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    The Cafe Royal

    4.0 (115 reviews)
    ModerateSeafood, Bars, British
    Open 11:00 am - 11:00 pm

    The Cafe Royal Photos

    THE CAFE ROYAL ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Loud
    Classy
    Dogs allowed
    Good for groups

    Recommended Reviews - The Cafe Royal

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    Reviews With Photos

    Charles S.

    My favorite bar in the world. I was at the Cafe Royal with my then-university student son. I returned yesterday -- 13 years later -- with my wife and it was even better than I had remembered. As my wife said, Cafe Royal manages to be both comfy and opulent -- at the same time. It's still located "up a wee sneaky path" if you are coming on foot from Princes Street. We had the sampler of cured salmon and after an appropriate amount of time we ordered up some fabulous, briny oysters in this the oldest oyster bar in Scotland. All accompanied by just the right amount of beer. What a lovely way to get out of the Edinburgh rain. A tip of the hat to crime novelist Ian Rankin for directing us to the Cafe Royal on some ancient podcast.

    Bar
    Marc G.

    If your looking for a great place for oysters and ambience. Fun place to visit while in Edinburgh

    Alexander H.

    Came here just for a quick serving of oysters when visiting Edinburgh. Had good feedback online and was located very central and easy to find. Inside it's really pretty. A classic setting. Like a classic french upscale brasserie. Really cozy. Had half a dozen of scottish oysters with chili, lime and gin dip sauce. And some extra Tabasco. A glass of white wine with that. 19£ for six oysters is really reasonable. The oysters were fresh and of high quality. Scottish oysters are just really good. Matched only maybe by oysters from the Normandy. An overall very nice experience. The menu looked really good. Surely a place to come back to one day to try some more and other items from the menu.

    Fish pie
    Carla D.

    Small restaurant area that almost feels like an afterthought to the more larger bar area. The food was good, especially the roasted bone marrow served with the haggis.

    Mitch R.

    My wife and I along with my Son and Son in Law stopped in for drinks. The place is beautiful and has a great Scottish vibe. The bartender's took excellent care of us. My only regret was not getting contact info from David who bought all of us a round. He was so nice to us and tolerated our American accent. A great friendship missed. Slanjevah

    Venison

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    1 year ago

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    1 year ago

    Nice spot! Great for a drink and a casual bite. I enjoyed the cauliflower and squash curry, and the fish and chips were great.

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    1 year ago

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    9 months ago

    Poor service and rude staff. I wish we booked at one of the other local establishments

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    2 years ago

    The ambiance was old world pub style. The stained glass panels are amazing. The food and drink matched the atmosphere.

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    3 years ago

    Great drinks, beautiful location! The service was pretty fast even when it was full! Will definitely return.

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    7 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Great food, loved the atmosphere. Well taken care of. Would go back. Easy walk within New Town.

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    Page 1 of 3

    The Cafe Royal Reviews in Other Languages

    Review Highlights - The Cafe Royal

    I went in and found it so gorgeous inside - beautiful ceiling detail with the cornicing, oval bar and little booths around it.

    Mentioned in 5 reviews

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    The Outsider

    The Outsider

    4.1(275 reviews)
    0.4 miGrassmarket, Old Town
    ££

    Three of us stumbled upon The Outsider while out looking for a place for dinner. It was so good we…read morewent back with 2 more friends a few nights later. Nice pleasant room with good size tables and very helpful, friendly courteous wait persons. Very good steaks, and fish, and affogato for dessert. Go to read the creative food descriptions on the menu!

    My wife has been following The Outsider on the socials for a bit. So as we find ourselves in…read moreEdinburgh, this was a must. Tonight's dinner destination. We got here at 6 with no reservation. We were able to be seated upstairs. This place is busy (much busier when we were finished for sure). So if you can, I'd suggest reserving a spot. It's a bit loud in here. Not out of the ordinary for a busy place. We started with the pressed pork belly app. Perfect crisp. Could've used more of the celeriac puree bed. The confit shallots were so good and nicely sweet. Black pudding cubes (small. More of these!). Candied pears. Mmm. Great start. Wife got the char grilled venison on a butternut squash purée and spicy daikon planks (I didn't find the heat, she did tho!). It was excellent and perfectly prepared. Not gamey at all. I got the 35 day aged hangar steak. This is hands down one of the best steaks I have had out in a very long time. So well seasoned! Which was such a pleasant surprise as it left me wanting for nothing to add flavor. The hand cut fries were good but did need some salt. No dessert as, well, our server was scattered a bit all night. We asked for the dessert menu. She brought us dinner menus and we didn't see her for 10 minutes. So we opted to leave, a bit disappointed at the end. We would come back tho. Thats for sure.

    Photos
    The Outsider
    The Outsider - Char grilled Venison, black pepper polenta cake, butternut squash purée, daikon, fine beans, whiskey and passion fruit dressing.

    Char grilled Venison, black pepper polenta cake, butternut squash purée, daikon, fine beans, whiskey and passion fruit dressing.

    The Outsider

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    Mums - Shepherds Pie Vegan

    Mums

    4.1(252 reviews)
    0.5 miOld Town
    ££

    I was so excited to try this place after seeing good reviews but our experience was terrible. There…read morewere gnats everywhere that we were killing at our dusty booth. When our food arrived we finally asked to move spots but the back of the restaurant was just as bad. I can't believe other families weren't complaining. We also found a hair in our appetizer and the mains were subpar. My husband complained about his fries and burger and the manager was combative. They comped us for one whiskey and we left as quickly as possible. The shepherds pie was very salty and the side of veggies was very clearly from frozen.

    **RACIST & DISCRIMINATORY** The young blonde hair girl in…read moreher maybe late-20s hostess, bartender or server (not sure which) was super rude! We came in excited about this place, and the restaurant had open tables at about 6:50pm on a Friday ... we had just walked all day and were starving with a 2-year old and an elderly after walking all over town and sightseeing all day long. However, was told by this girl that they didn't have a seat for us. Although there was no wait, no one ahead of us and empty tables. I told her she could seat us in that booth, we didn't mind since our 2 year old wouldn't be eating. However, she cut me off and said that would not work. I thought that was weird but that should have been That it would take them about 30 minutes to get us a table. We walk around in the cold, come back to the restaurant ... there are plenty of open tables. My husband takes my 2-year old inside to wait so she is not in the freezing rainy cold (especially since she was sniffling). The hostess then says it's going to take longer and that we must wait outside the restaurant. We tell her it's cold, and we've been waiting. She then says ... "This isn't going to work, I'm not serving you. You guys can leave." She did not want to serve of us this entire time! She could have told us when we first walked in, but made us wait and walk around outside in the cold rain with a 2-year old and an 88-year old ... then decides she doesn't want to serve us. We walked in at 6:50pm, came back at 7:30pm, waited until 7:45pm when she told us she wouldn't serve us. By this time all the other restaurants were fully reserved or with 1-2 hour waits. We ended up not able to have dinner that night, and got snacks from the grocery store. DO NOT COME HERE UNLESS YOU WANT HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE! NEVER TREATED THIS BADLY BY A RESTAURANT!

    Photos
    Mums - Inside

    Inside

    Mums
    Mums - Kind of cute interior.

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    Kind of cute interior.

    The Cellar Door

    The Cellar Door

    3.9(28 reviews)
    0.4 miOld Town
    £££

    Had 7 pm reservation. Showed up on time. Plenty of seats. They put us at the table by the door…read morewhere everyone would bump into us passing by us getting to their table. I said for the size of our group can we get the other tables towards the back. There were other tables available and all right behind us. The hostess said no absolutely not guests were to be assigned to their tables. There were people behind us but they were after us; plus they were of smaller size than ours, clearly our skin color is the main issue. They sat us down, and quite a few minutes pass, others trickle in and promptly everyone bumps into me. At which point I told the hostess this is not acceptable. They sat 2 people at a table for 4, in the back while this table of 4 is really too small for 4 people. One thing stood out to me, we were the only non whites. When the last group again bumped into me, I asked to be moved; she then said due to short of staff they cannot change the seating but seeing seriously everyone is bumping into me, she begrudgingly moved us to a corner table with no lights - and not surprisingly no service. I understand the importance of trying to make the white people feel comfortable about not being seen with non whites - the best way is tuck the non whites away - but this is 2022. I am from California and no, this is absolutely unacceptable. Like MLK junior or Rosa Parks, we protected, first by requesting to be moved away from the hallway, then by my two teens and I walking out of the restaurant and finding more tolerant non racist restaurant to eat, and we spent a lot of money on the other restaurant. You too can make a decision to either eat or not eat at this place. The choice is entirely up to you. And this will define who you are.

    Made a reservation via Fork. Evening started well drinks…read morewere excellent Order sparkling water never came to the table neither did a pitcher of tap water. We stared at empty water glasses all night. I order the carrot risotto d arrived so under cooked it had to be sent back It took more than 20 minutes to clear our table ams another 15 minutes to produces dessert menus All in all a very disappointing evening The bottom line-go somewhere else!

    Photos
    The Cellar Door
    The Cellar Door - Great restaurant

    Great restaurant

    The Cellar Door - Very nice and open

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    Very nice and open

    Scran - BISCOFF French toast!

    Scran

    4.3(29 reviews)
    0.2 miOld Town, Royal Mile
    ££

    The desk agent at my hotel recommended Scran for a full Scottish breakfast. He was not wrong…read more First, finding the place was a little challenge. It's not on the main road, but off through a covered alley. You'll see their sign if you look. I ordered the full breakfast consisting of a fried egg, pork sausage link, uncured bacon, fried breaded sausage patty, sourdough bread, potato scone, haggis and blood sausage fried crispy, and baked beans. I'd never tried haggis or blood sausage, but I wanted to say I'd at least tried it. I was shocked to find I really liked both. Not gamey at all. They tasted like well seasoned sausages. Don't fear the haggis! I also had a mimosa and a latte to wrap up the meal. Totally unhealthy, but totally delicious. Service was also great. Slow but steady, and very attentive. If I make it back to Edinburgh, I'll definitely eat at Scran again.

    Can I give more than 5 stars because I absolutely would!!!! I have been dreaming about this cookie…read morebutter French toast with fresh berries ever since I had it. By far the best breakfast I've had... in my entire life!? I found this gorgeous restaurant on Instagram and thought it might an over-hyped spot. Not at all!!!! The food was delicious! AND gorgeous! The latte art was perfect, and delicious. I booked on Open Table and requested a table with a great view. They seated us under the sign and it was just perfect! I highly recommend scran! The servers were so kind and even helped with our group photos.

    Photos
    Scran
    Scran - Eggs Florentine

    Eggs Florentine

    Scran - French toast

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    French toast

    The Cafe Royal - seafood - Updated May 2026

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