Joppa Rocks — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

We had long wanted to visit the restaurant, and had just returned from an overseas holiday, a sunny Friday seemed perfect.

I called ahead and was told it was busy, but i should be okay to get a table for lunch if we turned up shortly after, which we did.

We managed to get a fantastic spot outside and were given the menu pretty quickly and the girl serving us was helpful in getting us seated. She brought water which was great as a warm day in the sun.

There is a good selection of food for both adults and kids, a little expensive, but there were lunch deals so not too bad overall. We placed our orders and lunch arrived about 10 min later. The food was tasty, although our youngest had what seemed like a slightly spicy sauce and a tomato sauce with his fish and chips, while our daughter just had Tomato sauce and mayonnaise, which was fine. Not sure why he was given that as the waiter could not really explain why, he said it was just a mixture of the two, but certainly didn't taste like it!

When we had finished, we ended up waiting quite a long time, so much so I asked to have the table cleared to order lunch and coffees. I got told they were short staffed, however several staff had been serving food and taking orders at other nearby tables, so unsure why they had not just cleaned our plates away on route into the restaurant?!

We almost got up to pay and leave, but the waitress then came to clear and asked the kids to choose their ice creams. While doing this a waiter came to clear our glasses and asked if we wanted coffees, but I said my wife was trying to order one while they were getting ice creams, at this point he didn't say this was not possible and it had to be ordered by the table.

My wife got the ice creams, but having to wait while someone was taking photographs for social (during a busy service) which meant it was taking ever longer. Should this not be done out with a busy service period? She was then told coffees had to be ordered at the table.

We then had to order the coffees some time later from the same waiter who had already asked, and we waited yet longer for the coffees to arrive, which we had hoped to enjoy while the kids had their ice creams. This meant the coffees arrived a while after the kids were finished and they were then getting anxious about leaving, as we had promised to visit a nearby playground (Newhails), however by the time lunch was over this was too late!

It was our first experience and I appreciate it was a busy shift, but some of this would have been avoided with staff being more sufficient during service (I've worked in hospitality and tourism for over 20 years, so got a lot of first hand experience).

I would usually always give tips or service charges however asked to have this removed as this was automatically added, which the waiter didn't seem to appreciate. However, it should be added as a good service charge, and I didn't feel this was appropriate on this occasion!

Overall the restaurant and setting is great, staff pleasant and hopefully our next visit will be...

Relatives flew in from Oz, 4 of us in total on a Mon evening so we snagged a window table. There were two other couples dining during our visit. Had high hopes as 3 of us love seafood a LOT. The young waitress heading to Australia herself was FLAWLESS in her demeanour, service & front of house manor.

The sourdough bread is delicious & plentiful. Salmon salad, mussels, leek & mushroom soup, & squid to start. All good, except the squid which was very tough & batter overdone. 2 fish & chips for mains which were as you’d expect. Decent portion & crisp, only slightly oily batter. Two of us shared the copper clamshell stew which was in a moorish, well balanced tomato soup. Heaps of potatoes on the bottom propped up a pile of clams of varying sizes, mussels of which nearly all had a juicy portion of meat & 6 shell on langoustines cooked perfectly. This came with a half loaf of bread! Inconveniently it did not come with a bowl to ladle a portion into but rather 2 soup spoons to eat from a “communal” clam! And a side plate. No bucket for empty shells which gave the waitress a tricky balancing job on the stairs to carry the open clam with shells and remains. At £70 we felt this was slightly pricey. Having eaten countless fish platters the variety & type of shellfish just fell short. The quantity was enough for 4 but this was largely due to the potatoes & bread.

Desserts were a delicious pistachio ice cream cake-large, creamy, true flavour. And an ice cream with a dram.

It’s early days for Joppa Rocks but if it is to comfortably run with other sea food places near by, the food needs to come up a notch. At the moment it feels it is riding on the undeniable wow factor of the modern blue octopus themed decor and the stunning floor to ceiling views over the sea (which not all tables have), to distract from the mediocre/good-for-the-price food.

Despite this I would likely return after several months in hope the mixed reviews...

Paid two visits last week as wanted to have two, separate opinions of JR.

It's a suntrap in the afternoon and evening and I can see this being a draw in the Summer months. On the first visit I had the langoustines, which were delicious and accompanied with toasted bread. I also had a side of chips which, though tasty, were a rip-off: one potato appeared to have been used. Drinks were a couple of Stellas at £6.20. A tad overpriced, I felt.

The second visit, I chose 1/2 Kilo of mussels in the red wine, tomato, basil, and pepperoncini broth. This dish also comes with bread. The mussels were fresh and steamed to perfection. Unfortunately, the kitchen sent it out with the wrong broth. I decided to just note this and enjoy the nosh. For a side I chose the fired potatoes. Again, this dish was a rip-off, and again looked like one small potato had been sliced. This is pitiful.

I ordered a bottle of wine with the mussels. And here is where JR is making extra coin: over-priced alcoholic drinks. The wine list starts at £28 a bottle, shockingly expensive, even compared to Edinburgh City Centre. Management would do well to review this pricing, and the meagre quantity of the side dishes.

Staff are, on the whole, attentive, yet failed to bring water out, especially when wine is being served. In Summer heat, all tables should have water.

In summary: excellent location and good food, marred slightly by excessive pricing on drinks, and by meagre...