Sofia's Lounge — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

My family, visiting from different parts of the US, reunited today in Edinburgh, had the most wonderful dinner here tonight, and I can’t go to sleep without leaving this review. It’s located adjacent to our hotel, and it looked fantastic, so my wife and I invited our daughter and son-in-law, also here on vacation but staying elsewhere in the city, to join us for dinner here, and they brought our 21-month old grandson. (We are actually here from Delaware US to babysit while his parents, here from New Orleans US, catch the OASIS show tomorrow night.) We could not have chosen better. It’s hard to believe there is a better restaurant in this city - it’s that good. The best Lebanese cousine I can remember in my 68 years on earth. The food, chosen from a lengthy 6-page menu, was INCREDIBLE. No kidding. Incredible. (Drinks too!). But here’s the best part. The staff. Unbelievably nice. Our server Mouad, may well be the nicest person I’ve ever met in a restaurant. He felt like an old friend by the end of the meal. He and the rest of the staff were so kind to all of us, and our grandson, that my wife and I will have dinner there again tomorrow with little Jack while his parents catch the show. A visit to our table from the owner, an absolutely beautiful lady named Mari, sealed the deal for tomorrow’s dinner when she insisted we come back tomorrow — and it wasn’t a hard-sell. We can’t wait to go back.

If you are in Edinburgh, or planning a visit, and you don’t dine here, I almost feel sorry for you. It could well be the best restaurant in Scotland. And without a doubt, from the owner, Mari, to Mouad, the bartender whose name I regret I did not note, the bus staff and others, the team — like the restaurant, is off the charts.

Five stars? Not enough. You’ll see.

Marc Bloom Bethany...

the portions aren't as shown in the picture. I couldn't wait and basically devoured it.*

Let me start by saying that our aim was to pick some things to try as a first time, to decide whether we will order again.

We ordered the Mediterranean roasted lamb special, the falafel sware, 4 tenders and some chips.

The Mediterranean roasted lamb was amazing. The lamb is so tender that it gets detached easily from the bone. You can put 2 bowls of rice, add the lamb and its broth and you got a proper meal for 2. I recommend adding a salad and you got a balanced meal. (it costs 15 and a salad costs around 6.5. You get a full meal for 2 for 22 pounds) Note: you may want to add some salt

You can also order the tenders, add a salad and some chips and you got another meal idea. The tenders were okay, the sauce was mild as I like it (you have the option to add different kind of sauces like hot or bbq) and overall it was good. (tender for 2 would be 10 pounds, chips another 3 and a salad for 6.5. Overall 19.5 pounds for a meal for 2.)

Lastly, the falafel. We ordered the falafel just to try it because we may order it in the future. Let me tell you that I am a picky eater. The falafel comes with tomato, pickle and a sauce. I chose to remove all of those and have basically a pita with falafel and spinach. The portion was as expected and I assume if you add the above ingredients, you can have it as lunch.

Overall, we were quite happy with the experience and we will order again in the future. We recommend giving it a chance, we know we will try some other...

Probably one of the worst experiences I’ve had in a restaurant. Never do I write a review, but this was so bad I had to! We went for lunch with my wife, the restaurant was empty, had one couple in there. We got sat down and everything seemed ok. When we started ordering we asked about the wings and asked what is the ‘original flavour’ her reply ‘not really sure what it is’ ! Ok fine we move, we ordered the wings with hot flavour and lamb shank and hummus as starter. Hummus was great finished that swiftly! Then came the mains. The wings itself was ok, but they put this watery peri peri sauce all over the plate! It was like a pond with chicken wings. The lamb was cooked well but again watery stew, no flavour. I went and complained to the chef as there was no managers and the waitress was jus incredibly rude. The chef just walked away! Before we got the meal I asked the waitress if we could move table next to the window, but she said no it’s a seating for 5 so don’t want to reset it, the restaurant was bloody empty. Paid £60, couldn’t be asked to get a refund we didn’t eat the food, just one wing and tried the lamb. Only thing good was the hummus. But would never go back! All they had to do is have nice customer service from the beginning and food could be...