In recent times, Edinburgh has turn out to be some of the thrilling meals capitals in Western Europe, and one of many key gamers on this salivatory surge is chef-restaurateur Stuart Ralston. Glenrothes-born Ralston is a profession chef who lower his enamel in New York earlier than returning to Edinburgh to open Aizle in 2014. Ralston is hungry and stressed; 12 years later, he has 4 eating places in Edinburgh: Noto, Tipo, Vinette and Lyla. The final is the jewel in his crown. It occupies a regal spot in a Georgian townhouse on Royal Terrace, wanting north over the town in the direction of the Firth of Forth, and it holds one of many capital’s seven Michelin stars.
Lyla makes an evening of it in Edinburgh
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Lyla)
Since April 2026, Lyla has added 4 bedrooms upstairs to its provide. Every is called after an edible coastal plant: Aster, Linen, Samphire and Purslane. The rooms have been designed by Glasgow-based studio Scarinish, which additionally designed the restaurant on the bottom flooring in 2023. Throughout the restaurant and rooms, the designers have deployed a intelligent quantity of heat and character to melt the lofty grandeur of these Georgian proportions. Within the bedrooms, darkish wooden joinery is balanced with daring and graphic textiles by Orcadian designer Hilary Grant. Furnishings and lighting have brass particulars that glint among the many painterly wall colors. The temper is hallowed, with out being stuffy or pretentious. That legendary Edinburgh gentle completes the scene. Beds are big and cozy, which is what actually issues after the epic tasting menu that takes place downstairs.
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Lyla)
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Lyla)
The meals continues to be the star of the present at Lyla. It’s a charismatic seafood-based tasting menu of nice ability and creativeness, coronary heart and soul. We’ll confess to being just a little uninterested in the tasting-menu format, however in Ralston’s fingers it’s a deft and private journey. That is fare with aptitude; every dish is deeply intriguing and completely scrumptious, a precarious stability that escapes too many cooks flirting with the Michelin crowd. Over three canapés, ten programs and 4 petit fours, we have been launched to squid-as-ramen; sorrel sorbet; laminated brioche with wild garlic butter; a crunchy langoustine with burnt apple; lobster, kingfish, halibut, scallop, trout and crab in types every extra beguiling than the final. It’s a fishy fandango, in the easiest sense.
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Lyla)
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Lyla)
The expertise of Lyla’s tasting menu has that magic ingredient all too usually ignored in fantastic eating: pleasure. And it feels all of the extra pleasing, frankly, for our with the ability to roll upstairs to an epic mattress, with out even needing to think about partaking with the skin world. Satiated, swaddled, and rendered comatose, we then awoke from an impressive slumber and had breakfast dropped at our room very first thing. An exquisite breakfast picnic affair, it consisted of contemporary pastries, a banana-chocolate miso muffin, sea trout gravlax, cheese, berries, juices and low. Earlier than catatonia took maintain, we departed again to actual life, grateful for 12 hours of wonderment, and equally grateful that these muffins aren’t inside simple attain each day.
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Lyla)
We took the chance to quiz Stuart Ralston about Lyla’s growth from restaurant to rooms and the Edinburgh eating scene past.
Wallpaper*: Your eating places every have a transparent character. What’s Lyla’s?
Stuart Ralston: Lyla’s id may be very a lot centred round Scottish seafood. Scotland has a few of the best seafood on the earth, and I wished to create a restaurant that put that on the forefront, treating it with the identical degree of care and a focus that you just would possibly historically affiliate with meat-led fantastic eating. It’s a Michelin-starred restaurant, however the ambition isn’t merely about refinement. It’s about showcasing the standard of our waters, our producers and our shoreline by a up to date tasting menu. The expertise is intimate, centered and ingredient-led, with seafood on the coronary heart of every little thing we do.
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Lyla)
W*: How does the ethos of your meals at Lyla prolong into the hospitality expertise?
SR: The meals and hospitality are utterly linked. We put lots of emphasis on making the expertise really feel private and interesting moderately than formal. We’ve a world-class front-of-house workforce that leads the service and creates the environment within the room, nevertheless it’s additionally essential to me that the cooks are concerned instantly with friends. Most of the dishes are served by the cooks themselves, who spend time explaining the elements, producers and considering behind every course. I feel there’s one thing particular about listening to instantly from the one that ready the dish. It creates a stronger connection between the kitchen and the visitor and provides folks a greater understanding of the work and care that goes into the meals.
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Lyla)
W*: Do the Georgian bones of the constructing encourage a sure temper that you just play with within the Lyla expertise?
SR: Completely. The constructing already had a way of magnificence and permanence earlier than we ever touched it. What appealed to me was that we didn’t have to combat towards that. As a substitute, we may work with it. There’s a restraint to Georgian structure that I actually admire. The proportions are lovely, however they’re not attempting to shout about it. That’s one thing we’ve tried to hold by the restaurant. The area feels thought of and understated moderately than theatrical.
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Lyla)
W*: How has Edinburgh’s meals scene advanced because you first opened Aizle?
SR: After we opened Aizle, there have been already some glorious eating places in Edinburgh, however the scene feels a lot broader and extra assured right now and has grown quite a bit. What’s been significantly thrilling is seeing a era of cooks and operators constructing companies with a extremely clear standpoint. There’s a willingness now to create one thing distinctive moderately than observe a specific system. Persons are constructing companies that replicate their very own character, values and elegance of cooking, and diners have responded positively to that.
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Lyla)
Lyla Restaurant & Rooms is situated at 3 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh EH7 5AB. Dinner begins from £185 per head. In a single day stays for 2 together with dinner are £715, whereas room-only charges start at £345, each together with breakfast.
