The Black Grape — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

I had a reservation at this restaurant in the evening, but since I had already eaten at another place, I wasn’t very hungry. Nonetheless, I decided to honor my reservation at Black Grape. My initial intention was to try something more local or traditional Scottish cuisine, but the menu at Black Grape seemed more like modern European fusion dishes. When I arrived, there was only one table of guests, which made me wonder why the restaurant was so empty. You know, going to a restaurant with no customers always makes you question if there’s something wrong—poor service or bad food, perhaps.

However, I soon realized this wasn’t the case. The servers here were very friendly and enthusiastic, showing a genuine effort in their work. I ordered the trout which turned out to be much better than expected. The presentation was exquisite, and the flavors were delightful. Another dish I tried was the scallops. While it looked great, I felt the chef might have been a bit too focused on showcasing culinary techniques. I had also read some reviews mentioning that the seasoning for this dish felt slightly off-balance, and I would suggest that the chef could refine the flavors to make them fresher. Of course, this is just my personal opinion—I’m sure the chef has his reasons for creating the dish this way.

Overall, the scallops were visually appealing, but a slight adjustment in the seasoning, ingredients pairing, or sauce could make it even more popular. The service provided by the waitstaff was excellent and left a lasting positive impression. I hope they continue to thrive. For travelers looking to explore more creative and innovative local flavors, this could be worth a try. To the chefs, keep up...

We received a voucher for Xmas and were really looking forward to going here. Sadly, it in no way lived up to expectations. First of all, we had been sat for 25 minutes before we even received a drink. We ordered the focaccia which came first which was very nice and served warm. We then had the lamb croquette which was also very tasty. The haggis sausage roll came at the same time and was fine but it didn’t really taste of haggis and the pastry wasn’t flaky. Next, we had the caramelised onion arancini which was really not good. The sauce tasted burnt and bitter and the risotto rice in the arancini was undercooked. Sadly, the mushroom spring roll was also very disappointing and both of us only had one bite and left the rest. Lastly, we had the pork belly and the fries. The pork belly was slightly chewy and the veg served with it was heavily salted. The chips were also heavily salted, so much so, I had to brush the salt off the few I had. I have to say the staff were lovely and the restaurant had a nice ambience but the food let the whole experience down. The manager did take off the arancini for us but didn’t come over and say anything. We spoke to our waiter at the end of the meal to let him know about our experience and he was very understanding. Sadly, I will not be back to this restaurant. It does have a lot of very good reviews but for the price, it is not worth giving...

Three words - overpriced, over-ambitious, disappointing And then there was the staff - one couldn't make her gaze past my eyes before she was rolling her own... but why shouldn't I order my affogato slightly off menu (I asked for plain vanilla ice cream instead of their salted caramel and a decaf instead of regular coffee) after every item I'd ordered from the menu was so utterly utterly disappointing.

Oysters - there were delicious but then someone decided to ruin them with some jam and god knows what else - SAD

The crab crumpets? Literally a giant crumpet with some crab meat seemingly mixed with mayo.

The Wild Musheoom Spring Rolls - crunchy exterior, flavourless black interior

The Ham Croquettes- you really need to like ham hock then you'll be fine, I guess. Nothing else in there

The Broccoli greens - flaccid, slimy, textureless and flavourless - even the chillies were flaccid - HOW

Why did we even bother with pudding 🤦🏼‍♀️😂 (because we were still so hungry having barely eaten any of the mains) I had the affogato while my dining partners went for the rhubarb and custard... the chantilly cream was not chantilly - possibly out of a can... it was actually funny by the end... until we got the bill All for an astounding price - literally felt like a joke had been played. Thank god we didn't follow the advise of the waitress and order MORE -...