Harvey Nichols Forth Floor Brasserie and Bar — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

Disappointing experience. This was booked by my husband for my birthday celebration. The day before the planned event he received a call cancelling our table in the restaurant and offering a place in the brasserie instead with a couple of complementary glasses of wine thrown in. (The cancellation being due to a corporate booking taking over the whole restaurant). It was too close to our flight departure to look for anything else so we accepted. Our reception was nice, we were shown to our table and given a complementary glass of champagne each. The menu in the brasserie was limited and instead of the anticipated 5 course taster menu we had 3 courses and a cocktail. The food was good and nicely presented but not outstanding in any way other than in value for money. We were seated in the centre area so unable to benefit from the views. Up until this point the evening was acceptable but when the waiter bought our bill it had been inflated by over £30 by the addition of the complementary champagne. When we pointed out that these were complementary he questioned it and said he’d have to check. I was extremely offended by this, we all have a weak spot and questioning my integrity is mine! There are other ways of discretely checking without inferring the customer is mistaken/untruthful!! Eventually the error was rectified and the waiter informed us no one had told him we had been offered a free drink. How did he think he got them then?? How could he justify putting something on the bill which he had not served? Anyway, rant over, it was not the wonderful occasion my husband had planned to celebrate a big zero birthday - we felt second rate to the corporate group adjacent. Fortunately we were able to find another restaurant with a wonderful taster menu with great wines and top notch service for a deferred celebration - we highly recommend Angels...

We had afternoon tea here: two with the champagne option, one without. The online order form was straightforward, although I had to request a window table in the notes - it would be better to have a tick box for this. On arrival, we were welcomed and escorted to a large table by a window with wonderful views over St Andrew Square gardens and beyond, to the Castle, across the historic New Town, and North to the Forth estuary and the hills of Fife beyond.

Our friendly, attentive waiter checked our requirements (one vegetarian, two non-vegetarians) and brought the champagne, and the tea for the non-drinker. He then brought an enormous stand with the plates of food and described everything. The savouries were delicious: a mini brioche, a little pot of potato and beetroot (with salmon for the non-veggies), a little caramelised onion quiche. The scones with cream and jam looked good, but I slipped mine so that I could enjoy the cakes. The highlight of the cakes was probably the little pot of incredibly rich chocolate cream, which was accompanied by a lemon tart and a wee carrot cake.

There was a decent, but not huge, selection of teas and coffees.

The surroundings were airy and pleasant and service was efficient and unobtrusive.

We enjoyed walking round the food hall afterwards, browsing the selection of gins, whiskies and wines, along with an intriguing collection of sophisticated non-alcoholic drinks.

A pleasant place for an afternoon tea celebration, decent food, outstanding and...

Visited Harvey Nichols yesterday for lunch/brunch after a long time of excitingly planning to visit. First the positives - food was fantastic and a good selection. We had the steak and eggs Benedict- really tasty and well cooked. Views over St Andrew's square and beyond are beautiful. However, we felt the service could have been much improved. A lot of staff working but all seem to be overlapping. We had six people involved in taking to table, ordering, serving, paying etc. One item was missing from our food and it took an age to get someone's attention to the point that if detracted from the enjoyment of the meal. No apology was provided when we asked for the item or when it was delivered. The staff just walked away, even though we also wanted a sauce. There was no "is everything ok for you?" Or " can I get you anything else?". Certainly not what the level of customer service I would expect when paying in this price range (plus 11.5% discretionary service charge). Loved the food and views, but I think the manager needs to step up and organise things and ensure staff are attentive to...