Anfora Wine Bar

This is brilliant place, for both small parties or couples.
The owner is a lovely man with great eye for detail.
Every so often their seasonal produce menu is changed. You get set choices, but they always be of great quality.
I found it ticked all the boxes regarding quality of service, food and ambiance
We were a party of 8 and were given the middle table, but it didn’t deter the diners around us, I noticed they all (as well as us) were made to feel looked after and comfortable.
A good value is their wine flight, 4×50ml and background information provided. It is a good addition to a ²⁄₃ course meal.
I fully recommend visiting them when you feel like a good (romantic) meal, or even just a couple of drinks and a bar snack in their bar area.

Being quite new, I booked Anfora though a voucher deal, as it was quite pricey to just try without knowing more about it. Grumpy booking over the phone aside, the surroundings are beautiful and the food is excellent. Tables are a bit close together, and it is very noisy with incredibly loud music being played, which slightly spoils the austere candle-​lit ambience. Staff are attentive to the point of being too much.

Anfora Wine Bar is really lovely, and it’s tucked away in Leith under the Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s Vaults location which can combine to make for a great evening is you’re a SMWS member and visiting both. You don’t need to be a member to visit Anfora though! They’ve done a great job making the space look really beautiful.
When Anfora first opened, I bought a voucher deal for it since I was excited to try it! I was really turned off it with the very grumpy man on the other side of the phone taking my booking (they obviously don’t understand the promotional and marketing value of vouchers and I hated that he didn’t treat me the same as a ‘normal’ customer). Anyways I persevered and when my friend and I came to Anfora we had a fantastic evening! We had pigeon to start, which was cooked perfectly and was arranged beautifully. It was perfect to have prosecco with our starter to kick off the evening. My friend had the venison and I had the lamb, which were both cooked rare. I would have preferred another lamb option such as a leg of lamb but they served a fattier cut of meat. It was good and nicely served and paired with a great merlot. Anfora has a great wine selection, really nice food, and great surroundings but it is a bit loud which makes it not as relaxing as it could be.

I’ve been to the Anfora Wine Bar twice now and I enjoyed it a lot.
Anfora is located in Leith, in the Vaults, just below Scottish Malt Whisky Society. It is actually the oldest commercial building in Edinburgh so it has a lot of history behind it. Anfora has a bar area and also a quieter dining room.
On my first visit I went with a friend and we had an Itison voucher. The deal included a starter, main course and a glass of prosecco. My starter was scallops with chorizo jam, apple and kohlrabi salad. The scallops were perfectly cooked and tasted delicious. For main course I had slow cooked pork belly with pulled pork, savoy cabbage and potato gratin. The pork was tender and very tasty. There was also a piece of crackling on top. Note: do not try to cut this piece of crackling with a fork and knife like I did, as it will fly. Instead just pick it up and take dainty bites of the crackling — you’ll enjoy it better :)
What I like about Anfora is they have a great selection of wines which includes some organic ones. You can also do a ‘wine flight’ — 3×75 ml of rose, white and red wines (changing monthly). I liked all three wines that were offered, but my favourite one was a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand — lovely passionfruit flavours and a surprise for someone like me who isn’t usually a white wine enthusiast.
When we were paying the bill, the waitress advised to keep the receipt as it would give you a 20% discount off the next visit.