Cadiz — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

My partner and I experienced food poisoning symptoms shortly after eating dinner here a couple of weeks ago (28 June 2024). We had 10 oysters as part of their £2/oyster deal and they weren't even fresh (based on the fact they were completely lifeless despite dousing them in Tabasco sauce & lemon juice). Additionally, we also had the Mejillones (Mussels) and we suspect that was the source of the food poisoning since they tasted a tad off that day. The Gambas Fritas shown in my photo was the only noteworthy dish however, it feels almost disingenuous to praise any part of a dining experience that leaves you throwing up shortly afterwards.

Despite reaching out to the restaurant to notify them of the obvious inconvenience caused by all this - as well as demanding a full refund of our £109 bill - they not only down played the validity of our claims but only offered a paltry £20 voucher as compensation.

They claimed an investigation was conducted (in record time might I add!) resulting in no further evidence of tainted seafood batches being housed in their kitchen - obviously because we'd likely consumed the only spoiled batch on that particular day...

Not only were they the FIRST & ONLY dining establishment that we ate at that day but had we not taken a detour home just to don warmer clothing before heading into town again for gelato then we would've experienced food poisoning symptoms in a very public setting (rather than in the comfort of our home).

Despite residing within close proximity of Cadiz, I have no intention of dining there again - unless it's either by accident or as a result of amnesia - so their £20 voucher can suffer the same fate as their seafood dishes: wastefully being flushed...

We came to Cadiz as a family member had bought my partner and I a "4 course meal" for Christmas. As it turns out that means 3 courses plus an amuse bouche.

Our amuse bouche on the night was a fish soup that was underseasoned and lacked any real depth, very underwhelming unfortunately and felt like more of an after thought than an introduction to their menu. The bread and aoli it came with was nice though.

For starter I had the chorizo croquettes with romesco sauce which, while delicious, were a very small portion, even for a starter. My partner had a more sizeable portion of honeyed goats cheese with sourdough and beetroot coulis which she loved.

For mains I had the seabass with a cassoulet, which inexplicably came with potatoes rather than beans. The dish was tasty, but again very small, and half the skin on the seabass was soggy rather than crisp which was disappointing. My partner had the battered haddock which was good, the pea puree was delicious as well she told me.

Thankfully they saved the best for last, for dessert I had a wonderful chocolate cremeux with amarena cherries, it was delicious! My partner had the posset which she remarked was one of the best desserts she'd ever eaten, high praise indeed.

All in all I was underwhelmed by portion sizes and quality, perhaps because we had high hopes before we arrived. But the staff were really lovely, and we did like the decor and setting.

We may be back to see if this is just a result of the set menu, as some of the other food going out did look sizeable and delicious, but not...

There is a review from four weeks ago which echos our experience of the itison deal which we were gifted for Christmas by family. I've been before with the same voucher about a year ago and the portions were big and atmosphere was really lovely. However last night we used it for our second anniversary, and it was sadly underwhelming. The portions of the croquettes and sea bass were really small (I don't eat much and I was still hungry). I originally wanted to order the haddock but they didn't have it so that was a massive disappointment as that's what I was looking forward to. There is also only 4/5 main course options so I thought this was poor for a seafood restaurant. The options were haddock, sea bass, mussels, chicken and I think a vegetarian dish. I asked to have chips with the sea bass instead of the potatoes but was told it's already prepared? I think as a gesture of goodwill it would have been nice to have a few chips on the side (£4 per portion if you add them). There was also a lot of upselling, ie bottled water, asked for drinks orders quite a lot (which is good service but with the itison it felt pressured). We weren't finished our meal and there was only a few tables left, the staff started preparing for the next day and cleaning while we were finishing. I understand this is necessary in the service industry but it made us feel rushed and not relaxed. So the food is really high quality but the portions were so small compared to a year ago. Don't go too hungry. Cocktails...