Hawksmoor Edinburgh, steak and seafood restaurant with affordable prices

Hawksmoor Edinburgh is a grand restaurant located in a former Royal Bank of Scotland banking hall building on St. Andrew Square. That is a central part of Edinburgh with nice restaurants and shops around the square. It is an impressive space with a high ceiling and lots of space. The reasonable prices for lunch gave us good reason to go laughing to the bank.

With tall windows and high celing, we could imagine the serious banking hall that used to be there. Now, the large space is divided into different dining sections. With so much space available, the tables were at good distances away from one another. It has a relaxing, laid back atmosphere.

Hawksmoor Edinburgh Menu

Hawksmoor Edinburgh is a steak and seafood restaurant. The a la carte menu contained the predictable fish and meat dishes. The express menu seemed like a good deal. Here are pictures of the express menu, a la carte food menu and a page from the wine list. We decided to have a 2 course lunch (£22) as well as some oysters to begin our meal with.

Our encounters with oysters during our trip to Edinburgh have all been good. These Scottish shellfish are not very big but they are very sweet. The half dozen at Hawksmoor Edinburgh cost £17 and were fresh and delightful.

Hawksmoor Edinburgh Express Menu

For starters we tried the Potted Beef & Bacon with Yorkshires (picture above) and Smoked Mackerel Salad. The Yorkshire pudding was disappointing as they were dry and not the fluffy sort. The beef gravy rescued it somewhat. The smoked mackerel salad was better. The watercress and horseradish providing some zest to the dish.

Our main courses were 35 day aged rump & chips (above picture) and grilled Peterhead hake. The steak was prepared in blackened style – extreme searing such that the surface was charred. This style of cooking creates a nice smokey flavour and seals in the flavours of the meat (especially for less fatty cuts). I am not sure if this is healthy but we enjoyed it anyway as we do not eat meat like this everyday. The grilled hake was a more mainstream dish. The freshness of the fish and the crisp skin made it a memorable.

Overall, the Hawksmoor was a great restaurant to have lunch in Edinburgh. The food had hits and misses for us but the service and atmosphere were great and the prices were reasonable.