Ardfern — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

I think it's finally time to type up my Ardfern Review... Sensational to start!

We have been twice (the photos below are from both visits) and it truly blew our minds both times. The second you walk in, you're immediately no longer in Edinburgh. There is an air of chic, London vibe that immediately makes itself very apparent. The interiors are stunning yet relaxed, and everything just feels cool. Also, quick honourable mention to the mismatched dish-ware which is my favourite thing ever!!!

Both times, we ordered the lamb sausage rolls and just... wow. The homemade brown sauce is truly sensational and it is such an inventive twist on a classic. We also got the rosties with feta and spinach on top and they were also so yummy. Both times, we got the polenta and just truly do yourself a favour and try it. It is such a flavour bomb and satiates a salty-girl craving. We tried the oysters with carrot hot sauce and those were great, as well as the babaganouj flatbread. The courgette flower fritters are also deliciously addictive, with a homemade romesco and some hot honey (?), so so so good!!!!

Star of the show both times is obviously the smashburger!! it is truly delectable, no notes! It def feels inspired by the film 'The Menu', but it adds such a coolness to the menu and shows the ability to have all these lovely inventive dishes but something still as simple as a smash cheese burger (It was sensational both times, don't let the simplicity of the idea draw you back, it is THE BEST burger in the city trust me).

For dessert, both times we went it was the chocolate cheesecake with black cherries and I STILL think about it all the time. Such a show stopper!! I'm excited to go again soon and see how the menu has changed and developed :)

While the food was exquisite, it is critical to mention how incredible the front of house team is! All the waitstaff are so lovely and so cool, knowing exactly when to attend to you and when to let you chill out. They made sure your experience at Ardfern is memorable, and I do believe that you can see the chef Roberta hall standard throughout this experience.

Do yourself a favour and try this absolute firecracker of...

We wanted to love this place, and previous reviews set the mood and potentially raised our expectations. The interior is simple and minimalistic, which prompts you to think the food should be amazing, but its not. The overall atmosphere does not justify the prices, and unfortunately, neither does the food.

The only reason for the three stars was the personal service from a lovely young lady, but all the positives stop there. When you book tables back-to-back, you need to leave a 5-minute gap between reservations, allowing time for the table to be set, patrons to leave, and new guests to be seated.

We arrived 10 minutes early as we should, and we were shown to a small area to wait until our table was ready. Previous customers did not leave on time, despite the staff politely reminding them of the time frame. We managed to sit 5 minutes later, and I'm sure we were expected to leave at the allocated time, although this wasn’t necessary in our case, as we left as soon as possible.

Again, when you book your tables back-to-back, you also need to have your kitchen organised in a way that can handle the volume of plates. We were served our drinks quickly, received our first plates after about 10 minutes, and were served the main courses about 45 minutes after we sat down. With the initial delay, we were left with less than an hour to eat and converse.

The full breakfast was potentially the worst I have ever had. Everything had the same taste with just different textures. Because of the grill, everything had the exact same taste—a smoky brown sauce flavour to all, despite the differences. Burger, sausage, bacon, even beans had the same smoky flavour. Only the eggs and toast escaped. The restaurant had the same smoky scent everywhere. Our clothes went straight to the laundry, including our jackets, after we left because of the smell that was lingering. Our local pub has better air.

It was a very disappointing and expensive experience for...

We visited for brunch on Saturday. The bookings are for a standard 1.5hrs which would not be enough time if it was somewhere we enjoyed but as it turns out we wanted to move on anyway. We had a range of dishes the most successful being the small plates. They warned us that they would come out whenever they were ready which is to be expected. But everything came out at the same time, it seemed that something may have been kept warm (solidified fried eggs). The online sample menu shows breakfast rolls, the menu in the restaurant had these removed. Luckily the table next to us must have asked and the waitress said they still have some. Without these on the menu it is very limiting as not everyone can eat (or want to pay for) a full breakfast. I can see that Ardfern are trying to do something different, but to pay a premium for something it has to be exceptional and the breakfast items just fell short. The potato scone was very greasy, average eggs and toast. I enjoyed the black pudding and venison lorne sausage. The ‘bacon’ was a big miss for me, pork belly was just too fatty and not the right fit in a breakfast. Everyone enjoyed the beans though. The coffee was far too floral however this is personal preference. The restaurant feels like it needs a manager running the service. It wasn’t bad just not really attentive. We visited different bars/restaurants in Leith that day and the other places had half the amount of staff doing triple the covers and they were giving better service. We asked if the coffee could be served in a mug not a glass, it came over in a glass. We asked for one of the bloody Mary’s to be spicy, again not passed on(and no celery which really is a must if you have a Bloody Mary). I asked what flavour of doughnuts they had, never came back with the information. Leith has some fantastic spots for breakfast/brunch with much friendlier prices. We won’t be back and...