Blackwoods Bar and Grill

Heard good news about Blackwoods. Four of us shared two chateaubriand. Meat was all sinew and not palatable. It was on offer and we think there was a reason for that.

Londoners visiting Edinburgh and always prepared to be cynical about food outside the big smoke. It is a quiet intimate restaurant with a small high quality menu with a Scottish spin. Excellent sea food and very good beef.

We ordered a dozen oysters, which was brought to our table in a platter with a hole to help carry the platter. Unfortunately the ice, the oysters were sitting on, began to melt and a river of melted water poured over the table and onto my husband’s pants and arm. The waiter was very unapologetic and said, “yes I know it happens all the time”.

The chateaubriand was raw. Again, our waiter was flippant and condescending.

Couldn’t eat the steak. One of the most expensive meals of our vacation and one of the worst experience.

The cheesecake was the worst cheesecake I have ever eaten anywhere.

Great food and service local to me and had never been before might become a regular favourite

Vraiment déçu

My first problem was the lack of choice in wines by the glass....only 3 whites and 3 reds. I had mussels as a starter - which were lovely - but the wines weren’t what I would normally have chosen with seafood.
For my main I had a fillet steak - they recommend their Josper (?) grill - but instead of the medium rare I asked for, I got a medium to well done one. Again the wines were disappointing for steak.
I don’t normally have dessert but as this was a new place for me I decided to try the cheesecake, but this also was very disappointing. The whole thing was quite tasteless.
I dislike giving negative reviews but this meal did not reflect the high price I paid for it.

Meat over cooked

The food was fantastic and wonderful service. The restaurant is next to a hotel and so it has a hotel feel about it although that didn’t bother me.
Fairly quiet so it felt romantic and intimate. I would recommend!!

The food was beautiful and delicious. Well worth the cost of the voucher value we had. The staff were really nice and very helpful.

Beautiful venue and location, excellent food, outstanding service

There was absolutely no atmosphere in this restaurant. We didn’t feel particularly welcome, maybe due to the fact this is the restaurant for the hotel next door and we were not guests there. That, however, should not make any difference. Waiting staff appeared very inexperienced and were very lack lustre and looked bored. The food was better than the ambiance, but nothing fantastic. Left there wishing we had booked elsewhere and feeling very disappointed.

Absolutely the best dinner in Edinburgh! Loved every bite ~ food was outstanding as well as service. Glad we ventured to Newtown area! Dont miss this gem!

Enjoyed my dinner here very much. A nice facility, I was the only diner at 6:30 when I entered. The dining manager could not have been nicer and he even arranged his colleage to give me a tour of a couple of the rooms at the hotel portion as I might want to stay there when I return to Edinburgh. The food was outstanding.

Could not say enough great things about the experience! Staff and food were exceptional. Left feeling like I can’t wait to come back to this establishment.

Excellent, interesting restaurant with a novel menu. Really attentive service. Enjoyed our dinner.

Food and wine was delicious! The staff were very nice and efficient. Enjoyed our night!!

Chicken supreme main, starters and pudding were delicious. Prices were on the high side, but good food, faultless service and quiet atmosphere make it a treat. Wine selection and whiskies were a bonus also.

Expensive . Steaks were good but side order of spinach was tiny. ( and had to pay extra for it)
Service was patchy.

Absolutely fantastic Place to eat. Wonderful customer service and food!

We have three people who all ordered different types of steak. But the steaks are overcooked and dry. Quite difficult to swallow. And the price was too high for what you get. Overall, an unpleasant experience and would NOT recommend.

Food was very good, just a lack of customers the problem. I’d recommend them doing a chateau de Beouf and a bottle of wine for 2 for £60. That might get the customers in.

Unfortunately, I have to say, one of the poorest dining experience of my life.
Apparently lovely food but ribeye poorly cooked, fries uncooked.
Catch of the day without trimmings
Chocolate fondant with shortbread that tasted like shoe polish
Appalling service
I thought I was in a Fawlty towers sketch
Very disappointed and disappointing
Money down the drain...

Received a gift of a voucher for chateaubriand for two with fizz and tried to book using the live chat, as I had a query I needed answered before I wanted to go ahead with the booking. This didn't seem to be working effectively and advised me to book a table through the the online booking site.
I received a call a day or two later following up on the enquiry.
I visited in a party of four adults and we were the only people in for dinner at 6pm on a Saturday night so there wasn't much atmosphere. That said, the new wallpaper, curtains and seating were very nice.
We elected to stick with just the chateaubriand and I'm so glad we did. The sharing wooden platter which the main course for each couple arrived on was groaning with meat. When we have dined on the chateaubriand on two or three occasions previously it was been melt in the mouth and a generous portion. This time it was quantity over quality. There was twice as much meat as was required but the quality was not as nice as we had had previously -so much so, we took the remainder of the meat home-enough for another meal.
The parsnips, carrots and green beans were overlooked. The chips were tasty but lacking in quantity. The tomatoes on the vine were tasty. Both sauces were tasty too.
The waiting staff were friendly but the younger man seemed to be suffering with nerves and was very shaky-which he acknowledged.
Overall, less impressive than on previous visits

QUIET AND ROMANTIC MOMENT

SERVICE COULD BE IMPROVED EVEN GOOD

Was 20 minutes before anyone even showed us a drinks menu, in the end I had to go up and ask myself. One waiter seemed to be actively avoiding eye contact when we tried to get his attention. The waiter that served us eventually was at least then good and the meal was ok.

Das Restaurant hat ein tolles Ambiente, dem das Essen in keinster Weise gerecht wird.

Went here for our 6th Wedding Anniversary. It was a Monday Evening so very quiet, however great service, Great food, Great wine and just made us feel good on a special night

Very disappointing visit. Standard has fallen significantly sincr my first visit in 2014. Owners too removed from the business to care.

We got the £49 deal for the chateaubriand for two. It was amazing!! Awesome staff to.

We returned as the Chateaubriand was so good last time we visited and such great value as we got the deal for 2 sharing. This time however the meat was really strange. Didn't taste at all like last time and meat was tough and hard to cut into and had a strange thick skin. Tasted smoky and not even sure what the meat was but we were really disappointed. The seafood starter was good and the dessert was nice but portion of ice cream served with chocolate fondant was so small it was embarrassing.
Good service but shame about the food. Will be a while before we return and won't ever order the chateaubriand again.

Located in the Blackwoods hotel, this restaurant does suffer from being off the main drag and a bit quiet. If you are looking for a hot spot bustling with locals, this may not be for you.

That being said, we enjoyed our meals.
The fish was perfect. We had haddock, over samphire greens, absolutely delicious.

There was a salmon salad, dressed in a balsamic dressing and citrus, nice compliment to the fattiness of Scottish salmon.

We also really enjoyed our host, who was warm, funny and very helpful.

Recommend!

We had the chateaubriand special and was fabulous. Great food, wine and service. Really cosy intimate dining and excellent value for the quality. Highly recommend!

Chosen for our son's 18th birthday as he loves a steak - we were here for his 15th birthday! Venison and pigeon starters were gorgeous but the tomato salad was a little lacking in excitement, especially at almost the same price. We ordered 1 x chateaubriand and one fillet steak but were not asked how we wanted them cooked when we ordered, however, they were all lovely. We had to remind them about the portion of chunky fries to go with the steak. Small dessert menu but only son wanted so not a problem. A lovely evening but a little room for improvement.

Wonderful ambiance, delicious food

Beautiful setting in a Georgian townhouse with high ceilings. Food is presented well, and service was attentive (it was not a busy time of the evening). My only complaint was that the steak was overcooked compared to what I'd consider medium rare, but the good quality of the meat made up for it.

I have written on the website for the above restaurant. We were there on Saturday night . Service was very good and the gentlemen serving our table were very polite and knowledgeable re the source of the food. Both my husband and I had starters and both order steak for our mains. I had the Fillet and my husband the Sirloin. My fillet was not superb, It did arrive cooked to my specification however there was stringy bits and also some fat which I would not have expected with the steak costing £36 this was including 1 side and a sauce for the steak. I ordered a portion of lean beans. As I say the service and food apart from the steak was good. I know everyone is different re meat choices however I have purchased steak in both Morrisons and M&S and never experienced them being stringy or fatty. It is not that I would not recommend your restaurant but I would be telling them of my experience. Also although it does say on your website that casual is acceptable there were a few clients under dressed in our eyes.

Catch up meal with a great friend- food was great and ambiance was lovely for us to chat and catch up.

Lovely ambiance, waiting staff first class and fact they support local produce and brewerys makes it more special. Would definitely highly recommend a visit. Sampled the chateubriand deal £49 for platter for 2 which was more than enough for 2 steak lovers. Get yourself down there then wander into Stockbridge which is minutes away .

Great welcome by the door man, waiter a funny guy and very accommodating, food was fab and didn't wait too long between courses. Definitely worth visiting again. We will be back

Recommend the meat! Friendly and kind service