The Outsider Restaurant — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

A Disappointing Encounter That Fell Far Short of the Hype

I chose this restaurant for a family dinner on the strength of its glowing online reputation, yet what awaited us was a catalogue of missteps that no serious establishment should overlook.

Atmosphere – Far from welcoming, the dining room felt cramped and oppressively loud; tables were packed so tightly together that conversation became an exercise in lip-reading. The sticky film on our table surface did little to inspire confidence in the venue’s hygiene standards.

Food – My main course, a medium-cooked steak accompanied by potatoes, rocket, and tomatoes, arrived heaped onto a single plate. Predictably, the steak’s juices bled across the dish, leaving the potatoes soggy and the salad positively unpalatable. Rocket and tomatoes were delivered undressed—an oversight only partly forgivable had oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper been offered table side (they were not). Basic plating principles suggest serving a medium or medium-rare steak on a wooden board, with potatoes adjacent—ideally in their own vessel—and salad strictly separate. That elementary discipline was nowhere in evidence.

Drinks – Our Aperol Spritz and Negroni bore only a passing resemblance to their namesakes: diluted, flat, and flavourless to the point that they remained largely untouched.

Service – Staffing levels were plainly inadequate; servers darted about in perpetual triage mode. To their credit, those we encountered remained unfailingly polite, but courtesy cannot compensate for a chronic shortage of hands on deck.

Cleanliness – Beyond the aforementioned sticky tabletop, small details—smudged glassware, crumbs lingering between tables—suggest that the cleaning regimen stops well shy of meticulous.

In sum, what should have been an enjoyable family outing became an object lesson in how promising reviews can mislead. I will not return, and I cannot in good conscience recommend the restaurant to others until it addresses its most fundamental shortcomings in layout, preparation, and...

This place flatters to deceive.We arrived at 4pm for early dinner before travelling back to Glasgow by train. We were told that they were still serving lunch menu till 5pm which, in itself i found odd. We were then informed that the specials menu was unavailable and that certain other items were also off menu. I ordered steak frites which consisted of what could have easily been a plate of McDonalds fries covered in pepper sauce with a thin piece of grilled beef on top. Not an onion, mushroom or vegetable in sight. Poor unappetizing presentation at £11.20.🙄 One german friend was happy with a plate of mussells. He likes mussels so no brainer there. These were also served with fries. Other friends burger and fries was exactly that. We shared a cheeseboard instead of dessert. We got 2 pieces of cheese, 1 small oatcake, a wedge of farmhouse bread maybe with a ploughmans lunch but not with a cheeseboard 😱,some slices of apple and grapes at £11.50. Recently at a restaurant near troon i had a shared cheeseboard at £13. consisting of 5 cheeses, a dozen asstd crackers, same fruit, onion chutney and celery slices Beware hurried choices in the rain cos of all the restaurants in all the big culinary world well you know the punchline. Even comfort was at a minimum, hard uncomfortable wooden chairs and worn and scored tables left much to be desired. As a top 10% restaurant critic and reviewer/writer for google. It pains me to be critical of any establishment but sometimes it is necessary to hopefully be constructive in the hope that improvement will result.🤔 The view of the castle from the rear windows is...

Had a very bad experience at The Outsider this week. Booked a table for my boyfriend and myself for his 30th birthday celebrations. Booked the table for 7:30, arrived on time and didn't get seated at our table which wasn't ready for us until 7:40. We were offered a complimentary glass of prosecco as an apology which was kind of them, however I was driving. It then took around 25 minutes for someone to come and take our order, I'm gluten intolerant and no one asked about allergies or intolerances. We then sat for about 55 minutes with no food and no questions to ask if we were okay or explain where our food was. Eventually the waitress who took our order came to our table at 9pm to ask if we had had our starter and ready for our main.. at this point I explained we hadn't had any food at all.. an hour and a half after our table booking. She apologised and told us she'd been told we had been given our starter, we were then given a bowl of olives to eat while we continued to wait.. Major communication slip up. It still took 25 minutes for our starter to arrive and we eventually finished our meal at around 10pm. The waitress was very apologetic and we got our meal complimentary as an apology, however I still don't think this makes the situation any better, we were left sitting for ages with no attention, the waitresses were all rushed off their feet as it was so noisy and busy so I don't think they even noticed our table. Overall it just ended up being a very poor ans frustrating experience to end what had been a lovely day celebrating my boyfriends birthday. The one star is because when we eventually received it, the...