The Holyrood 9A — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

Coffees are meant to be drank at coffee shops.

A conclusion reached after having been presented with numerous sub-par cappuccinos in, otherwise, fancy looking, coffee machine equipped pubs. To those that have been led to believe that i am the kind of nagging, pretentious person that would have no qualms in leaving a lengthy complaint, i can assure you, you are mistaken.

But the association between pubs and scolded milk, for example, has been deeply etched in to my subconscious, so much so that i see no real reason why i should risk it by visiting my local for anything other than a cold, freshly-poured pint. It's not that there is a shortage of coffee shops in the world. On the contrary. One could comfortably argue that there are far too many.

So...having said all this...i find it quite amusing that i am currently sitting in a pub, sipping on one of the finest cappuccinos that i have had in quite some time.

The Holyrood 9A is a high-ceilinged, candle-flickering, deceptively spacious, wooden floored, gorgeous looking pub, which is exactly what beckoned me to enter for an inquisitive look around it's premises. When it comes to such establishments i value aesthetics more than the pint itself and, at that point, it was clear that i was destined to spend the next hour or so huddled away in that distant, leather cushioned corner, typing away on my laptop's keyboard.

Being to early for alcohol consumption (well, for me at least) and having spotted the coffee machine perched beside me, i decided to muffle my reluctance, place an order for a cappuccino and hope for the best.

To my surprise, i was shortly presented with a cup of coffee that looked entirely out of place with it's surroundings. It looked almost as if it was prepared and brought in from one of the many neighbouring coffee shops that surround this area.

So...in short..lovely looking place, lovely coffee and, most importantly, lovely staff.

Will be visiting...

My family of four came in during peak time with our fingers crossed that we'd find an open table. We were met with a number of tables with jars showing they were reserved and were prepared to sit on stools when a very friendly waiter (I'm sorry that I didn't get his name) offered us one of the reserved tables with the caveat that we had limited time to eat (just over an hour). We were glad to be able to sit at a table after a long day of sightseeing on our feet - including both the National Museum of Scotland and Edinburgh Castle - so we happily sat down for a quick meal.

My girls shared the kid's chicken burger and my wife and I shared The Original - a beef burger topped with lettuce and caramelized onions with a side of pickles. Both meals came with fries. The Original had that meaty taste that I'm always looking for, but not always getting. It was very satisfying. The girls liked their chicken sandwich, which was a bit dry based on the last bite that I was offered to finish, but they liked it so whatever. The fries were crispy and there were various toppings available including ketchup, malt vinegar, HP brown sauce and a powdered spice mixture which smelled heavily of cumin and gave the fries a kick of spicy flavor that complimented the burger well. The pickles were a good mixture of sweet and salty and sour and included cucumbers, gherkins and pearl onions.

My biggest disappointment was that they had just ran out of the smokey wheat beer that I had wanted to try, but the waiter offered me an orange wheat beer that hit the spot and left me wanting another pint or two.

If our time wasn't so limited in Edinburgh, we'd definitely try this place again. It goes on the list of places to revisit...

Truly some of the worst service we have ever experienced. We ate here on a quiet Sunday evening.

Our waitress came to take our order and did not write it down. By the time she had taken the four of our orders she had forgotten the first two. I ordered a BBQ chicken burger.

The food was incredibly slow, especially given how empty the restaurant was. When our food arrived my burger was a beef burger. I queried this and was met with a defensive “I didn’t hear you”. Surely this does not count as a valid reason for getting the order wrong? Wouldn’t it have been much more logical to write down the orders instead of incorrectly inputting them from memory?

Our food also arrived without ketchup. We asked for this and were told it would be on the way. Five minutes later there was no ketchup, we queried this again and were told that a staff member was “filling them downstairs”. Five minutes later this happened again until another staff member came in with a new bottle of ketchup from the shop saying sorry they had ran out and he had to go to the shop to buy some. Keeping in mind this is a burger restaurant and ketchup is surely the most common condiment requested. We struggled to understand this situation.

Lastly, I used the bathroom before we left. The ladies was in an exceptionally poor state. The toilet seat had been broken into pieces which was left on the floor. Even more disgusting was the overflowing sanitary bin beside the toilet.

I would avoid this horrible restaurant. It was very telling there was no one in the bar or restaurant by the time we left. I voiced my complaint to a staff member who offered a weak...