The 22nd edition of The List Eating and Drinking Guide launched last night in the Scottish Cafe and Restaurant in the National Gallery of Scotland.
As ever, it’s an authoritative and comprehensive guide to the restaurants, bars and cafes of the Central Belt. Just under a thousand venues are covered in 192 pages. 
The Guide is split into sections covering categories such as bars and pubs, fish, Scottish, cafes and French. The standout venues within each category are then hit listed.
New restaurants
As well as write-ups on the various restaurants, there are short articles from passionate gastronauts such as the cheesemonger George Mewes and Aoife Behan, event director at Jelly & Gin. There are round-ups of each city’s annual food events; farmers’ markets, food shops and street food stops. There are recommendations for wine lists, romantic restaurants, BYOB venues and outdoor dining spots.
There are listings of the 144 new restaurants that opened in Glasgow and Edinburgh in the last year as well as those that closed in the last twelve months.
In short, it is a must-have for anyone who wants to eat out well in Glasgow and Edinburgh. You can order it online for £3.95 +P&P or pick it up in shops. It is also available online.
Award winners
Last but not least, the launch also unveiled the winners of the Eating and Drinking Guide Awards 2015.
In Edinburgh, Aizle and Victor and Carina Contini Cannonball both won Newcomer awards. Aizle was praised for ‘sparking new ways to appreciate Scottish, seasonal food’ while Cannonball was awarded ‘for helping to reclaim the Royal Mile for good food’.
In Glasgow, Newcomer awards went to Ox and Finch and Hutchesons. The former for ‘bringing innovative and exciting food to an informal setting’. The latter for ‘a unique partnership blending heritage and fine dining’.
Glasgow’s Vintage won the New Bar award for ‘destination drinking and dining in an East End brewery’ while Edinburgh’s Spit/Fire won for ‘its elemental fusion of good drink, food and atmosphere’.
Monir Mohammed, owner of the Mother India restaurants, was given a special award. The judges noted that his ‘innovative home-style cooking and familial attitude to food has set a standard for Indian dining in Scotland that is yet to be surpassed’.