Modern dining at family-run Timberyard in Edinburgh

We visited my dad in Edinburgh in May for the weekend and were looking for a great restaurant, preferably one we’d not been to before. I simply Googled ‘Edinburgh’s best restaurants’ and Timberyard was one of the options. I took a look at their website and menu and immediately booked a table!

It’s situated behind the castle in an area of the Old Town we’d never been before, so that was nice too – to see a different part of the city. I would’ve liked to explore it more but when we left it was absolutely pouring down with rain so we just headed back to our AirBnB!

Timberyard is truly a family run business. Owned by husband and wife team, Andrew and Lisa Radford, their son Ben is head chef whilst their daughter runs their communications and marketing and younger son Jo works behind the bar.

So what did we think of our lunch?

The decor

Before we get on to the food, let’s talk decor. The restaurant is set in an old warehouse, dating back to the 19th century which was built as a props and costume store.

It has really high ceilings with beautiful wooden beams, and (I’m guessing) the original ladders that may have been used to fetch props that were stored high up.

There are also large windows that look into the garden, where there is outdoor seating. They also have a private dining room called The Shed, which seats up to 10 people. Timberyard has a very rustic, cosy yet modern feel to it.

The food

The menu is divided into snacks, small plates, large plates, sides and desserts. We chose to order a bunch of dishes across the menu to share. We started with sourdough bread served with crowdie, ransom and sesame. Crowdie is a type of cheese and ransom is wild garlic. It was absolutely delicious and beautifully presented.

We also ordered the sweet potato and wild garlic croquettes with red cabbage. They sell them per croquette and we ordered four so we could have two each. They were actually quite generous in size so if you’re having it as a snack, I’d say one per person is enough. Again, beautifully presented. I loved the crockery they used for all the dishes.

As we’d had bread and croquettes, we just ordered one small plate which was the glazed duck with radicchio, hazelnut and orange. The duck was quite gamey in flavour and this wasn’t our favourite course, however we’re not massive duck fans so that’s on us!

For our mains, I had the turbot with sea beet, cockles and clams, leeks and a vermouth sauce. This dish was phenomenal! The sauce was absolutely amazing and I would’ve licked the plate had I not been in a restaurant! We ordered a side of crushed heritage potatoes so I used that to try soak up as much of the sauce as I could.

Such a vibrant dish – perfect for summer.

My husband had the loin of lamb with spiced belly, smoked fat, turnips and garlic mustard. He thoroughly enjoyed it. I had a taste too and it was fabulous. The lamb was perfectly cooked and I loved the smoked turnips. Once again, a beautifully presented dish – stunning colours on the plate.

We were so full afterwards that we didn’t have space for dessert. My husband ordered a coffee though and they brought us some petit fours of truffles and a blackcurrant (I think) jelly type thing I can’t remember the name of! Both were very yummy and a lovely way to end a stunning meal.

We absolutely loved our lunch at Timberyard and the next time we’re in Edinburgh we’d love to come back for dinner. The food was fabulous, the service was very attentive and we loved the ambiance and decor.

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