Description: I can't possibly write up a pub crawl with out mentioning the place to go at the end when you want nothing more in the world than loads of cheap salty, greasy food.
And there is one place in Edinburgh that stands out more for me than any other for this particular service. I have yearned for its glowing purple sign often on my own on very late and damp nights staggering home full of a variety of establishments' booze. But the fullness of this smallish chip shop every weekend night tells its own tale of the popularity of the place for the like-minded pub-crawler.
The owners of this establishment had a brilliant idea a couple years ago when they repainted the place a glowing purple, including neon lights that go on as soon as the sun goes down.
To anyone at the end of a pub-crawl, the quality is nowhere near as important as the quantity (And the cheapness is almost always a bonus given the absurd amount of money almost always spent on such endeavours) Which is probably why fish and chip shops do so well in Britain.
If it's your first trip to the British Isles you have almost certainly been told that you must go to a fish and chip place for the local cuisine, and quite possibly you left the one you found a little bit bemused by the recommendation. Because even though some of the food is really delightful at these places, it's almost always delightful in a crap sort of a way. (Although the big slabs of fish are often very nice indeed) Its Britain's version of fast food and its charm only really becomes apparent at moments like the one you now find yourself in, wet and weary, bleary eyed from the pints you lost count of an hour ago and with a strange and pitifully small amount of change you find left in your pocket.
Here is where the chip shop--more specifically the tantalizingly bright and welcoming Cafe Piccante--become the best restaurant idea that man ever invented.
For approximately a pound you can get a heaping bag of greasy, salty chips (or steak fries, to Americans) or for an extra pound or two you can get a wonderfully crispy bit of white fish batter fried and delicious beyond words. Need more, or not quite up to handling greasy bags and slabs of fish? Well take your choice of cheap, hot pizzas. This is a wonderfully bright and cheerful place at the wee hours of the morning, and will probably be the most welcoming sight on earth.
It sits happily at the top of Broughton Street and is impossible to miss.
Maybe more than anything else, it’s worth a stop for one of the national specialities, the deep friend Mars Bar. Yes...you heard right. (Also comes in snickers) I know how horrific is sounds, but it's delightful. Be bold and give one a try, it's certainly memorable.
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