Spry

A Georgian address doing something quietly unconventional

Spry is a restaurant in Edinburgh serving seasonal Mediterranean small plates, priced at £££. Step inside and the logic of the room becomes apparent immediately: shelves of wine line the right-hand wall, a central oak-topped island bar doubles as the kitchen pass, and a spare arrangement of stools, a sofa, and a handful of chairs fills the remaining space. The Georgian bones and the minimal contemporary fit-out sit in deliberate contrast, a combination that defines a particular strand of Edinburgh drinking culture, serious in its interests, low on theatrical gesture.

That contrast between inherited architecture and contemporary intent is worth lingering on. Edinburgh's dining scene has largely split between the formal, destination-focused restaurants clustered around the Old Town and the West End, places like The Little Chartroom and eleanore, and a looser, more informal east-side tier where the distinction between bar, shop, and restaurant is deliberately blurred. Spry belongs firmly in the second category, closer in spirit to a Parisian cave à manger than to the tasting-menu formality of Skua or The Broughton.

The wine programme and what it means for the food

The wine list is not incidental to what Spry does. Ranked number one by Star Wine List in 2024, the selection focuses on naturally produced and organic bottles, predominantly from small producers, spanning regions globally. Wines are available by the glass, and bottles purchased from the shop carry a modest corkage charge for in-house consumption, a pricing model that keeps the barrier to interesting drinking lower than most comparable rooms in Edinburgh. That structural decision shapes the whole experience: the food exists to accompany the wine rather than compete with it.

This is a meaningful distinction when placed against the broader Modern British conversation happening at venues like eòrna or, further afield, at destination-tier addresses such as L'Enclume in Cartmel or Moor Hall in Aughton. Where those rooms make the plate the protagonist, Spry inverts the hierarchy. The wine list earns the headline recognition; the kitchen works in support.

Modern British identity at the informal end of the register

The Modern British label covers an enormous range in 2024, from the technically demanding multi-course formats at CORE by Clare Smyth or The Fat Duck in Bray to the more grounded, produce-led approach of Hand and Flowers in Marlow or Gidleigh Park in Chagford. Spry sits at a different point on that spectrum entirely, closer to the European wine-bar tradition than to the white-tablecloth lineage of The Ritz Restaurant or the precision-plated ambition of The Ledbury in London.

The kitchen operates around a daily-changing menu of hot and cold small plates, reflecting what is seasonal and available rather than a fixed repertoire. The recorded dishes from a single lunch service, labneh with fresh and pickled cucumber, cured mackerel with ripe cherries and buttermilk, aubergine with fava beans and gremolata, pollock paratha with saffron and yoghurt, indicate a kitchen comfortable moving between British, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern reference points within a single sitting. That eclecticism is not confusion; it is a contemporary British kitchen's actual working method, drawing on the full range of ingredients and techniques that have entered the domestic food culture over the last two decades.

A cheese course, with options including Ragstone, Cora Linn, and Stilton, each individually paired with crackers, preserves, chutney, or pain perdu, signals that the kitchen understands the grammar of a serious meal even while operating in a casual register. The Michelin Plate awarded in 2024 places Spry in the tier of Edinburgh addresses where the cooking merits attention. For context, Edinburgh's Michelin-starred tier occupies the £££££ bracket. Spry at £££ sits a price band lower and offers a meaningfully different format.

The basement and the bakery

Below the main wine bar, a basement café operates as a distinct space, serving coffee alongside an in-house bakery that produces sourdough available for purchase. The bread is also deployed at table during the wine bar service, quality sourdough with cultured butter is a consistent element of the lunch experience. The vertical integration of wine shop, café, bakery, and restaurant-format dining within a single Georgian address gives Spry a density of offer that is unusual for its price point and unusual for Edinburgh more broadly. It is the kind of operation that works because it serves a genuine local function rather than existing primarily as a destination for visiting diners.

Planning your visit

Spry is located at 1 Haddington Pl, Edinburgh EH7 4AE, on Leith Walk. A five-course set menu is available at £60 per person, with optional wine pairings at an additional £50. The à la carte of small plates offers a lower entry point, and the bottle shop pricing structure means a table drinking from the shop's shelves will generally spend less than the equivalent wine-list spend at peer Edinburgh restaurants. Given the size of the room, sparse by design, booking ahead is sensible, particularly for dinner and weekend lunch. The Google review score of 4.6 across 279 reviews indicates steady performance.