Edinburgh, City of
Frizzante

Frizzante

95 Lothian Road, EH3 9AW, Edinburgh, City of, United Kingdom

Pizza • Pasta • Italian • Vegetarian


"Truly one of the worst dining experiences of my life. Not one thing was positive about the dinner except the nice female server. But even she disappeared about stopping by the table twice to take our order. The restaurant itself is very claustrophobic and run down. I don’t think they’ve put one dollar into renovating any of the wickedly old restaurant. Seats are worn out. Tables are beat up. Decor is dated and sad. Cutlery is cheap and dinged up. That being said, the food and the service is where things went from bad to worse. When we walked in my girlfriend was put off by our small table, where servers barely had room to walk by you without hitting your elbows. I told her that the food was probably much better since it is an old Italian family run restaurant. Boy was I wrong. I’ve never been to a restaurant that phones it in more than this one. All the food was atrociously bad. It’s almost like they lied about being Italian. My salad’s produce was wilted and not very fresh. The tomatoes were an absolute joke. Cold, bland, and tasteless. Which makes no sense because everywhere I drove through the UK I could find amazing tomatoes at farmer stands and stores. So they are clearly not putting any money towards good ingredients. Cheap. They provide the table with oil and vinegar which was the first sign that we were in for a bumpy ride. The “olive oil” was almost crystal clear with zero taste. It clearly wasn’t olive oil and instead Canola oil. I asked one of the male servers if I could get a side of olive oil and he told me that the oil in the dispenser on the table was their olive oil. I was dumbfounded by this and asked him for the good olive oil that they cook with and he said that the oil on the table was the oil they cooked with. Once again. Cheap. The main courses finally arrive after a long wait and the pasta was not even on par with elementary school cafeteria pasta and the pizza was even worse. Totally bland. The ingredients once again were trash. Cheap. To call it Italian food is laughable at best. And then the atrocious service. The owner of the restaurant was there, walking past our table a million times but never once addressed us until the very end when I asked for change so I could tip. Both he and the other elderly male server would rush every conversation to the point where it felt like we were bothering them. And believe me I was super polite and kind through the whole process. Every time I asked for anything, I could never get my full request out because the server would run off while I was still talking. Extremely rude and dismissive. My girlfriend and I had pizza at the shopping mall the next day and the pizza was 100 times better. And this was a chain in a mall. Save yourself the money and frustration and AVOID this restaurant unless you want to be scammed into buying a lot of cheap and tasteless food by rude people. Such a joke."

The Little Chartroom

The Little Chartroom

United Kingdom, EH6 5JD, Edinburgh, City of

French • British • Scottish • European


"First time here for lunch on a Saturday. Lovely vibe in the small dining room with a view into the calm open kitchen. Background music helped create a good ambience although my dining companion, who is slightly hard of hearing, found it a little too loud. The short 3 choices for each of 3 courses is highly original placing ingredients rarely seen on menus at the heart. A venison carpaccio with tiny crispy crunch capers and buckwheat flakes was a triumph, accompanied by blobs of egg yolk and micro herbs. A hispi cabbage starter was equally successful and compelling, with an exquisite cheese foam topping some fermented grains and a yogurt sauce. The main course of fillet of hare with a filo-pastry encrusted homemade hare boudin, deep fried, and served with a deep, rich jus, some creamed celeriac and a slightly underbaked candied celeriac slice was also excellent. Very imaginative in design and extremely well executed. Desserts came with perfectly matched dessert wines. The bay leaf infused crème caramel was absolutely spot on; wonderful texture of smooth deliciousness; the bay did not dominate, in fact it was so subtle it was barely there. The accompanying deep fried doughnut was amazing. The orange-infused cranberries were good but perhaps slightly overwhelmed the crème. The rice pudding dish was served warm, with some chopped fig and diced stem candied ginger, with a ginger ice cream on the top. Although this was the dish I had most anticipated, it fell a little short of expectations and didn’t have quite the ‘wow’ factor of all the other dishes. Service was first class. Exemplary in every way. Would strongly recommend and will definitely return."

Foresters Guild

Foresters Guild

40 Portobello High Street, EH15 1DA, Edinburgh, City of, United Kingdom

Pub • Steak • British • Scottish


"We visited the Foresters Guild after walking past many times. We certainly regret not visiting earlier. The restaurant is really nice. The booking online is generally easy although it would be helpful to see a map of the restaurant when booking, as the bar area is actually bigger than the restaurant area, however, food is served in both sections. Our first visit to the Foresters Guild was for dinner. We had the pan seared scallops as a starter (to share), and the Spanish Chicken burger and Foresters Beef burger as the main. The food arrived quite quickly. The starter was incredible with the black pudding being really juicy. Whilst the chicken burger was the best chicken burger we’ve encountered yet, the beef burger was overwhelmed by a rather big and dry brioche bun. On a later return visit the brioche bun was much fluffier and suited the burger better. Overall, a smaller brioche, or an alternative bun such as ciabatta or pretzel might be a better fit. The real highlight however were the Foresters Fries. We opted for the Truffle Parmesan fries and the Haggis Peppercorn fries. The Haggis fries were a bit messy to eat, as you can imagine, but really flavourful. The Truffle fries are good when craving something lighter and simply heavenly. We would definitely recommend trying either of these and will come back for these fries alone. We returned for breakfast and chose the full breakfast with the option for extra pieces. The sausages and bacon were outstanding. Some of the best bacon we’ve had, and we’ve had a lot of bacon in the past. The black pudding was also very good. The Haggis on this occasion was rather dry and certainly would not have made Robert Burns’ “Ode to the Haggis” proud. But overall it was very filling, worth the price and we will definitely come back to indulge. The restaurant is clean and the servers are nice, although nobody stood out in particular and all interactions were kept very short. The menu also allows plenty of options for vegan and gluten free requirements, without limiting options for people without dietary requirements. One of our celiac friends thoroughly enjoyed the restaurant as well. Overall we were very happy with our visits and will certainly return in the future."

The Dirty Martini

The Dirty Martini

16 George Street, Edinburgh, City Of, United Kingdom, EH2 2PF, Edinburgh, City of

Vegan • British • European • Scottish


"So we were in Le Monde hotel before we get our train home. We had some snacks and drinks. Nice big armchairs with nice fire on. Nice blether with the waiter. Five minutes before we are due to leave. A female member of staff came over and said ‘ it’s against regulations for your wife to be sitting with her eyes closed’ . I asked what regulations and she said licensing regulations. I said I thought she was talking nonsense. Then a manager came over and reiterated we were breaking the law because Jenny had her eyes closed. My initial thought was surely it’s common in a hotel lounge for someone to be sitting with their eyes closed after eating. Anyway aforementioned manager said we couldn’t sit like this. I said I thought he was being stupid. He told me not to swear at him. I asked what swearword I used and he replied you called me stupid. That was cue for us to get up and walkout without paying. We were incredibly offended. Now if someone had come over and asked if my wife was ok I wouldn’t have thought that unreasonable. I would have said we are leaving in five minutes. I asked the waiter who looked after what he thought of the way we were treated and he said shocking. We said our protests were not a reflection on him in any way as he was a good ambassador. Interestingly there was another couple sitting across from us who said the treatment we got was appalling. The female member of staff had stuck a card on their table which was asking them to vacate their table in a little while. No mention of why to the patrons using the lounge when she put card on table. When they complained, they were told a regular comes in and expects that table. So a lounge with perhaps 8-10 tables, with two occupied, demonstrated how to offend all their customers. I still cannot believe how appalling this establishments customer care is but I will never ever, out of principle, enter that establishment again. When one satisfied customer leads to another. I cannot believe people could be so inept with customer care and communication skills. That’s regulations for you. Sleeping police no less, what next ?"

Lady Libertine

Lady Libertine

25 West Register Street, Edinburgh, City of, United Kingdom

Pub • Food • Drinks • British


"Restaurant reminiscent of a speakeasy serving drinks and mainly middle eastern foods. Service (5/5) Very prompt service. I was very satisfied! Came to take my order in a good time. Starter came in just a few minutes. Always notices that I’ve finished my dish very quickly. My main course came soon after my starter, and my dessert order was also taken and served very promptly. Food (4.8/5) The food portions were very generous. I was almost full just after my starter (baba ghanoush). For my side of cabbage, I didn’t expect to get half of an entire cabbage! A big side of salad along with my chicken kofta main, too. They all tasted nice. I particularly liked the pita crisps of the baba ghanoush, which was crunchy in just the right way. However, the chicken kofta did not have “crispy chicken skins”, as the menu suggested. I also wished there were more sweeter drinks available! For dessert, I liked my pistachio meringue, though I wish I could have tried their Turkish delights and baklava (which were part of a 2-person dessert). Atmosphere (4.7/5) Nice speakeasy atmosphere. I really liked the fringed lamps. A tad too dim though (the basement restaurant, at least), so it was bit jarring when I had just been under the bright May sun. Definitely more suitable for dinner. The space was clean and spacious, but I do have to deduct points for the bathroom running out of soap. The menu cards could also have been cleaner."

The Birchwood

The Birchwood

146 Marchmont Road, Edinburgh, City of, United Kingdom

Food • Cafe • Store • Seafood


"My wife and I decided to pop by here for breakfast a couple of weeks ago, and boy, are we glad we did. We luckily managed to get a last minute booking as it was quite busy. The café itself exudes an earthy charm, filled with home grown plants, creating a welcoming ambiance. The staff were welcoming on arrival and accommodating throughout our visit. The menu has a great selection from your usual go to breakfasts/lunches, to some more unique options. Thankfully the menu wasn’t too vast that and it was manageable to choose. For drinks we got a couple of smoothies. Both were excellent and flavoursome. For food my wife went with the full Scottish. They forgot the beans but it was quickly rectified. My wife couldn’t complain about her breakfast. Everything was cooked well and tasted great. I probably would’ve preferred more runny beans which you could lather the other food in but she quite likes the thicker beans. I was a greedy chops and got 2 items. Firstly I had the toasted brioche roll with Pork sausage, tattie scone and sriracha mayo. This was simple but so amazing!! Bun was crispy on the outer and soft centre. The mayo just hit the spot, yum yum! Easily the best breakfast roll I’ve ever had. I was drawn to the lumberjack French toast so I also indulged into this as well. The toast was like slabs so thick! The smothering sauce was delicious. Amazing texture and wonderful taste. Overall a tremendous breakfast and experience. Very satisfied. I have since been again and the standards have been kept."