Cafe Andaluz

You walk down George Street past the usual chain suspects and suddenly there's this slice of southern Spain beckoning through terracotta-tiled windows. Inside Cafe Andaluz, the whitewashed walls are dotted with colourful ceramics and the air smells of garlic, paprika and proper saffron—not the watered-down tapas you get elsewhere in the New Town. The paella here is the real deal: saffron-stained bomba rice with prawns that haven't been frozen to death, and chorizo that actually has some punch. Their patatas bravas come with aioli that's clearly been made in-house, and the jamón ibérico is sliced thick enough to matter. At £8-12 for most small plates, it's not cheap, but you're paying for authenticity on one of Edinburgh's priciest streets.