The Bothy Wine And Whisky Bar — Restaurant in Edmonton

After recently discovering that a large percentage of my DNA comes from Scotland, I became very interested in experiencing some Scotland culture and what better way to do that then by trying some of the cuisine! When searching for haggis (Scotland's national dish) I was very happy to discover The Bothy Wine and Whisky Bar.

This is a small and cute type of place that I would consider a little bit hidden off Calgary trail and there isn't a ton of seating inside so it doesn't hurt to make a reservation, however when we visited it wasn't terribly busy for a Saturday night and we had a lot of seating to choose from at that time.

The atmosphere and service were great, atmosphere was a little more quiet and relaxed with dim lighting which I liked. I also really liked our server she showed me a cool Scotland trick that allowed me to squeeze every last drop of my Ardbeg from my Glencairn.

In addition to the scotch, my partner and I shared a wine flight (they also have whisky flights which I will try next time), the wine flight came with 5 x 3oz wines and they were all very delicious, with a few new reds that we had never tried before! When it comes to the wine and whisky, make sure to read the menu very well as it explains all the different types and their regions it is very informative.

Finally the food which was also fantastic. For my partner it was a little more difficult finding a good meal being a vegetarian, but we looked at the menu before coming in so this was no surprise to us. The server was helpful and offered the special on the menu to be modified to have no chicken which was very nice of her, but in the end my partner went ahead and ordered a big plate of hummus and pita which was good for her. I went with the haggis of course which is served with tatties, neeps, roasted vegetables, and a wee drop of whisky, all of which were so delicious.

It was a very pleasant experience for my first time trying haggis and trying to experience a bit of the Scotland culture, and we will definitely be back!

Editing this review to include that we also had the Sticky Toffee Pudding for desert on our visit, it was absolutely delicious and didn't taste like a typical one we had get at any other restaurant, I guessed maybe that is because it is done in a more traditional...

UPDATE: AMAZING! The manager contacted us and requested that we return for a second try. We're very glad that we went back. We both had the steak sous vide. It came out perfectly cooked. The vegetables and potatoes were amazing as well. Our server, Megan, was great at recommending wine pairings for us. She ensured that we had fantastic and consistent service throughout the entire evening.

We were so disappointed. My Fiancé had been wanting to check it out and we finally stopped in a little after 8pm on Thursday night. We seated ourselves and some menus were dropped off, the server mumbled something to us and we didn't even get a chance to reply before she left the table. We took some time to peruse the menu and waited for someone to return so that we could ask some questions. We continued waiting. No one returned. We watched all of the wait staff pass us in the half full restaurant, clear other tables, chat at the computer casually and continue to ignore us. No one mentioned the special to us (we just happened to see it on the wall). We didn't even have water. Even if someone had acknowledged us to say something like, "hey, someone will be right with you, we're a little busy" that would been ok. In the end, we waited over 30 minutes before we finally walked out to go...

First of all, a shameful nod 'o the head for not discovering the Bothy ages earlier -- this is the kind of place I rejoiced in finding in the old country (I'm thinking of you, Babbity Bowster, in Glasgow).

The Bothy Wine & Whisky Bar is immediately comforting and welcoming; there's everything you expect from a local village public house, and nothing distracting. The staff and visitors all comported themselves with a sort of hush, a reverence around the food and drink we all craved.

Let's start with the drink: it's a whisky bar, and so we had every variant of Talisker Scotch (from the Isle of Skye) they had, neat, and we savored and talked about it for a while, as we waited for a couple of dishes to arrive.

The food: the pound of PEI mussels done up in white wine & garlic was a perfect rendering of the traditional dish, with a twist of subtle blue cheese sriracha broth, accompanied by the much-loved side of sourdough.

The steak and mushroom pie was similarly satisfying in that homey comfort food sort of way, and there's little more to say about it. I'd have either or both of these dishes again in a minute.

There's wine, and lots more on the menu, and it'll not be too long before we work our way through those....