In Edinburgh, Erbil is up and running on West Nicolson Street while Eda is open for business on the corner of the High Street and Gallowgate in Glasgow.

The last few years have seen a flurry of new, Central Belt restaurants whose culinary roots are in the countries at the eastern end of the Mediterranean.

We are not going to make any assumptions about individual restaurateurs but it would come as no surprise if the conflicts in the region have played a role in the mini-boom of places with Persian, Kurdish, Turkish and Lebanese menus.

In Edinburgh, Erbil has replaced Sylvesters on the corner of Chapel Street and West Nicolson Street.

It is billed as a Kurdish and Middle Eastern restaurant. At the time of writing, we have yet to find any online links.

The extensive menu - it lists over 90 choices - runs from falafel to Kurdish-style sea bream via several varieties of biryani.

There are plenty of veggie options and, of course, a wide range of lamb and chicken cuts cooked over charcoal.

Over the last three weeks, the festival crowds will have given the kitchen a baptism of fire. Its proximity to Edinburgh Uni and the Festival Theatre will hopefully keep them busy the rest of the year.

This blogger understands that students are drinking less than previous generations did. However, Erbil's BYOB policy seems likely to be popular.

Eda Turkish restaurant

At the other end of the M8, Eda Turkish Cuisine promises barbeque and a meze bar. Main pic above is from Eda Facebook.

It is run by the same team who have Eda in Kirkcaldy.

The full menu is here.

We like the sound of the grilled lamb ribs after grazing over a selection of meze which would probably include baba ganoush, stuffed vine leaves, hummus and arnavut cigeri.

The latter translates as Albanian liver and features the eponymous offal cooked with red onions and sumac.

We wish both restaurants every success.