If you're spending the day at the castle, you're probably going to need something to eat. There are two restaurant/café locations on the grounds (and you aren't allowed re-entry on your tickets...we checked).
We chose the Redcoat Café because they had several items on offer, and it seemed more casual than the table-service restaurant across the compound. As you walk in, you're face-to-face with several different options, but directly in front of the door sits the sweets bar. Devious placement on their part, and it totally worked on me. I went in seeking savory nourishment, and walked to my table with a piece of cake added on. Figures.
The café offers both grab-and-go cold sandwich offerings and hot entrées. We went with the hot entrée - a haggis, neeps and tatties pie, which was served with fries and potatoes (overload on starch, lemme tell ya!)
The dining area is quite large, so we had no issues finding a table. At that time, though, all the "good" tables - the ones with the spectacular views of the city - were all taken.
Oh - tip! If you want water with your meal, and don't mind tap, don't buy bottled. They have a pitcher of tap water and a bucket of ice on a table near the silverware, which you can get for free.
The food was pretty good, though very filling. I wasn't kidding when I said the meal we decided on was starch overload - we had potatoes three ways. But, it was filling, it stuck to our ribs and it gave us energy to finish out the day at the castle. read more