

Where: 4 St Andrew Square, EH2 2BD

13. Cosmo

Best all-you-can-eat buffet

If you have a good appetite or enjoy one large meal to keep you going through the day, the smartest way to spend money could be at a reputable all-you-can-eat buffet. Cosmo is great fun, ideal for a mixed group with different tastes and suitable for the kids, too. Expect an array of food, including carvery, continental, deli and teppanyaki sections, plus many more. Tuck in!

Lunch from £19.99; dinner from £19.99

Where: Omni Centre, Greenside Place, EH1 3AA

14. The Pakora Bar

Best for pakoras

Started by three brothers keen to share their mother’s traditional recipes, this affordable establishment serves up pakoras with a Scottish twist. Alongside aubergine and cauliflower pakoras, order a portion of haggis or black pudding. Wraps, street food and Punjabi-style curries are dished up in slick surroundings decorated in warming orange and green hues. Handy for those visiting the Scottish Parliament, Dynamic Earth or the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Pakoras (five in a portion) with salad and spicy onion from £6.50; pakora wrap, £10

Where: 111 Holyrood Rd, EH8 8AU

15. Victor Hugo

Best for sandwiches

For a generous sandwich oozing with cheese, you can’t beat Victor Hugo. Across its three cafés – all channelling a traditional Parisian vibe – the signature sarnie is a huge pile of pastrami, gherkins, emmental and house dressing on rye, which you'll need two hands to hold. Victor Hugo also prides itself on great coffee and ‘real’ croque monsieurs.

Pastrami on rye, £7.15

Where: 26-27 Melville Terrace, EH9 1LP; 104 George St, EH2 3DF; 38 Shore, Leith, EH6 6QU

16. Max Bakes

Best for gourmet sausage rolls

Grab the gourmet sausage rolls that locals rave about. Located in a silver food truck on the Meadows, this takeaway makes classic pork, venison & red wine and haggis & black pudding rolls, as well as popular vegetarian ones.

£3.50 per sausage roll

Where: North Meadow Walk, EH8 9LD

17. Tuk Tuk Indian Street Food

Best for authentic Indian street food

Tuk Tuk’s colourful and welcoming flagship restaurant opened in Toll Cross, renowned for serving the food and flavours that are reminiscent of street food vendors who ‘make up the colour, sounds and smells of India’. Expect the same roadside and railway station dishes that feed everyone in India, from the workers to children.

Butter chicken curry, £8.25; lassis, £3.50; tiffin set lunch menu, £12

Where: 1 Leven Street, EH3 9LH; 16 Drummond Street, EH8 9TX

18. Bellfield Brewery

Best for beer lovers

Scotland’s home to many much-loved taprooms where beer lovers meet, greet and drink. Bellfield Brewery also offers up reasonably priced grub to help the beer go down, plus pop-up food offerings that alternate regularly. Pop-ups vary, from Mexican and Vietnamese cuisine, to lashings of fried chicken and Spanish tapas.

Mains from £10; half-pints from £2.15

Where: 46 Stanley Place, EH7 5TB

19. Ting Thai

Best for Thai street food

Ting Thai started back in 2012 to feed Thai street food to a flurry of festival-goers. The team soon set down roots at a property in Teviot Place, and the street-food dishes have grown from there, with a second restaurant opening in Lothian Road. Expect stripped-back, exposed-brick walls and communal wooden tables where soups, rice dishes, noodles, curries and speciality boxes are served.

Tom Kha Gai chicken soup bowl, £8.60; caramelised sticky pork moo yang box, £9.80

Where: 55-57 Lothian Road, EH1 2DJ; 19-20 Teviot Place, EH1 2QZ

20. The Witchery

Best for fine dining

This offering isn’t just about the price, but what visitors experience for their money. The Witchery is one of Edinburgh’s finest restaurants, where visitors dine in beautiful surroundings. Most people on a budget think it’s simply too expensive, but for those who want a slice of five-star luxury at relatively reasonable prices, consider the two-course lunch menu for £34.50. Enjoy a starter of molasses-cured smoked sea-reared trout and revel in the seafood pie while you drink in the surroundings.

£34.50 for the two-course lunch menu

Where: 352 Castlehill, EH1 2NF

Check out our other Scottish city guides for expert recommendations on where to eat well in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and across Scotland. And, discover an array of UK city food guides, including London, Cardiff, Belfast and Manchester.