The Witchery

Having spent a fantastic evening in Prestonfields which is the sister hotel of the Witchery we thought we would be in for another treat. Unfortunately this was not the case. We only ordered a main course and waited for over an hour to be served. We found the staff pompous and generally very unhelpful.
Comment on this reader review

Sonia Purcell
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Saturday, June 23, 2012

Further to my previous comments, we visited Edinburgh again a couple of weeks ago and had a fantastic meal at Castle Terrace. The food is out of this world and the service is outstanding. It is everything that the Witchery is not.

The only thing that the Witchery has that Castle View doesn't is the location. If you could put the kitchen staff and the service staff at Castle Terrace at the Witchery, you would have a serious contender for the best restaurant in the UK.
Comment on this reader review

Darren Holmes
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 2
Monday, December 19, 2011

I ate here last night, and I would agree with many others that some of the staff members are incredibly unfriendly and pompous. Far from "the customer is always right" ethos, the head waiter (only waiter not wearing a name tag) made an embarrassing deal of it when I requested cream instead of ice cream with dessert. He acted though the simple request was ridiculous and was putting him out and said he would have to go to the kitchen to ask the chef if there was anything he could do. We were made to feel uncomfortable by this gentleman from the outset. Would not recommend this restaurant at all, do not be juped by any of its accolades. Staff have ridiculous egos considering at the end of the day it is the customer who should be made to feel at ease.
Comment on this reader review

Katie Walsh
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, August 23, 2011

The surroundings are very pleasant and different. Although it was a little too warm for comfortable eating. The service was pretty slow and although busy, none of the 6 tables I could see taken were actually eating anything at first. (It took about 25 mins to get first course of soup and was around the same gap between other courses). The set menu was limited and the main course from the set menu I chose (Sea Trout) was extremely small ( about a quarter of a small trout) and came with only two baby potatoes and nothing else! It literally only took me about 2 minutes to complete and it wasn't really enough food to determine whether it actually tasted good or not. Although it sounds value for money, priced at £30 it is not and was very poor. I mentioned to the waitress who fetched the manager who was really unhelpful. His response was "that's the size of the portion'. A bit like saying a trout swims. i.e. stating the obvious. The rest of the meal was fine and those who dined with me thought it was okay but agreed with me on the portion size. It wasn't even about the cost and I would have paid the full price of a main for something that actually told my stomach it had something to eat. The attitude of the manager for what is supposed to be a high class eatery was also very poor and the impression was that losing one customer would be no real loss. After all, it's rich tourist season!
Comment on this reader review

Dave Clark
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Monday, July 04, 2011

Amazing setting, nice food but the service we received was terrible. Being served by a snobby stuck up 20 something who spent the entire evening looking and talking down his pompous nose at us totally ruined what was a very expensive and should have been a very special meal. Would not go back.
Comment on this reader review

Darren Holmes
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Friday, May 27, 2011

Had the set menu as part of a large party of 25. Service was fast considering the numbers being served. I had potato + garlic soup with chives. Not very hot and no taste at all. I followed with lamb navarin. My colleague sat next to me got a portion twice the size of mine. Vegetables were almost cold. Lamb was tender and no fat but again no flavour at all. Finally cheese to finish. This was the only decent course and one that hadn't been cooked by the restaurant. Very nice Dunsyere Blue cheese with quince. I didn't pay but I felt it was overpriced and very poor considering the reputation, I feel cheated. You'd think they would push the boat out on the fixed price meals to get people to come and splash out now and then. Based on the tastes from last night I have no need to worry about paying for a meal there as I will not be returning.
Comment on this reader review

Rev. Arthur Neasden
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Having read countless reviews, i'd already made up my mind not to waste my money on going here, before a recent trip to Edinburgh. However, i was persuaded by my girlfriend that we should try it as she'd always wanted to go. Being the dutiful boyfriend, I duly acquiesced, and we booked a table. Sadly it was as bad as i'd imagined.

First we were made to wait at the top of the stairs while someone was found to show us to our table. This sounds petty, but it wasn't 30 seconds, it was 3 or 4 minutes.. We were then taken to what was in fact a very pleasant table, for 4, but set for 2, which was lovely because it was slightly away from the rest of the patrons, and therefore relatively private. The restaurant (we were in the secret garden part) is stunning, and incredibly romantic, but really that's where the complements stop. I chose to have the fixed menu, and my girlfriend opted for the a la carte. My starter of pea soup was ok, but really just OK. Where it went wrong was the main - I had fish, which was so dry and tasteless that i had to send it back. My partner had scallops, which were actually quite good, but again, nothing better than a Jamie Oliver or equivalent. To their credit, they immediately offered to change my order, and i selected a lamb dish; however this too was just awful.. Dessert was ok, and the wine was ok, and service was ok, if a little surly in parts (i.e i had to plan all 3 courses, rather than choose my dessert after the main, which seemed a bit strange to me)

So all in all not a great experience.. I don't know whether it's because i had the fixed menu or not, but i'd rather they charged twice as much for the fixed and served amazing food (case in point Martin Wishart was one of the best meals of my life, and £65 for 3 courses)..
Comment on this reader review

Digitalgoldfish
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 5
Monday, May 09, 2011

We were very disappointed. The food was poor, unappetising and over priced. There are far better all over Edinburgh.
Comment on this reader review

David Murray
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 2
Sunday, March 13, 2011

Ordered a full lobster sea food platter, was served a half lobster platter - when I pointed this out I was advised that it was a full lobster, I explained it definitely wasn't, some time later the other half arrived on a small side plate with an apology! The prawns were over cooked and on the whole it was expensive for what it was and there are lots of better value restaurants in Edinburgh.
Comment on this reader review

David Murray
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Saturday, March 12, 2011

Rubbish. Avoid like the plague then brick it up like Mary kings close.
Comment on this reader review

Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Sunday, October 24, 2010