The Witchery

What an awful disapointment. Do not assume that the reason you must book in advance reflects the demand for the quality of the experience. The more likely reason is because the restaurant is quite small seating wise and was full of poor unsuspecting tourists, I am fairly local and was on my first visit to the Witchery, it will also be my last!

As it would appear as lot of their customers comes from tourism the chef clearly doesn't need to survive on repeat custom, and it shows in the food.

I had the 2 course Table'd'Ore menu with a starter of Eggs Florentine, the hollandaise sauce in my opinion was too vinegary and the muffin was hard and heavy, you really couldn't taste anything but vinegar. My main was the sausages and corn fritter, this time I was struggling to taste anything flavorsome at all!

My friend had just a main of three little pigs, it looked very unattractive and tasted as it looked I'm afraid.

I have eaten in a few upmarket restaurants in my time but generally eat average fair, well this didn't even meet the average chain standard for us. Fortunately our spend wasn't too serious but still a waste of money. I wouldn't recommend this restaurant to anyone.

The only redeeming features were nicely laid tables and reasonably attentive waiters (but even they were let down by an aloof, sarcastic floor Manager)
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A
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Saturday, May 01, 2010

awful food and very overpriced! place is lovely but food is tasteless and very overpriced! service also as bad as the food. when i complained the deputy manager told us that we should of eaten at the balmoral!!!! never again!
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claire - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 0
Sunday, January 24, 2010

I never go to the witchery on my own but I am invited about once a year. I went just last month and the service was appauling! The waiters seem like someone that would be working at an american chain, the sort that come to your table and say "hello, my name is stephanie and I will be your server tonight". I had not noticed this in the past, must be cutting costs during the hard times. I was sitting close to the loo which is RIGHT in the dining area with the word "TOILETS" written on the door in plain sight of all the diners. Very classy. But apparently I was in very close to the stairs and in the way of the waiters who CONSTANTLY bumped into my chair and kept apologizing all night. Very unprofessional. When the waiter asked me how my dish was the only thing that come to mind was that the side dish, the veggies, were very nice with a nice butter and some seasoning and they were not over cooked which is typical of british veg. The waiter then asked how my fish was. I had not even thought about the fish when he first asked how my food was because it was so average and nothing special at all, my veg was more memorable. He seemed annoyed which just confirms my initial suspicion that the wait staff is very unprofessional and belong in TGI fridays more than a "fine dining" establishment. I saw that the witchery just won some award, cant remember the name, and its shocking! Yes, it is a beautiful place but what does that matter if the food is unmemorable and the wait staff just a joke? Says a lot about what people expect in this country when it comes to going out for a nice meal......
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chelfita
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 1
Saturday, July 11, 2009

My partner and I attended the Witchery on Friday the 26th June, Quite simply fantastic !!!! the food was superb as were all the staff, a complete joy. The wine list was fantastic. Highly recommend frequenting this establishment if you are planning to eat out in Edinburgh. Just fantastic !!!
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Andrew Gold
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Monday, June 29, 2009