Ecco Vino

very disappointed. The pasta is a disaster! As a n Italian restaurant it cannot be excused! the environment is too noisy and dark…

A lovely place for warm-​up drinks before going to see a stand-​up show at the fringe — though it turns out we didn’t really need it, he was actually very funny sans alcohol. At least I think he would’ve been.
We were craving wine and cheese (admittedly I seem to do so for most of my waking hours) so this place halfway up the most amusingly named street in Edinburgh (yes my sense of humour is quite immature sometimes) seemed an ideal spot.
It wasn’t too busy on a bank holiday weekend early evening and after a moment of dithering we took a high table for two next to the bar. My friend chose us a Portuguese red wine from their hefty selection that I hadn’t heard of before; a great choice on his part as it was really delicious and went down far too easily. As did one of their large mixed sharing platters — I would’ve liked a bit more cheese relative to the amount of meat though. The salmon and pesto struck me as oddities too — maybe swap those out for some grapes and chutney instead?
The service was very friendly with our waitress happy to have a bit of a chat when she brought the wine over, but otherwise I guess we were quite low-​maintenance customers. We ended up spending more than we probably intended on drinks and snacks but then we kinda skipped lunch… ok never mind excuses, sometimes you just need good wine and cheese and this place delivered :)

My husband and I were in Scotland for two days and wanted to eat Italian food. We ordered the goat cheese salad, mushroom soup and prawns for appetizers and the mussels and fettuccini for the main course. The food was delicious and oh so good! The mussels were melt-​in-​your-​mouth good and the BEST we’ve ever had. The environment was cozy and welcoming without being stuffy. You see the chef making the food quietly next to the bar. Our waiter was friendly and great. Only our pasta was a bit dry and could have been more creamy but it was still fresh and good. Definitely recommend it!

I stumbled upon this adorable wine bar during my time in Edinburgh and I am so glad I stopped in for a glass of rosé. The waitress Rebecca was so nice, and when I told her I’m a vegan she asked the chef to tweak some of the appetizers so that I could have some things to nibble on while I drank my delicious wine and did my calligraphy. She also then proceeded to sit down next to me and write down some great places that I should check-​out that during my visit.
Will definitely be going back next time in in Scotland :)

The menu is so limited and the kitchen staff with long hair don’t wear hats.
I had a started and went some place else.
Wait staff were good.

Out of all the restaurants I’ve tried in Edinburgh, this is my favourite so far. I’ve been here about five times now, and every time it has been perfect.
This is, without discussion, the best place in Edinburgh for no nonsense Italian, excellent wine, and a great atmosphere.
First of all, the wine. Oh my god the wine. If you pretending you are quite the wine connoisseur, this is your venue. They have a great selection (many by the glass) and knowledgeable staff. The first time I was here they sdid a wine flight (3 small glasses), which was a lot of fun.
Then, the food. Nothing too complicated, just excellent simple, strong and pure flavours, with daily specials. What else do you need?
It’s a combination of great wine, superb food and a lovely atmosphere. This place is my go to restaurant if I want a take out a friend for a nice meal.

Really good Italian food, the olives were awesome! I got the Parma ham plate with a salad, and my boyfriend got the chorizo penne. Both were really good!

Friday night — Just arrived to Edinburgh, had done sone research from home! After reading all the amazing reviews of Ecco Vino, we were looking forward to a lovely Friday evening! Unfortunately it was all booked– we reserved a table for Saturday instead.
The location of the little restaurant is awesome, the interior is authentic Italian. The food was quiet good, we choose a boring wine (a shame — but our own fault), the service wasn’t really there and the atmosphere unfortunately didn’t live up to my expectations.
If I had more days, I would give it an extra shot, but that’s not the case! Hope others will have a better service and done there a day where people spend more than1 hour on dinning.

I stopped in for a quick lunch and it wasn’t super busy. The service was good as was the food and wine. Definitely a good change up to pub food.

On our visit to Edinburgh, we were going tired of pub food and wanted Italian. We just happened to stumble into this place as another Italian place wasn’t open nearby. We were told that it may take awhile to get our food as they were short staffed but since we weren’t starving we decided to stay. The service was a bit slow but I didn’t think it was any slower than other places in the UK. I ordered a glass of wine and the risotto of the day which was a broccoli, leek, and Gorgonzola risotto. It was delicious! It was a little greasy but I assume that was from the massive amounts of cheese in it. I would definitely try this place again on my next trip to Edinburgh.

We stumbled across this place on our trip to Edinburgh for a late night dinner and was not disappointed. The waiter promptly informed us there was only one chef that night and the wait may be longer for food, but it wasn’t bad at all. Portions were large and a reasonable price for Edinburgh. Just under 10 pounds for a giant bowl of pasta. My sister got the leek broccoli risotto and raved about it as well. Worth stopping in, very delicious !

Had a nice seat outside on a sunny day and a couple of drinks with snacks. The anti-​pasti was so disappointing with a really odd aubergine thing that looked horrid and tasted of absolutely nothing, not even aubergine. Hot little potatoes, cold peppers, 2 small slabs of tallegio (hardly a ‘cheese selection’) and some pretty poor quality sliced meats. The chorizo tasted strange too. We had to pay extra to get some bread with it too. An anchovy salad fared better with the addition of avocado but was 75% rocket. The bruschetta was ok too, though again, 75% rocket. We were sat with the oily slate board (still with weird aubergine) and our plates for about half an hour before someone cleared it. I like going to Ecco Vino but I think in future I will just do drinks…

Wine bars in Edinburgh are peculiar places as they always seem to be tucked away on the quieter streets or under bridges and Ecco Vino is one of those too!
Great wine list — selections to suit all budgets. I was here for a post Doors Open Day glass of vino which turned out to be a bottle between 3 once we saw the wine of the month was a cheeky little Picpoul. Tasty and it went down too well, we resisted temptation to order another bottle. Service was great and we were under no pressure to vacate our table, so we had a lovely gossipy, catch up time, savouring food and wine.
I didn’t have food but the dessert portions look very generous and the seafood looks very good and cooked perfectly. I’ll definitely return and next time, I’ll be settling in for some nibbles and some more vino.

Kleine Weinbar mit leckerer Karte von Kleinigkeit bis Hauptgericht. Die von uns bestellten Gerichte waren großartig, der Wein auch. Was will man mehr!

A lovely hidden gem of a wine bar — one of my favourites! This tends to be one of my go-​to places for a first date (oo-​er!) or a catch up with friends over a vino (or several) and casual food. The food menu is small, mainly oiives/​bread, pasta and antipasti, however I had a lovely Italian sausage & bean stew during my last visit which did exactly what it said on the tin!
Would I recommend this to anyone looking for a fabulous meal in Edinburgh? No. But I would definitely recommend this as a must-​visit place for some casual nibbles & fabulous wine.

Just found this place on our last day in Edinburgh. Went inside for a hot Italian sausage sandwich and latte. Both lovely. Even though it was only 11am, the atmosphere inside was very cosy. Would definitely eat here again for lunch or dinner.

I found this place for dinner in Edinburgh because I know how much the other half loves wines and wine bars. A friend had suggested quite a few places for dinner, but none of them seemed overly exciting to him, so we came here.
We came in on a Thursday night around 6:30 and the place was already quite busy. For me, that’s a sign of a good place! We were seated at a table, and quite soon afterwards a large party came in, so we all shifted around to give them more seating (which turned out to be a HUGE mistake).
We started with a bottle of English white wine and a cheese plate. It consisted of three cheese. We chose it over the meat and cheese plate solely because that one contained manchego and gorganzola. Both nice cheeses, but nothing special. One of the people at the other table really wasn’t paying any attention to anything around her except chatting while trying to get up, so she knocked a bottle of water over onto our cheese plate. They did end up getting us another cheese plate (which hey, it might have been cheese overload, but oh well), which consisted of four cheeses instead of three. And two of them were different. It’s a bit strange that they opted to give us the manchego and gorganzola on the second plate in place of one of the cheeses, but maybe they were out.
We then ordered some Italian red wine and the spaghetti with salami in a garlic cream sauce and the ham risotto. It took awhile due to the large table next to us, but we weren’t in a hurry so we just enjoyed our wine. The mains were good. We also split the sticky toffee pudding at the end with some port, and that was probably the least good thing of the night. It wasn’t sticky enough for me!
The table of twelve next to us kind of ballooned into around 20 by the end. It was a bit too much for such a small restaurant. I kind of wish they told them they couldn’t accommodate such a large party, but I don’t even think they thought it was going to get as big as it did!
The owner (I think he was the owner, who knows?) came up to us at the end, and he started talking with us a bit about wine. He said we had good taste and picked some of the better wine on the menu. That’s always a pleasant surprise!

I really like Ecco Vino, and in particular it’s ever changing specials board. I ordered two very good dishes from it. Food was accompanied by typically good wine. I was very happy with it.
Overall, we said: «I was very pleased with Ecco Vino. It served me two really good dishes, and though they had their faults, they still provided me with a high quality lunch. In addition, a smart pub setting and helpful service make this place a very attractive offering. I’d recommend you pay it a visit, soon»

Now, I do know that a plate of meat, cheese and olives isn’t a balanced meal. Even if there’s some (fried) aubergine and courgette in pretty curls, it’s not going to win any nutritional awards. But boy, it’s heaven. What better way to while away an evening than drinking wine in a wood-​lined cosy room, talking with friends and sharing a plate of antipasti?
The food and wine at Ecco Vino is just top notch — everything they serve is great quality, and served by friendly staff. And if the antipasti is too bad for you, they do amazingly delicious salads, too…

Popped in here at lunchtime on Wednesday. I’ve eaten and drunk here before in the past so expected it to be as reliable as previously and we weren’t disappointed. I rather overreached myself by ordering the very tasty (and largely proportioned) carrot and ginger soup followed by the Italian sausage & cannelini bean stew but managed to do it justice (just). Service was friendly and competent and the whole experience good vfm. No wine consumed this time but they have a very good range of the stuff.

Adorable wine bar with really good food. We came here for lunch, so there was no crowd…
The spaghetti with anchovy in chili tomato sauce was really yummy.
Good service and ambience too