The Kingsknowe — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

Disappointed in what I saw and experienced.

Considering it was very quiet the toilets were dirty, very old dry blood on the walls, the smell from the sanitary bin was ripe like it hadn't been emptied for a while. Doors in the stall were in need of a repair. The toilet paper was not in dispensers. The hand dryer was broken. The bin for hand towels was overflowing. Fruit flies attracted to the old blood in the bins. The main door into the toilets were wide open, the only privacy in the female toilets are the cubicles.

Clearly a lot of money has been spent on the decor and the booths, however the stairs in the main bar are a health and safety hazard. The middle stair has no metal part to stop the laminate flooring from separating, which it is doing. There is no hand rail there to hold onto, so if someone did get their heel caught in the broken part; they're going to give themselves an injury.

The place is fine if you're a regular. I stood at the bar waiting for 15 minutes to get served (3 serving behind the main bar), the bar staff didn't come over to serve me, but when 3 regulars went to the bar after I had been standing there; were served immediately. It wasn't busy at all so a 15 minute wait seemed rather extreme.

When the MOS came through from the party in the other bar, he immediately started cleaning what the other 3 had not been doing, collected everyone's glasses not just the ones below the steps. He also made eye contact as soon as you went to the bar and ensured I was served in less that 5 minutes.

All in all not what I remembered the Kingsknowe to be, used to be a friendly wee place where everyone was made to feel welcome. I'd be very reluctant to return die to the experience I had on...

Recent refurbishment has the place looking good. We've gone up a few times for dinner now and the food and drinks have been great. Last night was their Friday night steak deal. £22.95 for 2 Steak Dinners and a bottle of wine. Steak was cooked to perfection with whisky sauce, chips, fresh onion rings, tomatoes and peas. Delish & full to the brim! Different offers on during the week so will definitely check them out. Staff are very friendly and attentive and it's a very comfortable place to sit. Good selection of drinks on offer including flavoured Gins & some different lagers on tap. They had karaoke on later at night and have some live music events on. Locally, it's filling a gap in the market for a family friendly, local that's served food and it's doing it well....

We recently attended a birthday party and were looking forward to a good time especially after hearing that the function room was recently renovated. However there was a number of things that left us disappointed and let down. There was only 1 ladies toilet available and that didn't flush property also kitchen roll was used to dry your hands no hand dryers where available. The staff although helpful where inexperience. Draft beer had to be poured in the bar and brought through to the function room even though taps where available. So overall not a good experience and we will definitely advise anyone thinking of hiring this venue...