We dropped in for a bar supper on Burns Night (coincidentally) and found the pub happily busy. It's a spacious, no-frills-attached sports bar with pool tables through the back and the seating area separated from the bar and pool tables by steps. If you and I are like-minded the left-over posters from Fringe shows are more entertaining to glance at mid-conversation than the Italian football game coming in via the projector screen, but it seems like a good place to set up camp for something like a Six Nations game.
I've been in here 2 or 3 times during pub crawls and it gets the job done. However, our pub grub experience left a bit of a bad taste in the mouth.
The barman was a pleasant young guy and gave off the impression of being new. They have a '2 mains for £13' deal which is highlighted in the menu. Unfortunately he knew nothing about it until he wrung it up at full price and I queried it, but that's not really his fault. Safe in the knowledge I was having haggis, neeps and tatties the following night, I went for the steak mince burger + cheese and my dining partner the cajun chicken burger. All's well.
Similar to several other pubs in the city centre your cutlery and sauce turns up in a bucket shortly after you order. And then, the waiting began. 20 minutes passed, we finished our drinks and went onto the next round. Half an hour... and during all this time a barmaid was to-and-fro collecting glasses, 40 minutes - a table of two who were in long after us receive their food (you know that feeling of total injustice!) - I mean, c'mon! A little bit of proactive consideration here, you can see we've had a bucket sitting at our table for ages!
My partner eventually waves her down and politely enquires about our elusive burgers. Affronted, she shuffles off; never to return to our table nor make eye contact again.
Nearly an hour after ordering, two burgers turn up at the hand of the young gent, garnished with no apology or explanation until I say "eh...just a minute..." and bend his ear a bit. Furthermore, my cheese is on my partner's burger! Back to the kitchen goes my plate to be cheesed, while my partner just decides to stick with the cheese she didn't order. What feels like a good 97 hours pass before it returns cheesier than a Cliff Richard video...which is a good thing.
As for the food itself my actual burger was very nice, it was cooked well, succulent and not too densely textured and the chips were fresh and tasty. However, the simple green salad came with no dressing and there was no coleslaw or relish.
More importantly though, the only apology we received throughout was the one I wrung out of the lad. Nobody asked if we wanted anything, if the meal was alright, or how it was after we finished.
When you leave somewhere and the first 4 or 5 minutes of your walk is to bitch about your experience that's got to be a 1 star performance. read more