2.5 Star Restaurant and Takeaway Reviews
Browsing the newest of 85 2.5 star reviews on EdinburghMenus.com.
Montpelier's
159-161 Bruntsfield Place, EH10 4DG, Edinburgh
from SB22 (18%) on October 4th, 2008 (2 days ago)
Went here for dinner on a Saturday night at 8pm, bringing my boyfriend's mother along as she was in Edinburgh for the weekend. I was excited to try somewhere new as hadn't been to Montpeliers before but liked how it looked from the outside.
As soon as we walked in my heart sunk. Being a bar as well as a brassiere, Montpelier's manager feels the need to have the music blaring so loud that you can't speak at a normal level to the person sitting next to you. Fine if that's your kind of scene standing and shouting at your friend at a bar side, but not when you're sitting at a table trying to enjoy a meal and conversation.
I had the spring rolls for starter which were delicious. The portion was small but I was glad as many restaurants overdo it on the starter size. My main was a vegetable tart with salad. The tart's pastry was burnt at the rim and the vegetables were clearly just put into the pre-cooked case and shown the grill for 10 minutes before being put on my plate. It was dry, and not very tasty. Fortunately I had ordered a side of chips, which was much more enjoyable. Without listing what everyone else had, the other mains were enjoyed. Desserts were delicious but my banoffi pie was oversized (Not really a complaint!) The meal filled us up but it was a pleasure to leave and step out into the quiet of the night. I certainly won't be going here for dinner again, but I've heard the breakfast is good, so maybe I'll give Montpelier's another chance.
(+1) (+1) (0)
Hadrian's Brasserie
Balmoral Hotel, EH2 2EQ, Edinburgh
from naomi (50%) on September 27th, 2008 (1 week ago)
Went here for dinner on a Friday night and it was pretty deserted....no real atmosphere and whilst friendly staff, not the best service/attention to detail that I would expect from a 5* start hotel. Perhaps we should have ventured to Number One....They have a reasonably priced set menu but as I did not really fancy anything from there on the mains, I ordered from the a la carte, whilst my boyfriend ordered from both. I have salmon to start followed by loin of lamb served with potatoes and red cabbage and the cheese board to start. The Salmon was very tasty but you can't go too wrong with such a dish - c
creme fresh, lemon, seasoning and there you go - £8.50 please...The lamb was really tasty and you don't expect to get much given it's lamb but perhaps £18 was a tad OTT.
Cheese board features on both menus but oddly at slightly different price. I asked if they were the same...they were...got charged the higher price but hey it's only 50p! My boyfriend enjoyed his meal - ordered the haddock tartlet from the a la carte and sea bass from fixed price. His dessert was delish! Cheescake - orange, yum. Our cabernet sauvignon was nice but, cost us about a third of the bill....would I go again? Probably not for dinner but perhaps a lunch? Total cost incl tip was approx £100 for 2.
(+2) (0) (0)
Grand Cru
79 Hanover Street , EH2 1EE, Edinburgh
from elcc (20%) on September 26th, 2008 (1 week ago)
Came here with a bunch of friends this week and found this place to be good. The service was quick and the staff were really helpful and hospitable. The food was as expected in a place like this and the price was also reasonable. One thing to note is that if you sit towards the back, there is not much lighting.
(-1) (+1) (0)
Gandhi's Restaurant
50 East Fountainbridge, EH3 9BH, Edinburgh
from Meng (91%) on September 22nd, 2008 (2 weeks ago)
On a rainy weekend me and a friend fancied a curry. Just round the corner, this place delivers. But when it comes to the food stakes, does it REALLY deliver?
Meh.
Here's what we had (prices as of time of writing). For starters, Gandhi’s assorted tandoori – 10.95 quid consisting of Tandoori chicken 2 pieces, lamb tikka 2 pieces, chicken tikka, 2 pieces, king prawns 2 pieces, sheek kebab 1 piece with 1 nan bread. These portions are presented to you in a rather impressive manner sitting in the table of the restaurant, but in a takeaway box for 11 quid, it's sweated out, dry, and ultimately unimpressive.
For mains we had the Lamb rogan josh – 5.50 – medium hot dish prepared with mixed peppers. Garlic, fresh coriander and spices garnished with spicy fried tomatoes. Any good? Surprisingly yes, which lifts the scorecount of this place a bit.
Boiled rice for starch, Peshwari naan (2.15 quid) which was poor. This came with poppadums and assorted chutneys - onion raita, mango chutney, onion salsa.
Grand Total - 18.6 quid (poppadums and chutneys free).
All in all restaurant presentation looks nice (though I have never sat in and eaten here, preferring to order and pick the food up myself). The curries are generally okay, but the starters weren't too great for that price.
Decidedly average though I'm not knocking the quality. They must be doing something right for me to keep calling them back for a curry!
Late and rainy night convenience curry comfort food that keeps one coming back to satisfy that crassy curry cravings. 2.5 out of 5.
(+2) (0) (0)
Bijou
2 Restalrig Road, EH6 8BN, Edinburgh
from profeta77 (65%) on September 2nd, 2008 (1 month ago)
I went there on Monday for lunch. The place was quite busy. It is really small and it looks like an upgraded sandwich shop. Maybe between a sandwich shop and a bistro.
Anyway service was really bad. To start with the waitress perfectly saw us but took 25 minutes to get served. Fair enough she was on her own and quite busy but if she's really busy before serving anyone else and especially before clearing other table, the least you can do is ask if we would want a drink and/or take orders.
So we were about to leave the place when the other waitress arrived and took our orders immediately. She was nice, friendly and helpful.
We only had 30 minutes left of our lunch break so we ordered Seafood linguine and fish cakes.
The fish cakes were quite nice but arrive only with a few salad leaves. Pretty poor.
The seafood linguine was awful. Far too much cream not much taste. Pasta too cooked and hardly any see food. Only some tiny tasteless prawns and big quarters of hard boiled eggs! Why?
Any way none of us want to go again and we would not recommend.
Bill was about £8 each.
(+2) (0) (0)
Leven's
30-32 Leven Street , EH3 9LJ, Edinburgh
from douglas (8%) on August 31st, 2008 (1 month ago)
An interesting experience - small expensive helpings but food was a strange set of tastes - ok for a single visit but won't be going back.
(-2) (-1) (0)
La Rusticana
90 Hanover Street, EH2 1EL, Edinburgh
from Gordon (18%) on August 16th, 2008 (1 month ago)
The staff were friendly enough but looked like they could have used at least one more waiter to deal with the rush at 8pm on a Saturday during the Festival. Needed four requests to get a jug of water. Food was very ordinary. Nothing horribly wrong but absolutely nothing to get excited about. No flair or interest to the dishes. Everything just about adequate.
(+1) (+2) (0)
China Palace
27 Bernard Street, EH6 6SH, Edinburgh
from toast (24%) on August 10th, 2008 (1 month ago)
Until our recent experience I would have given them a 3.5/4 rating for take out. They are always fast, efficient on phone and delivery is always polite. The food last time however was not up to par, the won tons were soggy and the chow mein was oily and bit bland. All the food did was fill our tummies but it wasn't tasty enought and we won't be using them again.
(0) (0) (0)
Peking Inn
3 Tarvit St, EH3 9LB, Edinburgh
from MaraCarfagna (37%) on August 8th, 2008 (1 month ago)
The only amusing thing about The Peking Inn is its unintentionally voyeuristic name. The food is in large portion and low price, so those in search of sustenance will find what they are looking for. With regards the food, it was somewhat tasty but overly seasoned.
Often in Edinburgh, an average meal is improved by its surroundings (Montpeliers). The state of the décor in Peking Inn, however, was appalling. Probably the worst I have seen in Edinburgh. With the service unremarkable, there is little else to raise Peking Inn above its mediocre 2.5 stars. Probably a good enough night out with the girls, but avoid for first dates or special occasions.
(0) (0) (0)
Smoke Stack
53-55 Broughton Street, EH1 3RJ, Edinburgh
from Em (18%) on August 7th, 2008 (1 month ago)
I've eaten at the Smoke Stack twice now - my second visit about a year after the first was much better though I'd still be hard pressed to return. It is important to say that the food has always been a hit. The first time I went we shared calamari and a caprese salad. The mozarella was some of the best I'd ever had. A friend ordered the steak with drambuie sauce and in the end decided that while the sauce wasn't horrible, he would have preferred his steak solo.
Both times I've been there I ordered the Blackened Salmon which, while doesn't quite have the kick you would expect with "blackened" has been cooked beautifully very tasty both times. Basically, the food is quite good - not spectacular, but definitely good and worth the price.
My primary complaint has always been the service. On my first visit we wanted to split our salads and starters into two courses, essentially having a four-course meal. Apparently that was the most difficult concept in the world for our waitress to grasp. She also didn't know the wine list at all, and - after first forgetting our wine completely - had to come back and have us point it out to her because she had no idea what we were talking about.
With two waitresses sitting at the table I'm not sure if we were extra critical, but we were definitely unimpressed. Finally, after a - not very impressive - dessert we were *immediately* approached by our waitress and someone else we assumed was the manager and asked to leave, as there were people waiting for our table. We were never informed that our reservation had a time limit and had honestly only JUST finished our desserts when brought the check and essentially kicked out. A four course meal with drinks for four people doesn't run cheap. After spending that much in a restaurant we were floored at being asked to leave, especially in such a rude manner.
As I said my second visit was better, but same as before, the service left something to be desired - only this time it was an overly-attentive waiter who checked on us every 5 minutes.
I could have just been very unlucky in my experiences but there are so many other great places to eat in Edinburgh, I'd suggest going elsewhere.
(+4) (+1) (0)
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