Howies Waterloo Place — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

Disappointing meals and service. The only bad meal I had in Scotland was at Howies. I'll share everything they don't tell you.

Our experience was v similar to several reviews here where guests had described being "managed", food and service was slow and wasnt great. Even though we had a reservation and arrived on time, no tables were ready for us... the guests queueing behind us also had reservations at the same time and everyone was shaking their heads and saying that operations here seem pretty badly managed.

Staff were unfriendly and in a frenzy. They all looked like they didn't want to be there. We saw one female staff being publicly scolded in front of customers by another male staff. Please treat your staff with respect. If this is the work culture, cant be surprised why everyone looks unhappy.

The worst part is that Howies' reservations policy doesn't allow you to cancel your reservation without incurring a fixed penalty of 10 pounds, so you can't even leave to find a better restaurant when Howies hasn't gotten your reserved table ready. Unlike what other reviews say, we recommend NOT making a reservation so that you get flexibility to dine elsewhere with a bit more human decency.

Utensils were placed onto wet tables that were just cleaned and had remnants of cleaning liquid.

Mains took 45 minutes to arrive, not kidding. Tables who arrived before us also waited around the same time. Ordered salmon and cod mains, both were dry, bland and overcooked. When the waitress asked for feedback later, we gave honest feedback that both were bad. She asked why didn't we tell her this earlier, in a rather aggressive tone. I had read reviews before coming here so was prepared to get this question, and can fully understand why guests would not provide any feedback. If you waited 45mins for ur mains to arrive and it turned out badly, no one in their right mind would give any feedback and wait another 45mins for the mains to be re-prepared.

From other reviews, it seems like staff are taught to follow a consistent modus operandi to push the blame back to customers. "If the food isn't good, why didn't you tell us? We could have made it right for you." A proper apology for the bad food, and saying you'll provide the feedback to the chef is the right way to do things. Why would u blame customers? Who would want to provide feedback if your staff is responding in this manner? If the staff is defensive, this speaks volumes about the work culture.

Asked for the bill early given how slow the service had been the entire night, waited 10mins, no one came. Walked up to the cashier personally to pay, and waitress snapped at us saying she is printing the bill now, and asked us to return to our table far away, so she could bring the bill to our table when we were standing right in front of her. I don't know man, there's some common sense missing in this place.

Now the discrimination that many reviews had mentioned. Personally, we didn't get any, although we noticed wait staff only spent time chatting up white guests. BUT when we were leaving the restaurant, we saw ONLY Asians being allocated seats in this sad lobby spot that looked like a detention corner, even though the main dining hall had a dozen empty tables at like 9pm. So yes, there is discrimination happening sadly. To my Asian friends, it's sad that this still happens in 2025. Don't support a place that practices discrimination. They claim they don't when responding to reviews, but everyone can see it for themselves when actions dont match words.

For the love of life, never ever make a reservation here unless you want to trap yourself into eating here, wait ridiculously long for your mains and poor service. Scottish hospitality does not exist here.

P.S. the 10% service charge was automatically added to the bill, we just paid it fully even though the experience didnt justify it, as it feels like the problem with this restaurant is how badly they run operations rather than the...

NEW - My reply to Emily:

Thank you for your prompt reply. Firstly I would like to apologise for making you think I was implying that the management team did not provide a fair pay condition - my reason for describing it as such was out of potential protection for the waitstaff - perhaps she was not entirely to blame for this.

Now that you have clarified that management treats their staff fairly, please allow me to express my strongest disappointment that your team or the waitstaff is afraid to admit the fact and try to hide it. I would like to emphasise that whilst I was not originally from the UK, I have lived in Edinburgh for years, and please don't doubt that I was fully able to understand what she meant by her language. I would like to quote here her original words: "Never mind. Go to XXX (the name of the fast food restaurant) next time, they are faster." She said this in a low voice while operating the card machine. I swear that I have added absolutely nothing exaggerated or false. She said nothing as how you described it in your email like "it takes longer than in a fast food restaurant”, in which case I would not never ever wanted to post a negative comment here at all.

Unfortunately I have no proof to show what her words really were, so you may well speculate that I'm spending this much time writing all these negative words just because of the so-called misunderstanding, or maybe I'm just being pathetically protective of my ego.

What I want to emphasise is that justice is in the eye of the beholder. I hope that you could correct mistakes if you have made any, and guard against them if you have not. How I wish this whole thing was as you said, that I had misunderstood. To be honest, I felt even more upset after reading your response, but since it is the festival season, I don't mind if we just drop it, and I also have no other way to pursue a matter that your team decides didn't happen.

After all, I wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year.

Original review:

My friend and I were excited about a festive lunch, but the considerable wait for our order led us to decide against paying the DISCRETIONARY service charge which was also never mentioned on the menu. To our astonishment, when settling the bill, the waitress confronted us and suggested we go to a fast-food restaurant next time because they would be faster! The rude response and attitude really ruined our day, and no customer should face such a humiliation for making their own choice out of any reason, even no reason.

For management: If your restaurant does not have enough income to provide fair wages with which staff members can derive joy from their work without the extra service charge, then please clearly state the mandatory service charge policy on the menu, or raise the price of food so that consumers are free to choose whether or not to eat, just like so many honest restaurants in Edinburgh, rather than transferring labour-management conflicts to customers like this time.

The food was okay, I actually liked the starter and the dessert. There is a nice view from the window. I'm sorry but I'm just not in the mood for more...

1 Star

Our first visit to Howie’s on Waterloo Place was an absolute disappointment. We arrived a couple of minutes before our booking and explained we had a reservation, but the hostess looked at us like we were aliens. She seemed to think we were walk-ins and couldn’t grasp that we already had a booking. After a few awkward exchanges, it was resolved, and we were seated.

I ordered the Cullen Skink to start, while the others didn’t have starters. It took an unreasonably long time for the soup to arrive, and when it did, it was green. I immediately questioned if it was Cullen Skink and was dismissively told, “It’s soup.” After clarifying, it was taken away and replaced with the correct dish. While the flavour of the Cullen Skink was decent, it was lukewarm—no one wants warm soup.

For mains, one person ordered the super salad, another the haggis, and two of us had the beef burgers. The salad was overwhelmingly beetroot—easily 90% of the plate. While beetroot is an ingredient, it shouldn’t dominate to the point of being inedible. My partner couldn’t finish it. The haggis portion was shockingly small—I had more haggis on my burger with extra haggis than the haggis main! The beef burgers were okay, the buns were nice, but the fries tasted like the oil hadn’t been changed in ages.

When the mains were brought out, the waiter dumped the plates on the table and rushed off without asking if we needed salt, pepper, or sauces—very basic service. We had to ask for sauces separately, which felt unnecessary.

It took an hour from being seated to receive our mains, despite the restaurant not being particularly busy. We were so underwhelmed by the food and service that we skipped desserts altogether. When we asked for the bill, the waitress insisted multiple times that we should consider desserts or coffees, even though we had made it very clear we just wanted the bill.

When the bill came, it included the £1 charity donation and an optional service charge. We checked it, paid the amount due, including the donation but excluding the service charge because the service was so poor, and that’s when things went from bad to worse. After processing the payment, the waitress pulled a visibly unsatisfied face. As she walked away, she sarcastically shouted, “Happy New Year!” in a rude and dismissive tone. Everyone at the table felt the same—that her behaviour was cheeky, unprofessional, and completely unnecessary.

This experience was a catalogue of poor service, subpar food, and unprofessionalism from start to finish. We eat out regularly across Edinburgh and are accustomed to excellent service and quality food. This was, without a doubt, one of the worst dining experiences we’ve had in a long time. We would not recommend Howie’s to anyone who values good service and...