🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Edinburgh, Scotland

The Haggis Pilgrimage

Scotland's most misunderstood dish deserves a proper audience.

Photo: BBC Food

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Why this dish?

Haggis has an image problem. People hear the ingredients - sheep's heart, liver and lungs, minced with oatmeal, suet, onion and spices - and they flinch. This is a mistake. Haggis is one of the great savoury dishes of the British Isles: rich, peppery, deeply flavoursome, with a texture somewhere between coarse pâté and crumbled mince. Served with neeps (turnip) and tatties (mashed potato) and a whisky cream sauce, it is a complete and magnificent thing.

Robert Burns immortalised it in verse in 1787. It has been Scotland's national dish ever since. You owe it a fair hearing. Fly to Edinburgh, sit in a candlelit pub on the Royal Mile, order it properly, and admit you were wrong to have been suspicious.

Our Picks

The Witchery by the Castle

Address: Castlehill, Royal Mile, Edinburgh
What to order: Haggis, neeps and tatties with whisky cream sauce. The venison if you want a second course.
Book ahead: Book well ahead - one of Edinburgh's most sought-after restaurants.
Pro tip: The Secret Garden room is the most atmospheric dining room in Edinburgh. Request it when booking.

The Last Drop

74-78 Grassmarket, Edinburgh

In the Grassmarket, away from the Royal Mile tourist trail, The Last Drop is where Edinburgh locals go for no-fuss haggis at pub prices. The name refers to the gallows that once stood nearby - Edinburgh humour.

What to order: Haggis, neeps and tatties. A pint of 70 shilling Scottish ale alongside.

Good to know

Haggis appears on the menu of almost every pub and restaurant in Edinburgh. A haggis that smells strongly of pepper and has a coarse, meaty texture is a good sign. Pre-packaged tourist haggis served in a rush in the middle of the Royal Mile is the thing to avoid. Any proper pub kitchen does it justice.

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