my olivia pasta was very good but unfortunately my friend with dairy allergy had a very hard time finding options. additionally there was no ability to add protein like chicken to the pasta. service was friendly and attentive though which was enjoyable

Incredible - atmosphere, food, service - everything! I came for lunch and sometimes dining in at lunch you can feel a little neglected but my server was amazing. I got the calamari and a side salad (with pears and Gorgonzola) and they were both outstanding. Same with the mojito. Just a great place to sit and relax!

Repeat after me: 'chen-toh-tray'. Accent the first and third syllables. That seems to roughly be the pronunciation for this venue. It shouldn't have been to difficult to realize that it's Italian for 'one hundred three', the street address here. Duh. Hey - I never said I wasn't dense. A shockingly sun-drenched Friday morning found me sitting here, surrounded by various marketers and techies, slurping on a big ol' mug of steaming Americano, and later wolfing down a bacon focaccia. Considering our party took up one massive rectangular table, then later metastasized to another smaller table or two, the staff was considerably patient and accommodating. Not only that, since #EdCM was ostensibly a networking event, everyone traded seats frequently, yet our final bill came out perfectly - no mystery additions and no missing items. While the most I can report regarding my food was that it was satisfying (because it was)... I'd suggest that the most noteworthy aspects of this joint are the airy high ceilings, the enormous white pillars that stretch from floor to ceiling, and the free wi-fi. I realize the latter isn't an architectural design element, but it might as well be. To me, it's no weirder asking, "Hey, does that place have a roof?" than, say, "So, does that business have free interwebz?" And to answer your unspoken question, no... I am -not- a cyborg. I just play one on TV.* -- * This is a patent lie. I've only played myself on TV here and there. And once on a Margaret Cho DVD. Truth.

Well this was a pleasant find amongst rows and rows of chain bars and restaurants in this part of Edinburgh! Needing somewhere to stop and refuel between an afternoon of meetings, the local Costa seemed to be our best bet, (OH NO..) but then we stumbled upon here which is like a diamond in the rough. A fairly large restaurant, very Italian and quite high end 'wine bar'y' we were just after tea/coffee and enjoyed a cup and a chat. But...but..we could not resist the amazing looking doughnuts on the counter and proceeded to wolf a couple down in record time. Great venue, great friendly staff - very happy to go here than one of the many chains in the area.

Do I have chocolate on my face? Nearly 18 hours later and I can still taste that hot chocolate! That dark, thick, creamy, rich, unctuous hot chocolate.............. I had been to 'Centrotre' (as it was known previously) for lunch and love the fresh food and stunning interiors. So stunning that I never thought for a minute that it was the kind of place you could just pop into for a hot bevvie. But thanks to a search on Yelp, it became very clear that this was THE place for hot chocolate in Edinburgh. I love hot chocolate but it has to be REAL - made from melted chocolate and not from a powder and certainly not made using boing water!!! I've be 'burned' so many times before by bad hot choc that I didn't rush to Contini's. I waited. Read a few more reviews. Looked at the pictures. Then went home and made my own. I was in town yesterday with a friend. We did the spa and a healthy lunch but something was missing. CAKE and a hot bev! I hit the 'nearby' button on Yelp and what did I see - Contini's. When I mentioned 'best hot chocolate in Edinburgh' my friend was racing me down the street. Unfortunately the cake selection was slim to none. Just a cherry pound cake with a huge ribbon of butter on top - not buttercream - pretty much just whipped butter? With this pushed to the side, the cake underneath was moist and lemony. Not wow, but still lovely. And then came the 'classic' hot chocolate. I have had some rich, high cocao hot chocs before, but never this dark! Oh and how kind, they put a pitcher of frothy steamed milk on the side for the people who can't their chocolate this dark. No chance I was going to dilute the dark beauty! We sipped and stirred and dipped (the chocolate was so thick it coated the tasty little round of shortbread). We did everything we could to make it last as long as possible. Now I need to see if they serve this same hot choc in their other restaurants/cafes!

This place wasn't exactly bad, but I still wouldn't say it's anything to tell your friends about. I was taken out for dinner here, and although the food was nice, 'nice' is about as excited as you could get about it, especially given the prices. I had a linguine dish, covered in what was essentially nothing more than tomatoes, garlic and chicken, but it still cost almost £11. Similarly, my dad's spaghetti with mussels in a white wine, cream and parsley sauce was nice but not exactly hugely original. Call me old fashioned, but to me an italian restaurant should have some degree of character or rustic charm to it. If not, it should be really good value, or at least something so tasty that it stands out from all its rivals. When it has none of these things, you can't help think that it's kind of a disappointment - no matter how trendy or 'George Street' it may be. They have a blackboard outside announcing to the world that they do the best cupcakes and cocktails in the world. Whether or not that's true I don't know, what I do know is that their pizzas/pastas certainly aren't the best. Don't get me wrong, they're good, they're just nothing more than that.

There's something to be said about going to a restaurant and being welcomed as a friend. I had been traveling for 6 weeks, and returned to Centotre for the morning event held there ever Friday (The Edinburgh Coffee Morning - EdCM) - and was welcomed by smiles, kisses, hugs and handshakes from staff and owners. Being recognised by staff at a restaurant is something that takes effort - the staff have to pay attention, and you can't force that. Friendliness can't be forced either. But it also requires something else - longevity. Indeed, I recognise now that there isn't a big staff turnover here - they like working here. That makes the experience even more special.

Usually, I try to stick with good local cuisine when I'm on holidays, so I wasn't planning on having Italian food during my Edinburgh trip! But this place came up on my radar when my friend and I were looking for something not too rich and heavy. Also, their menu changes every month, and everything is made fresh daily. So we ended up sharing the contadino pasta plate - it's normally made with a cream sauce, but the chef substituted it with their amazing tomato sauce. It was delicious, it's no wonder it's never been taken off their menu! We also shared the sardine and monks beard salad, with a spritz of lemon. It was a nice change from the typical green salad, with some sharp anchovy curbed by the lemon. Apparently monks beard is rarely seen in dishes outside of Italy, and the season for monks beard is short - so bonus points for importing special ingredients from the homeland! We also had the bruschetta, which was fresh and tasty but a bit pricey at £5 for the slice of bread topped with toms. In the end, we were full but really toted by their dessert menu. The tiramisu was alright, I thought it could taste a bit boozier. But my hot chocolate was the star! At 4.75, I had a cup of 55% melted chocolate with fresh whipped cream (it's only an extra 25p to add on cream). On its own, I felt the chocolate needed a bit more sweetness, that's where the cream comes in. Once I stirred in 2 big spoonfuls, it was almost perfect. The catch is that the HC is lukewarm after adding in the cream. I was tempted to ask for it to be reheated in the microwave, but I polished it off pretty quickly. All in all, I would highly recommend centotre. There is good variety on their monthly menu, including risotto and stews, I wish we had more people there so we could share everything!

An excellent meal with terrific service in beautiful surroundings. We arrived a quarter hour early for our reservations and complicated matters by requesting a booth for just the two of us. One of the servers accommodated us while the hostess was taking care of someone else. This was an excellent example of how the entire staff was engaged and involved throughout the night. After being seated we were greeted by the owner (Victor), who managed to greet and touch each guest that came through his doors. He not only greeted us but stopped by during the meal to check on us and provide an excellent wine selection for my entree. Our main server (Mary) was exceptional. Service was attentive without being obtrusive. We started with the olives and bread. The olive oil was exceptional and the olives were an eclectic mix. We had the mussels and the mozzarella for appetizers. Both were well presented and prepared. My companion had the pomodoro pasta dish but requested some specific changes that the server (and kitchen) cheerfully accommodated. I had the contadino pasta: wonderfully flavorful. We were both too full for dessert but the server brought a little taste of the hot chocolate that everyone justifiably raves over.

The calamari is the best! Cannot stop eating. I went there with my bro and also tried pasta with mushroom. Fantastic! And the mixed seafood, so so. For dessert we ordered panna cotta and chocolate cake. They are delicious! However, the price is expensive considering the amount given.