Simply Greek — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

Honestly disappointing.

Dinner for two. Gyros, vine leaves, amongst some other stuff.

Vine leaves tasted like they were straight out of a can. I eat vine leaves all the time; these were poor quality, tasteless. Presentation was ok but did not make up for the lack of taste.

Gyros was ok but over-seasoned and greasy. Think takeaway style, not restaurant.

Service was good. Staff were polite.

However what really, really ruined it all was the way the final bill was handled. Service charge was added to the bill without my knowledge: I was not shown the receipt, and the staff member just put the card machine in front of me, ready to tap, with the value already entered in. Bill had not been handed to me at this point.

It was only when I asked to see the bill (rather than just tap the machine) that it became apparent a 10% charge had been added to the bill without my knowledge or permission.

This is completely dishonest and underhanded.

I would have been happy to tip for the service but in this case I asked the service charge to be removed as, as a matter of principle, this should be for the customer to decide, not the restaurant.

If you want to put 10% automatically onto everyone’s bill then increase 👏 your 👏 prices 👏 - and in the meantime, stop trying to hide the fact that you’ve added the charge onto the bill. Be up front. Be honest. Explicitly ask the customer if they wish to tip for service. Stop taking that decision away from customers.

On this basis I will not be returning to the restaurant. Very disappointed.

tl;dr: Please stop with this ridiculous nonsense of automatically adding service charges, at least for a party of two. Ask your customers whether they want to add a tip. Want to pay your staff better? Put it in the cost...

I have to edit my review as things have changed since my initial review.

The food remains somewhat tasty. The new place is nice. Prices are ok.

The reason on my downgraded review is that this place is nothing close to what it used to be.

The menu has changed. I am not a fan of ordering greek food without any sides with it. You now need to order separately. There is no gyros anymore. Obviously this one is subjective. I am Greek and I really loved gyros in Simply Greek. So I prefer other Greek restaurants for that reason alone. It looks that they decided to take a more glamorous approach for the place which I am not a fan. Few mistakes with my order but that happens.

Final verdict: I don’t think I am coming back any time soon as long as the place stays this way. There are other Greek restaurants that actually have gyros and the rest of the menu is similar if not better. Unfortunate but yeah.

I hope though that Simply Greek will find its way. The people that owns...

Unassuming little Greek place on the diverse Leith Walk. Plenty of good menu options for all and very efficient, friendly service. We shared a saganaki (fried cheese) which was tremendous. Drizzled with sweet honey and crunchy sesame seeds, the cheese still held its integrity but was molten inside.

I then had the mixed Greek sausages (£13.50) which consisted of three good quality sausages, juicy and bursting with meaty flavour. One contained cheese, one smoked and one Herby, served with good fries, fresh salad, pillowy flatbreads and a great homemade tsatsiki. My partner had an enjoyable pork wrap for £7 which was packed with tender meat and the same sides.

Great value for the quality and portion size. Staff were extremely friendly and interested in feedback. They don't serve alcohol or offer BYOB, which might be something they want to look at I'd they don't intend of getting a...