Spot. On. 100% recommend the haggis starter. Service was impeccable and the entire stay was lovely.

This location of Howie's lies just at the base of Carlton Hill in an old restored building. We went with a larger sized group for dinner and they did a nice job of accommodating us although the service was pretty slow due to the fact that they had a number of large groups in there at the same time. There had to be about 60 children at two long tables (looked like a mess hall) while we were there and the noise was unbelievable. But the staff took it all in stride getting us our drinks and our food with smiles on their faces. I had a simple chicken breast served with potatoes and vegetables and others around me had the bream (a fish). One in our group ordered a burger and was told it only came "well done" due to the kind of meat . . .which left us wondering just what that meant? For dessert, the banana cream pie was a hit but I kept wondering all night what made this dinner "Scottish"?? After all- that is their claim to fame. Doubt I would head back to this location if I was on my own, but for a large group they did a good job. read more

The food here is okay. The banoffee pie made it worthwhile, but the service is unacceptable. They told us we had an hour and a half for our table, so we ordered our drinks and food within the first five minutes of sitting down. The food arrived forty five minutes later. They then proceeded to rush us and constantly reminded us of the time we had left, leaving us five minutes for dessert, as if we were the ones that were not being timely. They are entitled and very rude. Instead of being apologetic about the long wait period between food, it was somehow our fault that they did not give us enough time to eat. We went back the next day as a second opportunity just to get the pie, and asked if we could sit in or take away, and the rude hostess said we were only allowed to sit in if we were getting dinner and refused to do take away, even though the pie is premade so they only had to cut a slice. She said the kitchen was "too busy." I wish the service was better, but it unfortunately ruined the entire experience here. read more

Howies is a local chain with a number of restaurants in Edinburgh, it specialises in modern British/Scottish cuisine and proves itself to be popular with both locals and tourists. This branch on Waterloo Place is my favourite to visit for a boozy lunch. It is situated just beneath Calton Hill, so there's always the option to take a stroll up there if you're not too stuffed afterwards. The restaurant is bright and airy, due to the wonderfully high ceilings and tall windows, which drown the place with light (hence why it's good to visit during the day). The service is always impeccable and the food is of a high standard. I'd recommend that you end your meal with the cheeseboard, you get a great selection of delicious Scottish cheeses and oatcakes - don't be afraid to ask the waitress for a few extra, I always find myself with far too much cheese for too few oatcakes! read more

Howies - British Near Me - Edinburgh, EDH

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Food 5 stars. Wait staff 3. As Americans in Scotland we needed a little guidance in understanding local culinary vernacular. Staff not so helpful on this front. Food was awesome. Highly recommend the daily specials. We tried both the stew and the cod and they were both awesome. The stew was so rich and flavorful, the beef literally melted on my fork it was so soft. The fish could have used so lemon but dealt with it bc that's could be an America thing. So worth getting desert. The sticky toffee pudding won our groups top accolades. Howies banaffoe (sp?) pie was a close runner up. read more

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Food and service excellent. Make a reservation or you May be disappointed. We only had appetizers but they were very good and filling.

During my stay in Edinburgh, this was one of my favourite places to go. The food was absolutely delicious, and our server was quite funny which made the experience even better. The calamari was good, the catch of the day was great, and the dessert + wine made it a 5 stars for me. The server was helpful and had a lot of knowledge in the menu, the restaurant was clean, overall was a great experience. read more

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I wish I could've given Howie's a proper chance. Unfortunately, they were so incredibly rude that I had to leave before dining here. After a long walk, my partner and I wanted to find a place to sit to wine and snack. We stumbled into Howie's and had to first use the restroom. While walking up the stairs, a staff member followed us because she was upset that we didn't first go into the dining hall. We told her we were going to the dining hall after. She then rudely responded, "Well then you could've asked me where the toilets were." Why would I? There was a huge sign that said "toilets." Her freak out on us was uncalled for and embarrassing quite frankly. Needless to say, we decided not to dine there. Edinburgh is filled with amazing restaurants with excellent customer service. We didn't need this negative, pretentious energy. read more

Service was absolutely wonderful. Personable. Friendly. Salmon was well prepared. Mussels great.

Wonderful dining experience! Service and food were all top notch. First time trying haggis and they likely set the bar very high. Also ordered other Scottish fare and everything was full flavored. Tried the bannofee pie and sticky toffee pudding, both of which were perfectly sized and not too sweet. read more

This was a highlight of our short stay in Edinburgh. Howie's looks super casual but is actually quite posh (although the prices are not!!). The atmosphere is gorgeous. Service impeccable. But the true stars are the food and drinks! All four of us had different things and each was wonderful. Do not miss. You must reserve early. You will not be disappointed! I felt happy to be the one who found it! Score! read more

I had been to the other Howies on Victoria Street and was quite looking forward to trying out this one. It's located just underneath Carlton hill, inside a beautiful old building. Despite the great setting the food was a bit of let down. I came here about 3 months ago and ordered the vennison stew with chocolate. Very excited to try this exotic sounding dish we were presented with food, which tasted like it had just been microwaved. Have you ever smelt meat and potatoes that have been microwaved? They have that distinct smell and taste. To add to this, the bread pudding with custard I had, although delicious to start with, was dry in the middle. The girl serving our table was very friendly, although you could she was new on the job. She couldn't understand the order of wine we wanted and kept getting mixed up. Also it took them ages to come take our order in the first place and there weren't that many other customers. I know Howies can do a lot better and I hope this was a one-off thing. Their menu is always impressive and I hope I can write a positive update to this review in the near future. read more

There are more than one Howie's in Edinburgh, but the newest one at Calton Hill is large, elegant and worthy of special occasions. It is next door to the Carlton Place hotels so there is a mixture of tourists and locals. The tourists are the ones ordering the haggis. There was a good selection of appetizers but a surprisingly small number of main dishes. I had roast lamb with scalloped potatoes, carrots and beans in a light jus. The lab was lean, pink, and tender with a wonderful char. The haggis was delicious (did I mention that I am a tourist), with a touch of pepper for heat. The neeps still had texture and the tatties were sweet. They offered three flights of whiskies, each a sample of three. I had flight one, a lowland, Pitlochery, and Skye. Desserts featured chocolate puddings, ice cream, and cheesecake. I had a trio of Scottish cheeses. read more

I had a lamb casserole and grilled asparagus. Very good food with a reasonable price. read more

Howies - Went to Howies. Very nice food and ambience. - British Near Me - Edinburgh, EDH

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Our last night in town & 11 of us ate here on a Sat. nite - the place was packed to the roof. So incredibly noisy that it was difficult to talk to one another. Dinner itself was so so. The mackerel starter too salty. Sea bass drowned in a watery mix of veg. Got the wrong dessert. Sad we left Edinburgh with literally a bad taste in our mouths. read more

The restaurant looked great. Nice menu. The kitchen was really slow. The watress tried to help by putting our kids' orders in ahead is the adult meals but without asking. So they are and we sat for an hour. By the time our food arrived the evening was pretty much ruined. Most tables had very slow food delivery and the body language told a similar story to our experience. The manager did take our meals off the bill so I'm happy they took responsibility. I wanted to like the restaurant especially since it was our last night in Edinburgh but it didn't meet expectation. read more

We took our French guests here for dinner hoping for some Scottish flavours that they wouldn't get back home and we weren't disappointed. Fresh starters and a decent choice of mains on the menu including non-meat options. Our guests went for the hake main course and seemed to enjoy it. Puddings were delicious. Wine sold by the glass, carafe and bottle. Local beers too. I'd advise booking in advance as all the tables were full pretty early on. Friendly service; mainly overseas staff. Occasionally difficult to understand our server but it really wasn't a problem. Hope to have reason to eat here again. read more

I have to say, despite the grandeur and frills that come with this Howie's restaurant (which I was calling Hovvies for a good year or so) is a bit of a façade for sub standard food. I was quite disappointed with my visit there. Right beneath beautiful Calton Hill, Howie's is set in an architecturally stunning building, which gives it a really regal air. The place is lovely inside too, with nice large windows and high ceilings, and a lovely mezzanine which makes the place a bit less formal and more relaxed. I had visited one of the other branches of Howie's a while before, and it was always quite good, but this one was a little disappointing. I had the haggis spring rolls, which were soggy, really off-putting and the haggis had loads of fat in it which was minging to be honest. I moved onto the fishcakes, which were far far better, and actually really tasty and crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, with plenty of fish in them. They came with a chutney style sauce, sort of mangoey, which I really didn't like! I left kind of disheartened, and disappointed with my meal as a whole. I really like this place and I think they might be letting their quality of food slip a bit, but I probably will come back and try again because when it's good, its damn good! read more

Howies - British Near Me - Edinburgh, EDH

Disappointing compared to its sister restaurants in the city. The Festival custom may have contributed to the gaps in the wine cellar but to run out of white bread seemed rather lax. The well done steak ordered by one of our party was still noticeably bloody and whilst the wait for that to arrive on the table will have contributed to the other meals' cooling I maintain that my risotto was much less hot than it should have been. No complaints about the service (indeed my companions were rather demanding at times but this was handled admirably) but I think I'll be sticking to Victoria Street when it comes to suggesting one of the four establishments to patronise. read more

The wait staff was wonderful. They have been the nicest I've encountered in Edinburgh! The location is beautiful and the historic building gives quite an ambience. The food was very good. We both had the lamb dish and highly recommend it. It was very tender with great flavor. It is al carte so the bill can get pricey. read more

Overall: A solid 4. Good, well prepared food with some subtle flavors, though one dish could have been better seasoned. Very good service. (Caveat: We only had starters, a drink, and dessert--no main dishes.) We'd return. Service (4.5): Very nice staff; attentive without hovering. Liked having a single waitress rather than a medley of servers. Would have preferred for her to come by the table once or twice during the meal to see if everything was fine or if we needed anything, but her suggestions were good, the orders correct, and her attitude great overall. Food (4): Well prepared & well plated. The cullen skink soup was excellent, with a subtle smoke flavor. However, one of our dishes--the haggis, neeps, & tatties starter (very good with ginger beer)--did not seem sufficiently seasoned (particularly the vegetables and gravy, which was a little bland). Ambience (3.5): Nicely renovated older building with somewhat sparse decor (white walls, contemporary furniture, & a few sets of stag antlers on the walls), which makes me wonder if the place gets a bit loud when slightly busy. read more

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We were walking around the area and just happened to walk into this spot. They were extremely busy as it was mid day. We were greeted and taken to a table for 2. They had a set menu for lunch, but also a full menu. We had the sweet potato soup and fish cakes. We then had sticky toffee pudding that was great. Service was excellent and the food was a week, I would definitely go back and they had a great wine and beer selection! read more

I had their goat cheese starter and their catch of the day. The food was excellent, but their service was exceptional!

Howies restaurant on Waterloo Place is a stylishly decorated establishment, serving a good variety of food. I came here for my 21st birthday dinner, and found that is was very pleasant, if not outstanding. The menu features a good selection of cuisine, including a large Scottish element to the menu. It is quite pricey, with their wine prices adding to the overall expense quite considerably. Nevertheless, it offers a relaxed environment, friendly service and enjoyable food. read more

Went to Howies on Waterloo on a recommendation from the Marriot Courtyard desk. We ordered the salmon and the ravioli. My ravioli was not a lot of food. Flavor was fine. The salmon was tasteless and not much food on the plate. If you want bread you pay extra. Service was inattentive and the waiters wear tee shirts. Maybe we ordered the wrong food, but we were disappointed. read more

Great food, great ambient. They accommodated my vegan diet chancing a couple of ingredients in the main dish Curry. Espresso was great too!

A Scottish restaurant in a very grand setting in the centre of town. The food is lovely, but it can be a little rich at times, and the service can be a little slow. A good place to take someonne you'd like to impress, though, and it's not ridiculously expensive. read more

Both my husband's and my meal were pretty bland. I went to salt mine, and salt streamed out of the shaker in huge amounts. I noticed a woman at a neighboring table having the same problem. The dessert, strawberries with Chantilly cream, came in a little bowl with barely enough cream. To be fair, the place was lovely, and the noise level wasn't too bad, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who wants flavorful food. read more

The service is fantastic. Well oiled machine indeed. The staff is attentive, responsive, and quick. The environment inside is absolutely gorgeous. The food is lack luster to say the least. Not completely terrible, but not terribly good either. Mediocre. Conveniently located if you must have a bite, but would suggest another place for a good meal. read more

Amazing! The restaurant has a fancy atmosphere but don't be mistaken. The prices are extremely reasonable and the so feared Scottish Haggis - in here - is delicious! The lunch special is only £9.95, and very well served. The staff is extremely attentive, even without a reservation, they did their best to fit me in for lunch. Great value, great food, great staff. read more

Howies is a really nice restaurant. There are a few in Edinburgh but I have only visited this one. It's location is great as it's surrounded by other places to go after your meal. It is sometimes quite expensive but the food is worth the price. read more

Great location . Good ambience and service . Great dessert . Came here on recommendation and Not disappointed at all

Had our first lunch in Scotland today here. Placed was packed but they found a spot for us at front. Service was good and everyone super friendly. FYI, It was tad bit slower then than US though. Menu was great with a ton of options. I had the pea soup which was real tasty. Had a real farm to table feel. Main course was the spinach and cheese ravioli. Very tasty and past was perfectly cooked and stuffed just right. My wife had the vegetable curry dish that was very incredibly full of flavor. Overall we were very pleased with the food and the price was spot on read more

Excellent food in an beautiful setting. Yes we tried the haggis and were pleasantly surprised. Everything we ordered was excellent and reasonably priced. Highly recommended. My only minor complaint is that service was on the slow side. It's a wonderful place to explore modern Scottish cuisine. read more

Excellent food. Great atmosphere. Best margaritas we had in the UK. I had the sea bass with samphire and my husband had the macaroni and cheese. Both were delicious! Lots of local produce on the menu. Wait staff were very friendly and efficient. Highly recommend - especially if you like history - used to be the old guild meeting place. read more

Great atmosphere. Good food. Love the haggis. Great services. Can't complained about the presentation of the food either. Can't beat the price for the quality of food and atmosphere. read more