The Basement — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

Had a nice time at The Basement and will return the next time we come back to Edinburgh. We came out of The Playhouse and were going to go to Cosmos, but lucky for us, they were out the door. Looked on maps and decided to go here. We were not disappointed. The only negative was the menu has very feint small writing and I could not read the menu as it merged in to the colour of the background colour of the menu, which was grey on greyish background. It was dark outside and the print was illegible to me. Having said that I downloaded the menu on to my phone and I could see it very easily that way, but that was black on white background We went with the pimentos de padron from the "For The Table" section of the menu, which was roasted whole pimento peppers in a smoked sea salt dressing. They were really tasty. We wanted tacos and were advised to have 3 plates between the 2 of us. We went for the taco pescado, which was Battered haddock, jalapeno tartare sauce, coriander and fresh lime. They were really nice. Next we chose beef shin tacos, 12 hour marinated garlic and chipotle beef shin, sour cream, spring onion and salsa verde. They were very tender with a slight kick and very tasty. But the best was our third choice, which was the tempura broccoli tacos, Pecan salsa, chipotle honey and lime. They were really superb. You get 2 of each kind and they are quite filling. We took 2 sides, 1 x sweet potato fries and 1 x hand cut fries and they were both really tasty. Both were salted, which I wish we'd known about, but they were not over salted to be fair. with 2 pints of Heineken and a diet code and a day dream cocktail it came to £53 which we thought was very reasonable for the quality and volume. The staff were really friendly and attentive and were willing to advise what they considered to be a...

Do not recommend we never leave bad reviews but we couldn’t not in this occasion. Unfortunately we heard good things about this place but we could not have been more disappointed with it. Firstly, yes the food is good, but is it really worth it for awful value for money, rude service & flat atmosphere? Not in our opinion. From the moment we walked in, it was quite obvious that they were trying to get us to spend money. From the person at the front desk asking “how hungry are you?, because you’ll have to order drinks first and wait 15 minutes before we take your food order” to our server asking (with a perplexed face) “is that all the food you want?” and also saying (quite a few times) “you might be quite hungry if that’s all you order” and that we should “probably order more food now” before our original food had even arrived?? , not to mention the 10% service charge added onto our bill - completely without our knowledge & will, because believe us, if it WAS our choice (which it is in every other restaurant we’ve been to) then we certainly would not be leaving a tip after this experience. The servers were rude and patronising not only to us but to the table next to us and it made us feel physically uncomfortable to see/hear this service. Such a pity that the chefs might be the only ones doing their job well here. but then again…what Mexican place doesn’t serve normal salsa?!?!...

It's a bar….not a restaurant. After passing the crowded space under the stairs and all the unavoidable smokers outside, you are met with the sweaty, dampness of a locker room. Most everyone there was just drinking, as it is and feels and looks like a bar. The few proper dining tables with chairs they had were crammed into one small snug. It held a party of about 8, plus the waiter, 2 more people and 2 more to come, plus more waitstaff and host, in the space of a w/c! The table for 2 against the wall should NOT be there as, they insulting ask you to squeeze yourself in to the most ridiculously cramped space I have ever seen! (not an aim for anyone over 8 stone.) We moved to the slightly bigger table for 2 and was told it was "reserved!!!!!" You only have 3 tables! Anyway, tried to leave and they all looked blankly and stared and no one was moving out of the way to let us out…..bizarre…finally escaped back to reality and went and had a better dinner, in a proper restaurant with proper tables, and only a small bar area, called Las Iguanas on George Street. Hasta la vista!!! Viva Mexico is also very good. But, skip this place if you are looking for a restaurant, and cannot speak about the food, as too turned off by weird vibe. (People have mentioned Mexican pub food, options, themes and diners, but that is not what proper Mexican food is…like not all pub food is...