Arcade Bar Haggis & Whisky House — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

Two male servers scammed us on the evening of June 25 2025. A few minutes after they took our orders, one came back asking if I wanted the whiskey sauce on my chicken, even suggested that my dish would be dry without it. I said ok but thought it was weird they’d put a dish on the menu that would be dry if I didn’t think to request a special sauce that was not suggested on the menu. At the end of the meal, instead of providing the itemized bill, the waiter came with the card machine and quickly read off the items we ordered. I agreed to those being the correct items, and then he said what the total is. It sounded high but I didn’t think too much of it. He then said I could choose a tip on the screen and set the card machine down. I selected 10% as I thought that is in line with what many other places are charging for service, mandatory or elective. But later when my husband asked me what I thought of our dinner, the weird feeling about how the servers acted got me thinking more about it. I went online to review their menu again and read other reviews, and I realized the total was not what I expected because 1) the sauce he suggested was an upcharge, 2) there is a service charge included that the waiter didn’t mention when he said I can add a tip (on top of that). Those items explained why our total was what it was. And the reason the waiter didn’t provide an itemized bill was to hide them. If I had known there was already a service charge I would not have added additional tips. The way they tricked us into an upcharge for the sauce, their failure to mention a service charge before suggesting I could add a tip, and purposely not show an itemized bill are all part of a dishonest scheme to get us to over pay for our food and to get extra tips. It really left a bitter taste in my mouth. I didn’t ask if the sauce he was suggesting was an extra charge. I didn’t demand to see an itemized bill when he didn’t provided it. And I didn’t think he purposely omitted mentioning the service charge already included when he said I can choose to leave a (extra) tip. I trusted them and I should not have. But this is blatantly dishonest. You should not treat people this way. I sent them a message on their website the day after asking them to refund me the upcharge, the service fee and tips, and 2 days have passed and they ignored me. Not surprising if the message went to those same servers who might handle reservation requests. Since they refuse to acknowledge and correct their not-so-accidental mistake, I feel the only thing to do is to publish my experience to warn others to be careful about the dishonest servers here. Good luck to you all. I don't think a place who treat guests this way deserve...

I just had a frustrating experience at this place yesterday. It may have been bad luck, as one member of staff seemed "not in it", and one was extremely rude.

First, a man with an American/Canadian accent greeted me and, despite being a bit over-the-top, seemed nice. I ordered haggis nachos to go, and a coffee to drink in. He told me to grab a table. He was about to charge me for both (implying he would serve me the coffee and nachos), but he was "summoned" to the kitchen, so off he went. Meanwhile, I sat at a two-seater table with my things.

Another staff member rudely told me to move to the bar because I was only going to drink coffee, and my food was for take away so I can't seat on the table even though there were plenty of available tables. Annoyed, picked up my stuff on the floor and I moved. The American guy returned with my nachos and asked if I still wanted the coffee, even though he was supposed to make it earlier and I patiently waited for it whilst he went to the kitchen, and I moved to the bar after sitting comfortably at a table, only to be asked if I still wanted the coffee. There was so much back and forth about whether he could make my coffee. So much unnecessary hassle! When I’d had enough and said, 'You’re making it too complicated, so I'd leave the coffee for now, his response was, 'I could still make it for you, BUT…' I was screaming on the inside, thinking, 'Dude, just make the damn coffee already!' But I politely said, 'Nevermind.' But then, to OUR surprise there was a coffee already sitting coldly in the corner that was supposed to be for me made by the other staff but forgot to give it to me because he was so busy asking me to move. I could have had it whilst the other staff was in the kitchen?!! Honestly, what a chaos! The American staff said he wasn’t sure if I still wanted coffee because nachos get soggy. Yes, I’m aware! I wasn’t showing the slightest doubt about whether I’d still drink coffee, even if my nachos were for takeaway. Why was he making decisions for me? He was huffing and puffing while taking my payment after I expressed how frustrating my experience was. Didn’t even hand me cutleries. I had to ask somewhere else for cutlery so I could eat on the train." I thought Anna was known to be strict in her selection process...

Amid all the glowing reviews for this restaurant, if there is anything I would like people to take away from my review, it is that this establishment is criminally overrated and if you plan on visiting, please proceed with caution. Whilst I can understand that I perhaps visited on a bad day, the marked difference between the ratings and my experience still needs an explanation.

Let's begin with the service. Half the service staff are seriously uninterested and seemingly unmotivated. One man was particularly unpleasant and cold in his attitude - not a great first impression. For instance, he seemed to effectively provide an apathetic non-answer when I asked about how long it would take to get a table. I can appreciate that, once again, it may have been a disagreeable day, but nonetheless it was overall poor service. This is not to say that all the waiting staff are uncaring; there was one lady in particularly who always had an enthusiastic smile when serving our table, which I found as a refreshing dose of friendliness.

In terms of food, I find myself with mixed feelings. Whilst the dishes we ordered (the Haggis with whisky sauce, Lamb burger with chips and the smoked salmon starter) tasted decent, the issue is the price. The food is certainly slightly too expensive, even for an eatery just off the Royal Mile. For instance, we ordered the extra of bread and butter for £4.50, but received three slices of regular bloomer bread, plus packaged butter - just shy of daylight robbery. In terms of the food itself, they were all decent dishes. As someone who has never had haggis before, the Haggis dish was of a decent texture and taste, but lacked flavour and was quite heavy - without the Whisky sauce the dish would also be too dry. However, there is nothing wrong with the food so you won't walk away overly disappointed in that regard.

Overall, however, still a big letdown. From the cold service we received to the inflated expectations set by all the gleaming reviews, this restaurant is somewhere I will make sure not to revisit, and quite frankly, I would not recommend anyone else visit when there are so many other spots in Edinburgh. This establishment is, in my view, unworthy of the title of "best Haggis...