Review: Landy’s, the chippy bringing the seaside classics to Edinburgh’s Royal Mile

Editor Richard Bath heads out to Landy’s to try out the chippy bringing the seaside classics to Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, offering nostalgic favourites like salt and pepper squid, pizza crunch, and of course deep-fried mars bars.

Where is Landy’s?

Landy’s is on the site of what was once Byron Burgers where the Royal Mile and North Bridge meet, right in the centre of Edinburgh’s Old Town. It’s a large, light and breezy two-level restaurant done up in 1950s American diner style. With 200 seats, it’s a tardis of a restaurant.

What type of food do they serve?

The clue is in its strapline ‘Proper Fish & Chips’. There is, however, much much more to the extensive menu. There are, for example, 19 dishes which are either starters of can be ordered as sides. The mains are generally very conventional pub grub staples (steak pie, haggis neeps n’ tatties, mac and cheese, hamburgers) with the exception of some interesting fishy options, such as king prawn tempura or salmon and asparagus fishcakes. Puddings and starters were equally mainstream.

What did we ate at Landy’s?

We started with the salt and pepper squid, which was a little flaccid and undercooked, and a huge serving of whitebait. Mains consisted of the biggest piece of breaded fish I’ve seen in years, which came with slightly soggy chips, and a really nice, creamy (and not too hot) Malaysian fish curry packed with prawns, mussels and chunks of fish. We rounded off with the specialite de la maison, deep fried Mars bar served with whippy ice cream and raspberry sauce, and an underwhelming tiramisu.

Highlights and lowlights?

The curry and the deep-fried Mars Bar were both worth writing home about, the squid not so much.

Service and value for money?

Owned and run by Edinburgh’s Vittoria Group, it’s slick and professional, with cheery staff that have an almost American service culture. With the gargantuan main course fish and chips coming in at £15.95, but mains starting from £11.50, it’s joyously affordable for families visiting the big city.

Landy’s, 29-31 North Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1SF.www.landysfishandchips.co.uk

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