Oh Jeremiah. I had high hopes for you, but they weren't met.
New Year's Day, and Jeremiah's Taproom was one of the few pubs open. Conveniently it's also over the road from my boyfriend's work, so it made sense to pop in for a bite to eat and a hair of the dog after he'd finished his shift. When we arrived it was pretty busy, but they were happy to serve food to us if we sat at the bar, and it's a nice deep bar top too so plenty of room.
It being the festive period, and deliveries being rather sporadic, we were informed that out of their pretty vast menu, they only had 5 burgers available (that's out of everything, not just out of the burgers), but that was okay as it was burgers we were after anyway. I ordered the Black 'n' Blue beef burger, which comes with blue cheese, and my sister ordered the same but with the vegetarian patty instead. Our food took a while to arrive, but not a horribly unreasonable length of time really. The main problem was the fact that it was burnt. Now, anyone who has tasted my cooking, knows that I'm inclined to cook things til they start to cinder (what can I say, I like my food crispy!), but I wouldn't expect the same in a restaurant (okay, a pub). The bun had been toasted to the point of being blackened, and worse still the burger itself was burnt! Not so much so that I sent it back, I ate it, but it probably shouldn't have been sent out. My sister was a bit disappointed with the veggie burger too, and the rather mean serving of blue cheese. Taste wise it was all quite nice, but nothing more than that. Nothing to write home about.
And the real let down was the service. The bar manager served us, and was very friendly, but being the manager he was also quite busy and not at the bar all the time. The staff who were, looked absolutely miserable (understandable as it was a public holiday and they were at work, but come on guys!) and spent more time doing odd jobs (filling up straws, cleaning the bar etc.) than actually serving customers, despite the pub being rather busy - and on more than one occasion keeping patrons waiting to be served while they fannied about. We sat for a good while with empty glasses before the bar manager reappeared and took a fresh order, having been ignored by everyone else. And then when it came to pay, the barman who we'd asked to bring our bill did so with the most sullen look on his face, saying not a word, and then did not return to collect our money, we actually had to go and seek out another member of staff as we'd been waiting some time.
So why have I given Jeremiah's Taproom 3 stars, rather than 2? Well, the pub itself is lovely, a very nice place to spend the afternoon. And the burgers were alright, and probably not indicative of the menu as a whole. And of course it was a public holiday, and I understand that the staff no doubt had other places they'd rather be. I do intend to return, it's convenient and I'd like to try more of the menu. Plus it's a good alternative to Joseph Pearce's at this end of Leith Walk. But really, if I had to get my red pen out and write a verdict based on my visit, it'd be MUST TRY HARDER. read more