Restaurant in Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Book for the room. The food delivers too.
The Spence occupies the former Royal Bank of Scotland banking hall on St Andrew Square, and the room — granite columns, ornate plasterwork, a light-flooding cupola — sets it apart from most Edinburgh restaurants at the £££ price point. Back-to-back Michelin Plate recognition in 2024 and 2025 confirms consistent kitchen quality. Book midweek for the best light and service pace; it is a strong special-occasion pick at this price tier.
The Spence sits inside the former banking hall of the Royal Bank of Scotland on St Andrew Square, a room that does the heavy lifting before the food arrives. Granite columns, ornate plasterwork, and a cupola that pulls natural light deep into the space give it a scale that most Edinburgh restaurants cannot match at this price point. The kitchen focuses on Scottish produce and keeps the menu accessible rather than ambitious. If you are weighing a special-occasion dinner in Edinburgh's New Town, this is a serious contender — but the comparison set matters, so read on before you book.
The conversion from banking hall to restaurant is handled with enough restraint that the architecture does not feel like a theme. The cupola is the detail worth arriving early for: on a clear Edinburgh afternoon, the light through it is genuinely striking, and it makes the space feel more expensive than the £££ price point suggests. For a celebration dinner, a business meal, or a date where first impressions matter, the room gives you a lot to work with before the kitchen needs to deliver. Compare this to Timberyard, which trades the grand room for a more intimate, tactile atmosphere at ££££, or The Kitchin at Leith, where the setting is polished but quieter. The Spence's room is a genuine differentiator at the £££ tier.
Michelin Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025 signals consistent kitchen quality rather than headline-chasing ambition. A Michelin Plate means the guide's inspectors found cooking worth eating , honest, well-executed food , without the tasting-menu intensity of a starred kitchen. The Scottish larder focus means the menu is grounded in seasonal local produce, and the kitchen's attention to presentation is noted in the Michelin citation. For the price point, that combination , good ingredients, careful cooking, approachable format , sits in a useful middle ground between Edinburgh's casual dining scene and its handful of starred rooms. If you want the full tasting-menu commitment at this end of the city, Condita operates at ££££ and runs a set menu format. The Spence gives you more flexibility.
At £££, the service needs to carry the room. A space this grand sets an expectation, and a 4.5 Google rating across 402 reviews suggests that, broadly, it does. That is a meaningful sample size , enough to indicate consistency rather than a handful of good nights. The Michelin Plate citation adds credibility: inspectors visit unannounced, and a consistent Plate across two years points to a kitchen and front-of-house that perform reliably rather than only on good days. For a special occasion, that reliability is what you are really paying for. You are not booking The Spence for a quiet Tuesday dinner; you are booking it because the room and the consistency together justify the occasion. Where service concerns arise with grand-room restaurants in Edinburgh, it is usually pacing , rooms this size can feel impersonal if the floor team is stretched. Book midweek if you want attentive service rather than a busy Friday or Saturday when the room is at full draw.
Midweek lunch is the clearest recommendation here. The cupola light is at its leading in the afternoon, the room is less pressured, and the pacing tends to be more relaxed than weekend dinner service. Weekend evenings will give you the full drama of a busy, well-lit banking hall, but that comes with higher ambient noise and the risk of a floor team stretched across a full room. For a business lunch or a quieter celebration, Tuesday to Thursday is the pick. For a significant occasion where atmosphere matters as much as food, a Friday or Saturday dinner delivers more energy , just manage expectations on pace.
Against Edinburgh's wider Modern British offer, The Spence is the strongest argument for value at the £££ tier when the room matters to you. Edinburgh neighbours worth knowing about include eleanore, eòrna, Skua, Spry, and The Broughton for different points on the price and format spectrum. For the full picture of where to eat and stay in the city, see our full Edinburgh restaurants guide, our full Edinburgh hotels guide, our full Edinburgh bars guide, our full Edinburgh wineries guide, and our full Edinburgh experiences guide.
For context on what Michelin Plate recognition looks like at the upper end of the Modern British category across the UK, comparison points include CORE by Clare Smyth in London, L'Enclume in Cartmel, Moor Hall in Aughton, hide and fox in Saltwood, Hand and Flowers in Marlow, Gidleigh Park in Chagford, Waterside Inn in Bray, and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London. The Spence operates well below that price tier while holding consistent recognition , a reasonable trade if you prioritise setting and value over tasting-menu ambition.
Yes, at £££, it delivers good value for the combination of room quality and consistent Michelin Plate-recognised cooking. You are getting a grander setting than most Edinburgh restaurants at this price tier, with kitchen quality that Michelin has flagged in back-to-back years. If you want a tasting menu or a starred experience, step up to Martin Wishart or Condita at ££££. But for accessible Modern British cooking in a room that genuinely impresses, The Spence earns its price point.
It is one of the stronger special-occasion picks in Edinburgh at the £££ tier. The former banking hall setting , granite columns, ornate plasterwork, and a natural light cupola , does the atmosphere work that matters for a celebration or a significant dinner. Michelin Plate recognition across two consecutive years adds confidence that the kitchen and service are consistent enough to deliver on the night. For a higher-stakes occasion with a larger budget, The Kitchin or Martin Wishart at ££££ would be the step up.
No dress code is listed in the available data, but the room's scale and the £££ price point suggest smart casual as the floor. This is not a jeans-and-trainers room , the setting is genuinely grand, and arriving underdressed will feel out of place. Smart trousers, a jacket, or equivalent for dinner is a reasonable default. For a business lunch or celebration dinner, err on the side of more formal rather than less.
No specific dietary information is available in the venue's confirmed data. The menu's Scottish larder focus and accessible format suggest flexibility is likely, but you should contact the restaurant directly before booking if dietary requirements are a factor. Do not assume accommodation without confirming.
The former banking hall's scale suggests the room has capacity for groups, but seat count and private dining availability are not confirmed in the available data. For a group booking, contact the restaurant directly to confirm arrangements. The room's architecture makes it a plausible choice for a group celebration, but verify before committing.
At the same £££ tier, eleanore and Spry offer different takes on modern Scottish cooking. If you want to step up in ambition and budget to ££££, The Kitchin is the most established name in Edinburgh's upper tier, Timberyard brings a Nordic-influenced approach in a more intimate setting, Condita runs a set-menu-only format for those who want a more structured experience, and AVERY offers a creative cooking style at the same price tier. The Spence's main advantage over all of them is the room itself at a lower price point. See our full Edinburgh restaurants guide for the complete picture.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Spence | Modern British | £££ | Moderate |
| Martin Wishart | Modern European, Modern Cuisine | ££££ | Unknown |
| Timberyard | Modern British - Nordic, Modern British | ££££ | Unknown |
| The Kitchin | Modern British, Modern Cuisine | ££££ | Unknown |
| Condita | Modern Cuisine | ££££ | Unknown |
| AVERY | Creative | ££££ | Unknown |
A quick look at how The Spence measures up.
The menu is described as accessible, and Modern British kitchens at the £££ tier routinely accommodate common dietary requirements. check the venue's official channels via their St Andrew Square address before booking to confirm specific needs, as no detailed dietary information is documented for The Spence.
Yes, and it is one of Edinburgh's stronger cases for occasion dining at the £££ tier. The former Royal Bank of Scotland banking hall — granite columns, ornate plasterwork, a natural-light cupola — provides genuine architectural drama without requiring a Michelin-starred price point. Midweek lunch lets the room breathe and keeps pacing more relaxed than weekend service.
For more technical ambition at a higher price, The Kitchin and Martin Wishart are the two obvious steps up. Timberyard offers a more informal, produce-led approach at a comparable price. Condita is Edinburgh's most serious tasting-menu operation, suited to diners who want progression over grandeur. The Spence is the right call when the room itself is part of what you are paying for.
The venue does not publish a dress code, but the setting — a grand converted banking hall on St Andrew Square, Michelin Plate recognised, priced at £££ — signals that smart dress is appropriate. Overly casual clothing would feel out of step with the room.
The banking hall format is a large, high-ceilinged space, which makes it more group-friendly than many Edinburgh restaurants at this tier. For confirmed group bookings, check the venue's official channels at 39 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh EH2 2AD, as specific group policies are not publicly documented.
At £££, yes — provided you are booking for both the room and the food. Michelin Plate recognition in consecutive years (2024 and 2025) signals consistent kitchen quality, and a 4.5-star Google rating across 402 reviews supports that the experience holds up in practice. If you want pure culinary ambition over atmosphere, The Kitchin or Condita will serve you better at a higher price point; The Spence is the value case when the setting matters.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
