Cafe Royal - Edinburgh

Cafe Royal - Edinburgh reviews from people who’ve dined at this restaurant. Based on recent rating.

Review summary

1. N

   Naoko

   Edinburgh1 review

   5.0

   Dined 4 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Very friendly and warm atmosphere. Thank you for the hospitality shown.
   

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2. E

   Edd

   Aberdeen2 reviews

   5.0

   Dined 4 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Best seafood in Edinburgh, everything about this place is great, always get here when visiting Edinburgh
   

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3. OT

   OpenTable Diner

   Fort Lauderdale1 review

   5.0

   Dined 6 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   the food was absolutely delicious. the wait staff was so sweet and attentive. i got the mussels and the halibut and those were the best things i ate since being in scotland. 10000/10
   

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4. M

   Mark

   Minneapolis69 reviews

   2.0

   Dined 6 days ago

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 4

   Staff and kitchen were overwhelmed this Saturday evening. We waited a long time for all of our food and drinks. Nice historic surroundings, but too crowded and noisy for us. The staff were working hard and gave us a nice table, but it went downhill from there. It took at least 20 minutes to get the bread which was 6.50, rather than included in a meal that was about 180 pounds. We had to ask a few times on the status of things
   

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5. M

   Michael VIP

   Raleigh18 reviews

   4.0

   Dined 7 days ago

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 4
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 3

   Good pub food. Noisy and busy, so service can be a bit slow. The worst part of our experience was the entry. Finding the right door to enter from outside was confusing and, worse, once inside, there is no clear place to check-in and, since we had made a reservation and the place was packed, I was sure that we should not simply take any vacant table. I found my way to the bar side and asked a gentleman who appeared to be staff where we check-in. Rather than answer my question, he asked if I had a reservation. We did and I said “Yes, sir” in reply. He simply walked away (it was loud, so maybe he did tell me to follow him) toward a spot at the end of the bar and walked behind the bar. Not knowing what else to do, I followed him to the end of the bar where I saw a stack of menus and realized that must be the place to check-in! He did, in fact, check us in and show us to the one vacant table on the bar side. Very unsettling beginning to our visit.
   

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6. J

   Joyce VIP

   Greater Boston5 reviews

   5.0

   Dined on 8 May 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Wonderful food and atmosphere! We had the lamb and haggis Wellington and filet and both were cooked to perfection. And the atmosphere in such a historic restaurant was amazing!
   

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7. a

   annemarie

   Orlando1 review

   3.0

   Dined on 7 May 2025

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 4

   We had booked cafe royal to celebrate a birthday, which had been noted on the reservation. When we arrived we were told that there were no oysters or steaks available. Unfortunately we had booked because of the availability of both of these items. However we decided to stay and order something else, as otherwise we would have had to find somewhere else at a moments notice and was hugely inconvenient on a birthday. Two of the party then places orders for lamb which we were then told was also not available. We did eventually all place orders that we could eat, but we were very disappointed, and did not fully enjoy the experience.
   

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8. J

   Jeremy

   Edinburgh2 reviews

   4.0

   Dined on 7 May 2025

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 5

   love the Cafe Royal, favourite place BUT on the basis that we came for oysters and guinness zero and they had run out of both, it wasnt the lunch we had hoped for also, the moules were a little so so
   

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9. C

   Cristina

   Edinburgh1 review

   5.0

   Dined on 4 May 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Adoro tornare a Edimburgo perché c'è sempre un pub o un ristorante da provare e soprattutto scovare Il Cafe Royal è stato uno di questi Un posto elegante e ricco di storia, con una cucina raffinata e la materia prima di qualità eccellente Il personale serio e competente, l'atmosfera unica Insomma una vera e propria esperienza da rifare assolutamente
   

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10. E

    Elspeth

    Dunbartonshire1 review

    3.0

    Dined on 2 May 2025

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 3
    4. Ambience 5

    The food was actually very taste but the presentation was terrible. The McBeth toastie looked like a disaster on the plate. It was made with white pan bread, wasn't cut in half and no garnish. The burger again looked poor but tasted better.
    

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