Is Scotland's infamous national dish the way to a tourist's heart? We find out

I pass my first haggis in Edinburgh about halfway up the Royal Mile, the crowded but wonderful cobbled highway that leads up to Edinburgh Castle.

The Fish and Frites - Anstruther van is parked opposite the historic Lawnmarket site. Across the street, a kilted piper plays Scotland the Brave, as if offering a soundtrack to the start of my haggis journey.

And I have every intention of ordering haggis, until I accidentally read a description on the side of the van: "The national dish of Scotland. A black pudding composed of the liver, heart and lungs of a sheep, minced and mixed with beef or mutton suet and oatmeal, and seasoned with onion, cayenne pepper and other spices. The mixture is packed into a sheep's stomach and boiled."

I promise myself never to think of this again. But when I try to ask for haggis and chips, the words that come out of my mouth are, "Just a portion of chips, please."

Obviously, I need a beer first.

A friendly stranger in an Old Town bar tells me there is always a queue outside Makars Gourmet Mash Bar, where the haggis is reputedly the best. Makars on the Mound closes on weeknights at 8.15pm, just as I leave the pub, but the following lunchtime I join the line. It's about 15 minutes before a table becomes free, which leaves me with even more time to imagine liver, heart, lungs, stomach, etc. Nonetheless, when my time comes, I order Makars' exclusive Royal Highland haggis with heather honey and turnip puree on a bed of black-pudding mash.

This a modern take on the classic haggis with "tatties and neeps" (potatoes and swedes), and it tastes fine. It really does. But, in hindsight, my order is a rookie error. Swimming in a creamy whisky sauce, the first haggis of my tour is meaty, oaty and peppery, but also uncommonly moist and disturbingly chewy, and would be best approached with an open mind and closed eyes.

I spend the night at Tynecastle Park Hotel, where a packet of Taylors Haggis & Cracked Black Pepper Flavour crisps is included as a complimentary treat for guests in the executive rooms. This is by far the safest way to try the taste of haggis which - in this context alone - reminds me a bit of Vegemite.

The next day, I head for New Town and Rose Street, Edinburgh's best-known strip of bars and restaurants, to call in at the Mussel Inn, which cooks up a rare haggis-based treat: haggis bonbons. And haggis bonbons - bite-sized offal meatballs - are ok. They're mildly spicy, they don't look objectionable, they hold together well and, perhaps most importantly, they don't sit on a bed of blood-sausage mash. On balance, they make me feel better about the whole haggis experience.

Edinburgh's historic centre draws most international visitors to the city, but - who knew? - the city also has a beach. Portobello, six kilometres west of Old Town, is a classic Victorian seaside resort. There was once a pleasure pier, along with Punch and Judy booths, Pierrot shows and donkey and pony rides. Now there's an amusement arcade, a few fashionable cafes, and a surprisingly large number of borderline lunatics swimming in the icy cold sea.

A seafront food stall with the unpromising name of Crumbs sells breakfast rolls with haggis sourced from the famous Findlay's of Portobello - one of the finest haggis providers in all of Scotland. I never thought I would hear myself say this, but it's possible that haggis is best enjoyed at breakfast. Because this is my kind of haggis! I can well imagine gearing up for a hard morning's manual labour with a hearty and economical (about $7) haggis roll and a lashing of brown sauce.

It makes me feel like I have a shovel in my hand, a song in my heart (probably something by the Proclaimers), and enough money left for a beer after work. The haggis is soft and dry and a little bit crunchy, and could perhaps be mistaken for a tangy hamburger.

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A little further along the esplanade, a cafe that wouldn't seem out of place in Brunswick, Victoria, offers a vegetarian breakfast with haggis. When I ask what's in vegetarian haggis, nobody knows. Eventually, a waitress brings me the raw, packaged product from the kitchen. It's a roll of oatmeal, fortified with red kidney beans, mixed vegetables and corn. Cooked, it tastes a bit like falafel with added ginger and cayenne pepper.

Elsewhere in Edinburgh, you can buy haggis pies and haggis Scotch eggs. A modern fast-food haggis is available from Haggis Box at the Scottish Storytelling Centre on the Royal Mile, but the stall closes at 5pm, before many people are in a fast-food frame of mind. The Arcade Bar - Haggis & Whisky House in Old Town comes highly recommended by a woman I met in a pub. The haggis menu at the Bombay Lounge Indian restaurant in Dalkeith features probably unique specialities such as haggis pakora, Bombay spiced haggis and Bombay haggis naan bread. The Scran & Scallie in Stockbridge offers a Michelin-starred chef's gastropub take on haggis, tatties and neeps.

Getting there: Edinburgh is a four-hour train ride from London Kings Cross. One-way fares start at about $51, but the sky's the limit on British railway services - so book early, if you can. It's often cheaper to take a 75-minute flight from London Stansted or London Luton airports. Airfares begin at a very reasonable $67 return on budget airlines EasyJet and Ryanair.

Staying there: The Tynecastle Park Hotel has rooms from 90 euro ($145) a night. tynecastleparkhotel.com

Explore more: edinburgh.org

Pictures: Shutterstock; Mark Dapin

The writer travelled at his own expense.