The Scran and Scallie — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

I usually write reviews within 24 hours but I have to be honest, I've struggled with this one so I'm here nearly 2 weeks on.

Do you ever have a good experience but come away feeling disappointed but can't quite work out why? That's where I am with this one and it's left me confused.

I booked well in advance after researching places to eat, we were heading up from Yorkshire and this visit was for a special occasion so I wanted it to be right. Early communication with the restaurant put me at ease and I was sure I'd made a great choice. Great menu, good reputation, location right for us and more, what could go wrong?

Nothing really did to be fair, on the night of our booking we arrived at the allocated time and were greeted by lovely staff who promptly took our temperatures and guided us to our socially distant table. A table that had been picked out for us as being a nice one as I'd mentioned it was for a birthday meal in advance. A great start.

QR codes were scanned and menus poured over, all the while attentive staff brought us drinks and patiently awaited our order. I opted for the burger based on what I'd read here, my daughter ordered the kids version (but devoid of all "extras" because she's weird) and my wife the fish pie I'd highlighted to her as it's one of her favourite dishes and if I'm honest the main thing that had swayed me to book here.

Food arrived in a timely manner and I have to say it was great, while not a life-changing burger experience for me personally it was an incredibly good burger, the chips also deserve a special mention. A premium price almost justified. My daughter proclaimed her as the best she'd ever eaten. My wife, the reason for my booking, was a little disappointed. The fish pie was good, that's not in dispute, but that's all it was, a fish pie. No vegetables, no side, just a mash topped fish pie that while "good" wasn't anything exceptional to the point of it being a lesser version than many she's had at 1/3 of the price.

For the price paid I expected a level of "luxury", scallops, king prawn, a decadent saucing, Joël Robuchon level mash atop the pie... some veg on the side. I wish she'd ordered the burger.

On to pudding.

I'd ordered a cake in advance. At £7 per person it seemed like a fairly reasonable addition to the event and, in association with the Happy Birthday message on the table, an extra touch to show I'd tried to work with them to make it a special night. Unfortunately my daughter managed to scupper my plans and ordered a sticky toffee pudding before I could confirm when the cake could be brought out, no problem, it was a good example.

The cake came, minus the singing ceremony due to COVID, but was beautifully presented with a birthday message on. We opted to take it back with us to enjoy later (it was so sweet that we ended up putting it in the bin - white chocolate and lime for reference, I thought it might be more balanced, the frosting was insanely sweet).

The bill arrived and, with service added, came to a little under £100 - that's for a kids burger, an adult burger, a fish pie with no veg, a beer, a glass of wine, a sticky toffee pudding and a £21 cake.

Did we have a £100 memorable meal out that's comparable with others we've had in the past at that level? I don't think so. Was it a nice meal and experience, most certainly.

The thing that's niggling me most is something my wife said a few days later I think... "it was lovely but don't you think it was a lot like the Côte experience we enjoy sometimes?" - it's niggling me because she's kind of right, even more so that we ate at an "early bird" time slot.

It was lovely, it truly was and cost wasn't an issue, it was a special occasion, I would have happily spent double. The issue is value vs experience I think and that's where it fell a little short for me.

I wouldn't go back but at the same time don't fully regret the visit and I wouldn't try to dissuade others from going there. I'd maybe just avoid the fish pie and the special order...

tl;dr I was disappointed with the customer service in a way that left me feeling scammed when I left.

A friend picked this place so there wasn’t much on the menu that appealed to me in the first place, which isn’t their fault necessarily, but did lead to me choosing a special. We’d also had a late lunch so I wanted something small and light, so I opted for the salmon starter. It was described as coming with rice. There were maybe 3 total grains of rice used as garnish, so that was misleading. Also described as coming with pickled cucumber. A single cucumber slice was quartered for garnish so it was truly just a piece of salmon so already not what was expected/as described. When I tasted the salmon it was the saltiest thing I have ever tasted in my decades on this earth. It wasn’t described as like salt cured or smoked (not that that level of salt would make sense then) but nothing in the description would’ve even made me think that. It was inedible. Not just overly salted but like when you eat pure salt and can feel it coating your tongue. I let my waiter know this and he took it. He asked if he could get me something else and I said no. He asked multiple times. He asked if I would please let him get me a burger. Because he suggested it and the way he worded it, and because he insisted on it multiple times even when I refused, I assumed it would be in some way comped or discounted. Also, I had ordered a side of fries with my starter. The burger comes with fries. So I ended up with two huge portions of fries once the burger came, which again I’d kinda assume might come off the bill because if I’d ordered the burger first I never would’ve gotten the side fries. Also it was a little awkward timing wise because the rest of my party was finishing up their meals as my new entree arrived. The burger was good. Well seasoned and juicy, cheese, caramelized onions, lettuce, tomato, pickle. Classic burger and done well. Fries all came out super hot (honestly too hot lol I burnt my mouth biting into it when it came). But the fries were good. When the bill came he originally forgot to take the salmon off but then he came and corrected it but left the side fries and then the burger full price. On the customer service side of things I would not have done that considering he pretty much refused to leave the table until I specifically ordered that burger, which was weird. He didn’t even suggest maybe bringing a menu back he said let me bring you a burger. He at least could’ve comped the side of fries. At the end of the day I paid £50 for a burger I didn’t want or finish, extra fries I didn’t need or even eat half of, and a drink, which is a lot. Also the prices on the receipt were higher than those listed on the menu. It’s ok for prices to change, but at least reprint the menu. In the end the difference was just a few pounds but still. It would be one thing if I just didn’t prefer the sauce or something, but the salmon was inedible. That’s not a preference thing. Something went seriously wrong in the kitchen and that’s not my fault but it became my problem. They fell down on both food and then the customer service and I ended up literally paying the price for...

We live just up the road from the Scran & Scallie but have never visited so we decided to go for lunch last week. I was really looking forward to it as I love The Kitchen restaurant in Leith so my expectations were high. This review is really in two parts as my experience was very divided. Firstly the restaurant and the food. I loved the feel of the building, really nicely decorated and had a really warm homely feeling to it. It also felt very Scottish without being twee or tacky (sometimes this can be hard to achieve without going a bit too Bonnie Prince Charlie vibe). As for the food I really could not fault it and neither could my wife. We both had different starters and mains and all of them were really tasty, excellently cooked and good portion sizes. I have read other reviews who said the portions were very small and possibly if I had gone for something like the scallops I would have thought so but for me the haggis starter and the burger main were both excellent. The other part of this review is the staff and sadly this is what really let down the whole experience for me. We were met at the door by one of the waitresses and shown to our table. There were no real pleasantries or warmth, now I don't want to be fawned over, that's not what I am saying, I just like a bit of a greeting and a bit of friendly service but there was so little throughout the whole meal. To get the waiters attention to order I almost had to stand up and stop someone, they were concentrating on resetting tables and we began to feel quite ignored. In the end a manager spitted us and he did apologise for the wait which was nice. I know reviews like this can come over as needy and sound like I wanted to be waited on hand and foot but that is so far from the truth, I just expected the service to live up to the food and the surroundings. We paid over £120 for our meal so it's not like this is a cheap establishment. I think the best analogy I can provide is, it felt like the staff had all been sacked that morning but were told they still had to complete their shift. It didn't feel like any of them were enjoying their jobs or really wanted to be there. Staff aside the lunch was really nice, the food could not be faulted and maybe it was...