The Results - The Skinny Food & Drink Survey 2013

Yes, it’s official; this survey is now an annual January tradition, much like that nonsense about jumping in the Forth on New Year’s Day, or the dawning realisation that spending £50 on a jumper for your idiot sibling wasn’t a very smart fiscal move. Now firmly entrenched in the cultural calendar, we’re picking up where we left off, and everything’s the same as it was last time. Let’s survey!

Except everything isn’t exactly the same. Of course it isn’t, that would be completely pointless. It would also make the rest of this introduction a bit moot, really. Reprinting last year’s results would give all involved a lot more time to get their Christmas shopping done, but a lot’s happened in the last 12 months. Exciting new bars open, old faithful delis close robbing us of excellent sandwiches, minds are blown by mysterious and unpronounceable foreign foodstuffs. We even had that Mayan apocalypse, remember? The world of food has grown in the past year, so we’re back to give it its annual check-up. 

The basic format remains the same – we asked you what you like, you told us, and now we’re telling you what you told us. That said, we’ve trimmed things down a bit, and put the focus on results that you can use. Do you want some food, but also to catch that bus? Well, we’ve got some suggestions. Are you off for a pint? We asked around, and here are the good places. Keeping it simple, that was the plan.

In keeping with our long-running attempt to map out the drinks of the world, we’ve put together something of a culinary travelogue, a guide to a journey through the planet’s cuisine that you won’t even have to leave the M8 to enjoy. We also asked you for your favourite food newcomers of the last year, and tried to work out exactly what it is that makes them tick. It seems that personality, determination, and good interior design nous all count for a lot in the world of food.

We also jazzed things up for our second attempt at this survey business with some special celebrity guests. We put together a roll call of the best of the Scottish musical scene, from Ally McCrae through to Withered Hand, and nudged them all into filling out the survey. If you’ve ever wanted to ask Mr Hand where to go for a cup of coffee, interrupt Frightened Rabbit mid-gig to talk pubs, or felt the urge to know King Creosote’s favourite food colour, then your prayers have been answered. Their thoughts are all here, along with the collected wisdom drawn from thousands of votes by you, the readers. 

Thanks for those by the way, as this whole endeavour would literally have been pointless and impossible without your voting. We may have made some changes, but the main plank of this survey has remained the same – we wanted your opinion on where to go for food and drink in Scotland, and boy did we get it. As we said last year, these results were chosen by you lot, so if you disagree with them you only have yourselves to blame. 

As much as time marches on, old favourites disappear, and new ones pop up, some things never change. Guess that’s tradition for you.

The Skinny Food and Drink Survey 2013

Best Pub, Cafe and Best Food Shop
Food 101 - The Best Newcomers 
Food Hero: The Doublet, Port Dundas
A World Tour of Scotland