Dulse
Two rooms, one name, and the Michelin listing belongs to this one.3
Why go
Dean Banks's seafood restaurant on Queensferry Street opened in 2022 and is in the Michelin Guide's 2026 Scottish selection.3 The guide's inspector describes the shape of the place, an enticing combination of wine bar and seafood restaurant
where you start with a glass in the ground-floor bar before heading upstairs, and rates the produce: The quality of the produce shines through, from Shetland mussels to Skye langoustines, sometimes enhanced by flavours from Jamaican jerk spice to harissa butter.
1 The trade press pins that sourcing to this room by name: As with Dulse's first site, which opened in the Scottish capital's West End in 2022, the Leith restaurant will feature a menu focused on Scottish seafood sourced directly from independent, local suppliers.
The dishes Leith opened with were trout pastrami with Katy Rodgers creme fraiche, Orkney scallop in the half shell, and pan-roast Shetland cod with a clam and bean cassoulet.2 Banks's own reason for the second room was that a seafood pop-up had shown him there was demand for quality seafood that's locally sourced and affordable
.2
Good to know
- Which one you are going to: this entry is 17 Queensferry Street in the West End. There is a second Dulse at 102 Constitution Street in Leith, open since 13 November 2024 on the former ASKR site; the guide sends readers there for the
seafood boil
.25 - Address: 17 Queensferry Street EH2 4QW.4
- Price: the Michelin Guide lists the £££ band. No menu prices are published anywhere.1
- Booking: the guide notes the restaurant manages its own bookings, so book with the restaurant directly. It also tags the room Good for solo dining, which is a real option given the wine bar downstairs.1
- Hygiene: Food Hygiene Information Scheme Pass, inspected 10 June 2026, FHRSID 1515870. Two months old and current. The Leith premises holds its own Pass, inspected 19 February 2025.4
- Getting there: Queensferry Street runs north-west off the west end of Princes Street, five minutes on foot from Haymarket or from the west end of the New Town.
Verdict
should-visit — Dean Banks's seafood room in the West End, trading since 2022, in the Michelin Guide's 2026 selection, with a second site in Leith since November 2024. The premise both rooms are run on is Scottish seafood bought direct from independent suppliers rather than through a wholesaler, and the guide's inspector names where the money goes: Shetland mussels and Skye langoustines, sometimes under jerk spice or harissa butter, in a wine bar downstairs and dining room upstairs format. It sits at should-visit rather than higher because the guide inclusion is a selection rather than a star or a Bib, and because no scored critic review was read in this pass. The thing to get right before you go is which Dulse you are going to.