56 North — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

I wonder if there’s a restaurant for every degree of latitude. My home town sits at the 54th parallel, while Edinburgh sits at the 56th. My town has a North 54, Edinburgh has a North 56—well, okay, 56 North. On a whim I did a search for a North 53 restaurant…bingo, Edmonton. North 52? London. North 55? Northern Ireland. Holy crap, it’s true! I could run a blog where I travel the world visiting a restaurant named for every latitude.

I’m waiting Hollywood! That being said, I’m sure there would be at least a few degrees missing—not sure if there’s one at the North Pole. Taking this train of thought, would there be duplicates in the South, and would they be the Norths’ mortal enemies? Would they explode if they touched each other like matter/antimatter? I have to check—HOLY SHIZZA, there totally is a South 55!

Upon passing 56 North, I couldn’t help but enter. It’s a modest bistro where sections of charcoal tiles and tan wood panels spread across the floor. Matching tables and chairs are frugal; the tables feature hooks for people to hang bags from….novel. The bar carries enough alcohol to inebriate all of Goldie Hawn’s children. The menu is the definition of humble—one paper affixed to a clipboard. A clipboard. No really, a clipboard. The prices are very reasonable with only a few items over ten quid and only one at seventeen pounds. I opted for two starters rather than one with a main. The first was a pork belly & black pudding filo parcel with homemade apple jam. I then followed it up with the autumn vegetable soup. While the filo parcel was amazing, I thought the soup was honestly…the best word to describe it was fibrous, which is…totally a word I just discovered. Thankfully, it was only a daily soup, which means I hope that in the future it won’t repeat.

A good meal and a good value. I liked the décor, especially the hole built into the dividing wall allowing me an unobstructed view of the TV in the corner—I kid you not, they did this. The service was great with the waiter/bartender/probable owner bragging about the free Wifi offered inside the restaurant. By the way, the password for the network was totally “FreeScotland”.

56 North is a lovely modern addition to a bucolic, borderline antediluvian landscape (yeah, antediluvian). I’ve said that I loved and still do love the look of Edinburgh—the stone construction, the towering spires, the fact that the city is perpetually moist all the time—but I do appreciate it when I cross the threshold to an interior and find it upbeat and modern. There’s a TV, but it’s not a pub. It has a bar but it’s not a club. 56 North is comfortable. It’s like a giant pillow in front of a fire on a cold night. It’s where you take someone to hang out with for two hours. It’s where single guys work off a pint of bourbon and lament the days when they were in love. Okay, that last one doesn’t sound very fitting, but I could totally see it happening. 56 North gets my recommendation because it was unpretentious, welcoming, with better than average food. With my review of North 54, that makes two latitudes. That leaves 178 more to go….more or less.

DECOR: 7 PLATING: 7 SERVICE: 8 FOOD: 6 VALUE: 8

OVERALL: ...

I would have given 5 stars because my experience was excellent however I tried to book with them direct the day before for 6pm and was told out right fully booked! Disappointed as they were recommended I went onto the 5pm website to see what other restaurants were in that area and 56 North came up as available so I booked and received offer £12 for 2 courses I phoned in the day just to confirm all was ok fine! When we arrived only 2 tables full I said to the waiter why are you empty and turning people away he said yes turned a few bookings away because we were busy this morning I was flabbergasted I was going to a show at the festival theatre and the restaurant should have been full! One more table arrived before we left so 4 in total! Service was informative and excellent Food was great a bit more choice on the market menu would have been good Really nice restaurant will be back if they feel like taking my booking! Very strange business model! They turned down bookings when empty and I had to book on a special offer deal thus them losing money twice?!?! Owner must have...

Do NOT book for large groups!!!

I used to be a big fan of 56 North but I was extremely disappointed tonight as my booking for 15+ people was spread over 3 tables - without any prior notice!

On a special night, my friends and I were not allowed to sit together. This was heart-breaking and I would not want anyone else to go through the same thing.

The staff refused to find a solution that would let us sit together. I have been to 56 North countless times over the 9 years. I am well aware that for large groups, there is usually a long table in the centre. I understand policies can change but it is very sad and heart-breaking that this special night for me was ruined by poor communication from 56 North.

Please put a disclaimer that you cannot accommodate groups larger than 10 people or something else that saves other customers from disappointment I went through tonight. It is false advertising to say that you can book A TABLE (singular) for 18 people and force them to sit separately.

Hope this review saves others who want to sit with their friends at a table on a...