Cafe Royal — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

I'm not impressed, and for the prices they charge, it should have been a better experience. It is an incredible place to sit and admire the history. We were met with a little bit of attitude from the bartender/server that finally made it to us. There's no one to greet and seat you, so we just walked back into the oyster bar(that's what we were there for), and he asked if we had a reservation. We said no, and he got short with us and said we only had an hour and a half. That was more than we needed since we basically knew what we were ordering already. The haggis bon bons were an experiment(as we'd never had haggis before), and they were a no-go. The flavor of haggis is so strong and just not for us. They were taken off the bill even though we said we would pay for them(this is the reason for 3 stars instead of 2). The scallop appetizer was delightful. The 10-ounce sirloin with chips was spot on. And here's my biggest disappointment: the oysters. Ordered a half dozen(£20) and my very first one, I was met with shards of shell. I almost completely lost my appetite at that point. We had to argue with our server to get him to take it off the bill. I'm not paying for oysters that are inedible because of sloppy work in the kitchen. Also, the water they bring to the table is infused with citrus. It was incredibly strong and honestly off-putting. We had to ask for regular unflavored water. Overall, as I said, it's not worth it. It was $71.30 USD for one appetizer and one entree that...

Had a really wonderful time at this restaurant, which is tucked away a few streets behind the centre. There are two parts - the bar and the restaurant. For a more relaxed and comfortable meal, I suggest booking the restaurant, which can do be done through OpenTable.

The staff was friendly, the ambiance vintage and beautiful, with absolutely gorgeous food. My boyfriend had the sirloin steak, one of the best he's ever had. We shared a plate of delicious oysters, truffle and mint arancini, which were fragrant and delicious.

I had the crab linguini for a main - to be honest I didn't really like it, but I hadn't realised it was a tomato based sauce (which I don't like with fish), so will give them the benefit of the doubt.

We also had a pair of Bloody Mary's, which were very very good.

Overall a wonderful time. This was a recommendation from friends and I shall be passing it on, especially for those looking for a little seafood.

Pricing wasn't cheap but I felt reasonable for the quality and luxury feel of the restaurant. Half a dozen oysters were £19 (+service), around £20 for a pasta main, and £32 for an aged steak. The Bloody Mary's were about £10 if I recall. Overall, the bill came to around £50-60 per person, including one cocktail each and coffees at the end.

Will be back next time I'm in Edinburgh, thank you for a lovely evening.

Fyi - I waited until a big group had left to take these photos - it's definitely not...

We came as my parents wanted to relive a visit 40 years ago. They were expecting a broad range of seafood, amazing service and a hefty bill. We got the hefty bill but nothing else. On arrival, we were seated and after 20 minutes had to wave at the waiter to make a drinks order. After another 25 minutes (45 minutes after arrival) we had to again grab the attention of the waiter to make our food order. Only then were we told there were no hot platters and no mussels. We all ordered fish pie, of which there were only 2 so one of the party ordered the pea and spinach risotto. We were told it was an Arborio risotto, not pearl barley. Fine. The food arrived. The pie was nice; what you’d expect a pub quality pie to be with seafood and a potato top. The risotto however was not pea and spinach, it was mushroom (they don’t like mushroom). When we were finally able to get the waiters attention we were simply told “Oh you should have been told” as they walked away. One of the group ordered another drink, the waiter walked straight off so when they returned, we had to order the other drink in the same round. The waiter taking the pudding orders didn’t know what a Liqueur coffee was and turned up with the desserts spanning across 10 minutes. £178 later we left very disappointed. If you want a pub meal, it’s fine but expect to pay through the teeth for some stained glass windows and excessively...