Hula Grassmarket — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

Tldr at the end.

Near the end of August, my family and I (6 members) went here for breakfast because the food smelled nice, we sat down and ordered in.

Over the course of the meal, we asked for 6 cups and a pitcher of water for the table, but when we received the stack of cups, they were all oily and unclean. The worst of the cups are shown in the two photos provided.

Initially, I believed this to be a simple mistake, so I asked our initial server for different cups because the ones we currently have were still dirty. The server provided different cups but were also dirty and was either unable to or unwilling to provide clean cups.

To seek some understanding and to save the restaurant face, I asked a more senior member of the waiting staff and notified them privately of the cups and ask if they had any cleaner cups to use.

Unfortunately, this is when the staff member took one look at the cup, reached over to the counter, and said "No sir, this is how the cups are, see this cup?" And handed me another greasy cup. To ensure that my message was clear, I politely and quietly asked him to watch me. I wiped the entire inside of the cup onto my finger and clearly showed the caked debris and oil on my finger and asked "Sorry, would you like to shake my hand?" Only after my demonstration did the staff member apologize and realized the cups needed proper cleaning.

In my own experience, plastic cups can be very easily washed with hot water and a bit of detergent en masse, or automatically washed if the detergent is used. It is unlikely that anyone quality checked the cups we used, and also based on the restaurant response, unlikely that the staff care.

I would not recommend this location for anyone else until they start taking their dishwashing seriously. I gave the restaurant every chance to own up to it on their own terms but they were not open to listening.

Tldr: I strongly do not recommend going to this restaurants, lack of cleanliness in the cups and unwillingness to recognize/quality check washed dishes is unacceptable and must...

(Ordered to go)

I feel like I’ve been robbed, I actually feel like asking for a refund it is that ridiculous. £17 for a bit of toast with avocado on top & a few mushrooms ( & a latte) all to take away. They forgot to give me the distinctive topping which differentiates it from just ordering toast with additional toppings which would have been half the price. What a waste of money, really not worth that price, it’s actually shocking. I only wanted a small breakfast (avocado on toast) to take away as I was staying at the hotel across the road for a quick 10 hour work layover.

Despite the ridiculous overpriced toast, the staff were really lovely, the food tasted nice for what there was of it & the cafe is cute with a lovely vegan menu & acai bowls. I really think they should re-evaluate their takeaway menu & value for money. I don’t mind paying £10-15 on a nice dish but for what you get is just a joke really.

Also the turmeric latte which I ordered was decently priced at £4.50 & had nice turmeric spice flavours but also tasted like a cup of sugar?

Wouldn’t recommend for a quick light breakfast to go, would only go for a big lunch to sit in etc. (Don’t be fooled by the picture, there was only avocado on one slice of toast & the leafs bulk it out) it was tasty though, again, for the few bites I could get out of...

Before I get into the review I want to preface by saying the staff were so incredibly lovely and accommodating! The service was great, so this is not a reflection of that, but rather the quality of ingredients. So for any upper management reading this, please get better ingredients lmao...

I ordered the salmon and avocado tratare and the salmon poke bowl. The sourdough bread that came with the avocado tartare tasted just like white bread and lacked the quality I would've expected with the price. A poke bowl shouldn't have strands of smoked salmon, but should come with fresh/marinated diced salmon. This, honestly, was the worst poke bowl I've ever had, and I came to the restaurant on an empty stomach... it was too salty and the flavours didn't really stand out at all, apart from the saltiness.

The menu didn't flag the avocado tartare came with vinegar, but the staff was kind and retoasted the bread for me without vinegar.

I imagine the smoothies or wraps might be better, so don't let my review put you off, but I strongly would advise looking for a different place if you want...