The Witchery by the Castle

I ate in the secret garden and the decor is really nice. I didn't book and came for a late lunch around 3pm. However I would suggest if you were to eat at a more usual time then a booking would be needed. There were enough vegetarian options for me. I knew what I wanted and ordered as soon as I sat down. It is expensive and I spent around 70 including a drink. I had - Pistachio terrine. Loved it. I have a pistachio obsession and this catered for that! - cep arancini. Recommended to me by staff. I did not think it had much flavour. - Paris brest with pistachio. Loved it It's not cheap but if you can I would go for a dessert and started at least.

Πολύ όμορφη ατμόσφαιρα, ευγενικό προσωπικό, καλη ποιότητα φαγητού

My boyfriend and I were really excited to eat here having booked months in advance, we arrived having been in Edinburgh for the first time for maybe only a couple of hours in really good spirits and clearly really enjoying each others company, we had a good laugh and joke with the waitress who was lovely. When I went to the toilet I heard Gersi the manager refer to my boyfriend as “the weird guy”and when I returned to the table he came over to say that he cannot serve us any alcohol despite the fact that he’d already taken our order and the waiter was at our table corking a £70 bottle of wine to which he starts going “no no no no no” as if we were children and when I asked why he said “another table has complained about you”. Honestly I’m not quite sure in what world he’d ever think it was appropriate to speak to me like that when we’d done nothing wrong and if it was up to me I’d have left there and then but my boyfriend insisted on staying: we ate our dinner without a fuss which by the way was very very average and the chips were the best bit. The waitress apologised to us repeatedly and expressed that she felt very awkward. Upon paying our £135 bill Gersi returns with a dessert to apologise which we refused and saying “if you’re too drunk we can lose our license” - despite the fact that we were both absolutely sober. The atmosphere in there is absolutely terrible you can hear a pin drop. £135 for a very average meal and for the waiter to get personal with us was a very, very bad first dining experience in Edinburgh and I would never ever return or recommend this place to anybody it was truly disgusting. Food & drinks: Average at best Noteworthy details: Staff extremely rude

Tolle Atmosphäre, nettes Personal. Sehr leckeres Essen, auch mehrere vegetarische und vegane Gerichte!

Absolutely stunning. We ate at the restaurant and it was worth it

We booked here to celebrate our Silver Wedding with our family. We know the sister restaurant/hotel at the Prestonfield, which is far superior on every level and I would thoroughly recommend the extra travel to rather than here. The Secret Garden at The Witchery however left us feeling rather let down. The waiter was lovely but the surroundings were, well, an old, dimly-lit Edinburgh building with some flowers and candles chucked around for atmosphere. Nothing spectacular. We expected it to be a bit gothic/ atmospheric/dark and were really excited about going but it was no more atmospheric than anywhere else. In fact, I felt like I was sitting at an old relative's shoogly table, worried that the wobbly candlestick was going to set fire to the place. The food really let it down though. The best part of the meal was the salty, charcoal bread roll which was delicious. We ordered three Côtes de Bœuf, medium rare, and one came out well done and another medium to well. One was replaced without too much question but at £100 per côte it should have been perfect or not allowed out of the kitchen at all. Apart from the replaced dish which was hot and had a lovely flavour ( including the handleless sauce pot which was so hot you couldn't lift it!) everyone observed that their food was tepid. Perhaps it had been left lying in the kitchen too long before being brought to us, who knows? As a kind gesture, the waiter removed the last round of drinks and service from the bill. Obviously we added the service back on as the quality of food wasn't his fault. Anyway, a rather underwhelming experience, very sadly, to end our special celebrations. Not to worry, we had lunch in Le Train Bleu in Paris last week. Now THAT is a spectacularly opulent restaurant with great food that we keep going back to!

A beautiful setting perfect for a truly unique romantic dinner, candles, a feeling of being in your own corner with gentle light and gorgeous food. (Photographed the charcuterie lunch starter) For a romantic meal I couldn't recommend more highly

Excellent fine dining. Had the light lunch in the lower area; good ambiance. Quality service, no asking "how is your meal". They know how good it is.

Food & drinks: One of the best food I ever eat. Service was outstanding