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More and more Edinburgh restaurants are signing up with 5pm. Say hello to the latest arrivals: Malones, Shezan and Belted Burgers._

Malones

This lively Old Town Irish bar is on Forrest Road – handy for Edinburgh Uni students. A large bar with a mezzanine and gallery, Malones has plenty of nooks and crannies in which to while away a couple of hours. Or days.

Regular live bands and ceilidh nights keep the crowds dancing. Sports fans can watch all the action on four large HD screens and two projector screens.

Simple, fresh, local and delicious are the key words in the kitchen at Malones and the menus also make the occasional nod towards Irish culinary traditions. For example, the full Irish breakfast includes Clonakilty black and white pudding while the soup of the day is served with soda bread.

As well as several beef and chicken burgers, the main courses on offer are classic comfort foods. Think mac ‘n’ cheese, steak and chips, chicken curry, fish ‘n’ chips and beef stir fry.

Today, you can enjoy a beef and Guinness stew for £10 when booking Malone’s through 5pm.

Shezan

For more than thirty years, the award-winning Shezan has been serving Indian food to happy Edinburgh residents and countless visitors to the city.

A welcoming, family-run restaurant, it was given a bright and glam refurbishment in 2011. Popular with patrons of the Playhouse across the road, it has its own theatrical connection in the form of a large mural depicting Bollywood stars.

Shezan’s chefs prepare food from all of India’s different culinary regions but with an emphasis on Punjabi dishes such as garlic chicken masala as well as a range of biryanis – a favourite of the Mughals.

The grill and tandoori section has all the lamb chops, seekh kebabs and chicken tikka options that you might expect while the vegetarian section of the menu is wide and varied.

House specialities include the fruity Kashmiri korma; the spicy balti gosht which is cooked over charcoal  and the chicken tikka achari, flavoured with pickle, spices, split chilli and lots of coriander.

Want to Shezan your meal time? Book through 5pm and enjoy two courses from the lunch/pre-theatre menu for £7.95.

Belted Burgers

The second in a planned group of restaurants, Edinburgh’s Belted Burgers is a bar and restaurant in a quirky cellar space on Frederick Street.

Open from noon to midnight (the Pen bar is open to 1am), Belted is a lively spot for a top notch burger, boozy milkshake, craft beer or even a dance to the occasional bout of live music. It is also a family-friendly spot which offers free baby food.

Made with prime cuts of 100% traceable beef from the owners’ farm in Dumfries and Galloway, the burgers take centre stage here.

Cooked pink, unless requested otherwise, the various burger versions are cooked on a Synergy grill that gives them their unique, beefy flavour. The chicken burgers are made from 100% freedom chickens and there is a range of vegetarian and gluten-free options.

Book Belted Burger through 5pm and you can take advantage of a 15% a la carte discount.