Our Guide to Bristo, Teviot and Forrest Road

The area around the University of Edinburgh’s central campus at Bristo and George Squares has long been home to exciting and innovative businesses keen to take advantage of the thousands of students and academics passing through Potterrow, Teviot Place, Forrest Road and nearby streets every day. The bohemian setting of the university has lent itself to the creation of many enterprises centred just as much around supporting and enhancing the local community as they are on turning a profit. Mosque Kitchen, Word Power Books and the Forrest Café each offer a unique service in the city, combining excellent products with a very real sense of social equality and community consciousness.

For those after something a little less serious, streets around the University are filled with excellent restaurants, cafés, bars and pubs. Boutique-style shops are a little thinner on the ground than elsewhere in Edinburgh but there’s still plenty to accommodate those with money burning a hole in their pocket.

Mosque Kitchen

50 Potterrow, EH8 9BT, 0131 667 1777, www.edmosque.com

An unlikely nominee in the ‘Best Indian Restaurant’ category at this year’s Scottish restaurant awards, Mosque Kitchen narrowly lost out to nearby Mother India on Infirmary Street. The nomination itself, though, was recognition of the hard work that has gone into creating a unique Edinburgh eatery founded with community spirit and social consciousness firmly in mind.

Mosque Kitchen serves delicious, authentic curries, naan bread and accompaniments in enormous portions and at astoundingly low prices. It’s a no frills eating experience; table service and metal cutlery are conspicuous by their absence and dining takes place at outdoor benches under a corrugated iron roof but the quality of the food more than makes up for the utilitarian approach. Better still, the kitchen is run on a non-profit basis and staffed by volunteers, with all proceeds going to various charities in Scotland and Pakistan.

Buffalo Grill

12 Chapel Street, EH8 9AY, 0131 667 7427, www.buffalogrill.co.uk

Juicy steaks, gargantuan burgers, succulent fish and tasty fajitas are the order of the day at Buffalo Grill, Edinburgh’s Native American-themed steakhouse on Chapel Street and Raeburn Place, Stockbridge. The theme is reflected in both the décor – busts, flags, crafts and artwork from various Native American tribes adorn the walls – and the menu, rich in meat and fish dishes although ravenous carnivores must make do with beef rather than buffalo. Buffalo Grill is strictly BYOB but corkage charges are very modest – our wine was opened for £1 a bottle and our beer free of charge – making the restaurant extremely good value considering the quality of the food on offer.

Napiers

1 Bristo Place, EH1 1EZ, 0131 225 5542, www.napiers.net

Established in Edinburgh by Victorian botanist Duncan Napier in 1860, Napiers on Bristo Place has been supplying the capital with herbal remedies for the last 150 years. Napiers remained in the family for well over a century until Medical Herbalist Dee Atkinson took over the business in the early 1990s, using Duncan Napier’s original recipes as the starting point for a new range of traditional natural health products. Today Napiers operates two stores in Edinburgh, with a third property in Glasgow, each of which combines traditional herbal dispensary with a cutting edge herbal health clinic offering advice and a wide selection of complementary therapies.

Elephant and Bagels

37 Marshall Street, EH8 9BJ, 0131 668 4404

Often confused with its sister tearoom The Elephant House on George IV Bridge, Elephants and Bagels is a regular haunt for Edinburgh university students and staff craving sustenance. The café offers a choice of bagels, rolls and sandwiches with a wide range of fillings and accompaniments and a selection of hot and cold drinks, including wholesome juices and delicious hot chocolate. Staff are happy to suggest fillings and some of the more outlandish concoctions – bacon, brie and mango chutney, for one – are as delicious as they are intriguing. Décor is dominated by a strong elephant motif, with colourful posters drawn by children aged three to eighty-three taking pride of place. Those keen to work through their lunch will appreciate the free wi-fi.

The Pear Tree

34 West Nicolson Street, EH8 9DD, 0131 667 7533

If al fresco drinking is one of the real delights of the short Scottish summer, then The Pear Tree’s impressive outdoor seating area must surely rank as one of the best places in town to while away the long evenings. As well as seating for well over a hundred people, the Pear Tree’s walled courtyard is home to a covered stage that comes to life during the festival with live music and comedy. Inside the pub itself, The Pear Tree feels warm, comfortable and relaxed, its beaten leather sofas and dark wooden panelling an invitation to sit down and drink, chat and laugh. There’s a fair selection of beers on tap and a few choice bottles of spirits behind the bar but for the most part The Pear Tree is unashamedly straightforward and unpretentious.

Sandy Bell’s

25 Forrest Road, EH1 2QH, 0131 225 2751

The sign above Sandy Bell’s door boasts that the pub is a purveyor or “Fine Ales and Spirits” and “Home of World Renowned Folk Music”, both of which have become cornerstones that have helped found an Edinburgh institution. Sandy Bell’s is traditional to a fault, with no food served and a single bar dominating a long, narrow room. The high ceilings and the strange archway that bisects the bar give the pub a very ‘olde worlde’, tavern-like atmosphere that complements that the excellent selection of beer and whiskies, as well as the folk music, perfectly. But it’s in the evening when Sandy Bell’s really comes alive, with the sound of fiddles, mandolins and traditional singing packing the bar to the rafters night after night.

Rusty Zip

14 Teviot Place, EH1 2QZ, 0131 226 4634, www.armstrongsvintage.co.uk/Rusty_index.aspx

Little sister to Armstrong’s Vintage Emporium on the Grassmarket, Rusty Zip on Teviot Place is a little more focused on the practical, day-to-day side of vintage clothing compared to the costume and fancy dress leanings of its older sibling. Both men and women are catered for by a staggeringly broad range of vintage items spanning everything from sixties dresses to fake furs and striking classic formal wear to retro Adidas sports kit. Accessories are present in abundance, with a jewellery cabinet that just begs to be delved into and explored. There’s also a special range of vintage children’s clothes for girls and boys for parents keen to introduce their kids to the charms of retro.

Word Power Books

43 West Nicolson Street, EH8 9DB, 0131 662 9112, www.word-power.co.uk

Edinburgh is blessed with an unusual wealth of independent bookshops but few are as characterful or fiercely opposed to the world of corporate bookselling as Word Power Books of West Nicholson Street. Mostly eschewing the world of mainstream publishing, the shop actively promotes access to literature from lesser-known authors and smaller, independent publishers. Political works often take pride of place in the shop and it’s not unusual for window displays to be taken over by the collected works of Che Guevara or activists from around the world. Word Power also supports the literary community in ways that go far beyond mere booksellings; the shop regularly hosts special events and hosts a series of ‘Platform’ articles on its website, giving groups, campaigns and individuals a soapbox to promote their work.

Have we missed out on one of your favourite businesses near the University of Edinburgh Campus? Let us know in the comments.