---
title: "Great Places to Eat - Sabor del Mar, Edinburgh · Rampant Scotland"
description: "Great Places to Eat in Scotland - Sabor del Mar, Edinburgh The Location There is something rather \"fishy\" happening in the capital just now. What is it about se"
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last-updated: "2026-11-11"
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# Great Places to Eat - Sabor del Mar, Edinburgh · Rampant Scotland

Great Places to Eat

# Great Places to Eat - Sabor del Mar, Edinburgh

[Original page](https://web.archive.org/web/20040423152826/http://www.rampantscotland.com:80/besteating/best_eating_dev_delmar.htm)

Historical archived material. Venue details and prices describe the original review, not current availability.

**Great Places to Eat in Scotland**
** - Sabor del Mar, Edinburgh **

**The Location**
There is something rather "fishy" happening in the capital just now. What is it about seafood which is steadily growing in popularity. The aphrodisiac properties of oysters perhaps? The Shore in Leith has long been renowned for top quality fish restaurants but now the trend is spreading quickly into the city centre. Sabor del Mar is in the very heart of Edinburgh at 104 Hanover Street (telephone 0131 226 6300).

**The Restaurant**
[El Sabor](https://rampant-scotland.pages.dev/besteating/best_eating_dev_sabor.htm) (reviewed on another page) and Sabor del Mar offers a new concept in dining experience with this cleverly designed 'two restaurants in one'. Whatever your mood, budget and appetite, you can choose a style to suit. El Sabor at street level is a lively and informal Spanish Tapas Bar with a very attractive wood panelled interior, reminiscent of an old sailing ship - ideal for lunch, light meals and evening snacks till late.

Downstairs you'll find Sabor del Mar - meaning flavour of the sea - and in contrast this is a slightly more upmarket Spanish seafood grill. The design here is cool and sophisticated: battleship grey painted walls dotted with a series of computer monitors, linen tablecloths and fresh flowers offer a contemporary style of elegance, perfect for a quiet, intimate dinner.

**The Food**
The menu is pretty extensive with what seems like an entire fish market on a plate. Starters include mussels, king prawns and squid as well as my choice, Pescado de Tortilla, a classic Spanish omelette of salt cod, sweet onions and potatoes. I have tried in vain to make Tortilla at home as it's tricky to get the texture just right. This was perfectly cooked and a very tasty appetiser. My companion selected a huge bowl of Pescado de Sopa, fish soup, which was packed full of clams, calamari, prawns, ling and mussels, in a tomato and saffron stock - a meal in itself.

It was difficult to select a main course from an impressive list - monkfish, red mullet, swordfish, tuna as well as for carnivores, chicken and shellfish paella and fillet of beef. Then there were the specials of the day - grilled lobster. I could not refuse and this was delicious. Soft pink chunks, delicately grilled in butter and served with a simple salad. My partner tucked in to his tuna fillet which, according to the menu, was to be "served with shallots, buttered spinach and new potatoes." The potatoes however never arrived and on querying this curious omission we were informed there were no potatoes available. An alternative bowl of "hand-cut chips" arrived ten minutes later.

Desserts are the usual suspects of cheesecake, icecreams and sticky toffee pudding for those who have enormous appetites after this exquisite feast.

The wine list features several budget priced Spanish house wines from which we chose a blueberry-fruity Dos Santos Tempranillo plus a selection from Italy, South Africa and South America.

**The Bill**
Starters: Ł5.00 Mains: Ł9.00 - Ł16.00. Pudding/dessert: Ł4.00 House wine: Ł3.00 a glass, Ł9.95 a bottle.

**Conclusion**
If you have a passion for fish, Sabor del Mar, offering a wide choice of freshly prepared seafood at a reasonable price, stylish setting, romantic ambience and friendly service this is the place to come.

*Vivien Devlin*

Return to the Index of [Great Places to Eat in Scotland](https://web.archive.org/web/20040423152826/http://www.rampantscotland.com:80/besteating/best_eating_index.htm).

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## Source

From Rampant Scotland, restored from the page as it stood on 23 April 2004. [Original page](https://web.archive.org/web/20040423152826/http://www.rampantscotland.com:80/besteating/best_eating_dev_delmar.htm).

Links to pages not yet restored here lead to the original page or elsewhere on the web; 1 of 2 links on this page are restored on this site.