Dine Out Edinburgh is running until the 21st of May. You can enjoy some of Edinburgh’s best restaurants for just £15.95.

Dine Out Edinburgh is a two week celebration of Edinburgh’s awesome restaurant scene.

Over 30 restaurants are taking part in the promotion and offering two or three courses, sometimes with a drink, for only £15.95.

Enjoy flavours of the Med with Dine Out Edinburgh

You can book online and search through menus and user reviews to find the dining experience that best suits you.

Here are five Dine Out Edinburgh restaurants where it is easy to imagine that you are dining by the Mediterranean. You’ll need to bring your own soundtrack of gently lapping waves.

Cannonball

Part of the Contini family’s group of three Edinburgh restaurants, Cannonball Restaurant & Bar is a bright and airy dining room at the top of a three storey former school.

The top floor decor is smart but simple and the room has panoramic views of the city including the adjacent castle. The location may be tourist central and indeed Cannonball Restaurant & Bar has lots to offer gastronomically curious visitors. However, its culinary aims go far beyond many of its more tourist-centric peers.

This visitor shared her views on Cannonball ‘s 5pm Dining page:

‘Lovely meal with an amazing view over the Esplanade. This was our first visit and found it very good… The menu was imaginative and the ambience was excellent.’

The Dine Out Edinburgh offer is £15.95 for a burger or fish and chips + glass of wine or beer.

The Cannonball house burger is a thing of beauty: Scotch beef steak mince burger with pickles,

Morangie brie and bacon. Served with hand-cut chips and salad.

The fish and chips are pretty nifty too: battered sustainable white fish of the day with hand-cut chips, pea purée and watercress tartare sauce

You can book in to Cannonball via 5pm Dining.

Cadiz

Opened in the summer of 2016, Cadiz is a cosmopolitan seafood restaurant on George Street in Edinburgh city centre.

The menu takes much inspiration from the Mediterranean and the decor wouldn’t look out of place in a smart harbour restaurant in the South of France. Stripped stone and beach hut wooden walls mix comfortably with seafood-themed art and fashionably recycled storm lights.

Both the cocktail and wine list reflect the menu’s emphasis on seafood.

This diner certainly liked it:

‘The venue location is perfect for centre of the New Town. The dining room is light and welcoming with light buzz of happy diners. Service is warm and attentive and the food interesting and delicious.’

The Dine Out Edinburgh offer is £15.95 for two courses + dessert on the 5pm menu.

Typical starters on the 5pm menu include the spiced pork skewers and the calamari, crisp-fried squid sprinkled with sea salt and chilli. Both are served with a smoked paprika aioli.

Main courses on offer might be the fillet of sea bass served with crushed new potatoes, braised baby fennel and tomato and roast pepper salsa or the pollo asado – garlic roast chicken served on a rich cannellini bean and chorizo cassoulet.

You can book into Cadiz via 5pm Dining.

Zucca

Zucca, located on Grindlay Street in Edinburgh’s theatre district, in between the Royal Lyceum and the Usher Hall, aims to offer a combination of friendly service, creative menus and a good selection of wines. The food is elegant but simple, including some locally sourced produce.

Some signature dishes at Zucca include potato gnocchi with braised duck and pistachio, the homemade haggis ravioli with shredded turnip and potatoes, and an ever changing risotto that reflects both seasonality and the chefs’ creativity.

This is what a recent customer thought of his meal:

‘Travelling through to Edinburgh… is always enhanced by our meal in Zucca prior to the concert. Excellent service, food and wine…’

We couldn’t put it better. The Dine Out Edinburgh promotion is £15.95 for two courses from the dinner menu plus coffee. Book in with 5pm Dining.

First Coast

Opening in the early part of the noughties, First Coast helped raise the culinary stakes in West Edinburgh. Now, this cosy, neighbourhood bistro is still among the district’s leaders when it comes to Scottish ingredients cooked with pride and imagination.

Stripped stone walls, an open fire and dramatic seascapes make it an easy going place to relax. While still within easy walking distance of Edinburgh city centre, it’s just far enough out to escape the try hard glam, not to mention the heady prices, of some of its more central peers.

The Dine Out Edinburgh offer is £15.95 for three courses on early evening menu + tea or coffee.

The menus change regularly but Med-inspired choices are likely to be along the lines of grilled sardines with parsley and lemon or meatballs in a tomato and roast garlic sauce served with polenta and Parmesan.

Having said that, you are just as likely to find Thai marinated chicken salad on the menu.

Lots of 5pm customers have left comments like this on First Coast’s 5pm Dining page:

‘Fab restaurant. This is a restaurant that I return to again and again! Very interesting and different menu! Great value for money and delicious food.’ Rating 5/5

You can book into First Coast via 5pm.

Pic shows Wild rice & walnut pilaf, broccoli, pomegranate & mint yogurt

Papavero

Located on Howe Street in Edinburgh’s Georgian New Town, Papavero Restaurant aims to please lovers of both Italian and Scottish food. Decked out in warm reds and yellows with candles on the tables, it is an inviting space. The menus are packed with classic Italian pizza and pasta dishes as well as Scottish favourites such as haggis, neeps and tatties and fish ‘n’ chips.

Some of the dishes, like the grilled black pudding wrapped in Parma ham, are an Italian Scotch fusion. Other dishes, like the Scottish salmon with a pistachio and Parmesan crust, use Scottish ingredients to make Italian dishes.

The two countries theme continues with the choice of desserts where customers are as likely to be offered pannacotta as they are banoffee pie.

Papavero has attracted lots of glowing comments on its 5pm Dining page:

‘Great little place! My friends and I were really impressed with the huge menu! The food was simple but delicious! Will definitely be back to try out more things on the menu!’ Rating 5/5

The Dine Out Edinburgh offer is £15.95 for 2 courses on the  a la carte plus  tea or coffee. You can book in with 5pm Dining.