Scran: Vessel in Edinburgh

Colin Drury's monthly series profiling venues combining first-rate food with independent beer returns to Scotland’s first city…

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Colin Drury

Saturday 27 June 2026

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This article is from

British Summer Time

issue 132

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When our waiter brings out a can of beer at Vessel restaurant in Edinburgh, it's not unlike a sommelier presenting a bottle of the house's finest wine.

She approaches the table holding the tin at waist height; label-first; cradling it at a slight angle from the base. Upon a nod of confirmation, she pours a centimetre or two into a stemmed schooner glass. The remainder of the can, a beautiful-looking Big Little Red by Pilot brewery, is then placed carefully on the table.

“Please enjoy,” she intones.

This reverence for beer — even if a little theatrical — is right up our street.

“Ah,” says sales manager Sam Dick when I mention all this afterwards. “I'm glad you liked that. It's very deliberate. Our philosophy is that beer shouldn't be an afterthought to a meal. It's central to the experience. And I think the presentation is really important in that.”

Welcome, then, to a restaurant where food and beer are equally elevated.

Vessel was opened on Edinburgh's Hanover Street in May 2025 and is the latest venture from Matt Johnston, Patrick Jones and Jordan Palmer founders and ops manager of Leith-based brewery, Pilot.

The pair had been looking to open a new venue in the Scottish capital but, as Sam puts it, wanted to “do something different to the standard tap room”. The result? An intimate food-led beer-house currently serving what may just be some of the finest modern European cooking north of the border.

PHOTO: Vessel Edinburgh

“We wanted everything here to have a sense of quality,” nods Sam. “We're honoured that people come and spend their hard-earned money with us, and we want them to go away thinking every single detail has added to their enjoyment.”

The beer offering is basically Pilot's full oeuvre plus a couple of rotating guests. That means eight taps and a monster range of cans to choose from: everything from the 2.5% Pineapple Sour to the 7.5% Idris Melba with rice lagers, wit beers, Mexican ales, mochaccino stouts and a range of IPAs in between.

Even the walls are part of this boozy veneration. Framed artworks, it turns out, are not abstract masterpieces but Pilot can designs with the wording removed. “People always say the cans are small pieces of art,” says Sam. “Well, now they really are.” The beer, indeed, is a formidable part of the food menu, too; my slow cooked pork belly is served with a Peach Melba sour redux, while the grilled onglet steak and black pudding pangrattato comes with a stout gravy.

Both are complimented by the whipped feta — a house favourite — skin on fries, and a root mash side that adds vigour and verve to the whole spectacle. And then – what a touch! – children's fish and chips come served in a box. The little ones are as delighted as I was with the way that Big Little Red was presented.

Desserts? The sticky toffee pudding is infused with the house stout, while the cranachan mousse – a traditional Scottish offering – is a kaleidoscope of coconut, honey and raspberry, and pairs perfectly with the biscuity substance of the 5.8% Festbier.

And that is that. The food is done and the hour is late. All the same, we order one last beer — the Young Leith Steam — just to enjoy the way it is served one final time.

Ferment travelled to Edinburgh on CrossCountry, which connects more than 100 stations across Britain from Aberdeen to Penzance and from Stansted to Cardiff. For the cheapest tickets, book in advance at crosscountrytrains.co.uk.

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