The shopping in Edinburgh is pretty good, but if it’s designer outlet you’re looking for then Livingston is where you need to be. There are quite a few places to eat around The Centre and Designer Outlet but the offering is predominantly big chains such as Wagamama’s and Nandos.

If you want somewhere a bit more independent, try Tony Macaroni’s. With twelve restaurants around Scotland (and more planned!) it’s becoming a bit of a chain itself, but at least it’s still local.

With no Fentimans Rose Lemonade on the menu, I opted for a Sanpellegrino and very nice it was too. It was a sunny day outside and it got me thinking about eating al fresco in sunnier climates very soon.

We don’t usually bother with a starter as the portions are always pretty generous, but for the purposes of this feature we gave the Pollo Fritto a go – chicken fillets deep fried in a basil and pine nut batter served with a garlic mayonnaise. The husband loved them, I found them a little heavy on oil.

The lunch deal is great value, just £5.95 and there’s a wide variety of dishes to choose from. We chose the lasagne from the lunch menu and the daily special, mushroom pappardelle with truffle.

Both dishes were delicious and that’s what I like about Tony Macaroni’s, it’s reliable, we’ve never had to complain. We also had focaccia, their bread is lovely as they have a proper pizza oven. All in all a really lovely lunch to provide the necessary energy for more shopping!

Tony Macaroni
Location: Edinburgh & Livingston
Price: Lunch from £5.95
Good for: Families and a great value lunch