Photo of
October 24, 2016
Restaurants such as Chop House Market Street and the imminent Ronaq Indian Restaurant are fuelling the New Waverley development.
Restaurants such as Chop House Market Street and the imminent Ronaq Indian Restaurant are fuelling the New Waverley development.

Last Friday, we looked at some of the new openings taking place in Glasgow. Today, we’re heading to the mysterious East. Or at least as far as Edinburgh.

On Edinburgh’s South Bridge, Roti is a new Indian tapas place which is taking shape  in the premises formerly occupied by Jacob’s Bakery.

Meanwhile, over at the Arches/New Waverley  development on East Market Street, existing restaurants such as The Chop House Steak and Grill are set to be joined by a new branch of Ronaq.

Indian fine dining

The fine dining Indian restaurant already has a branch on Craigleith Road. Plans for the new flagship city centre outlet will soon come to fruition.

Moving out from the city centre, there have been multiple reports that the former Jock’s Lodge pub – currently mothballed – is to re-open as blues fusion bar.

Called the Barrelhouse Bar and Diner, the plan is for it to open at the end of November. As well as live music, guests can look forward to BBQ and Cajun dishes.

Without delving into too many of the murky details, the premises’ former incarnation did not exactly have a glowing reputation.

See the potential

Happily, the new licensee, Amanda Caygill, has form in seeing potential that other operators might overlook.

Espy in Portobello and 52 Canoes in the city centre are two of her earlier projects which have breathed new life into units that perhaps weren’t realising their full potential.

‘Edinburgh is crying out for a blues venue and I’m passionate about barbecuing,’ explains Amanda. ‘I think the two could work really well together. Jocks Lodge is the perfect location – it’s a great community with a need for a restaurant and bar for locals. It’s also easily accessible for customers from other parts of the city.’

Her plans for the new venture are certainly radical. The garden is to be redesigned as a heated space for year-round outdoor drinking. In time, the garden will also play host to a spit roast and a smoke house.

Food will be cooked from scratch using seasonal Scottish produce and a vegetable garden will be planted to serve the kitchen.