Rhubarb at Prestonfield House Hotel

Rhubarb at Prestonfield House Hotel link

I return to my Edinburgh adventures to share the chosen venue for dinner to celebrate Ben's birthday. The Rhubarb at Prestonfield House Hotel is a favourite of his sisters and one she often chooses to celebrate her own birthdays, engagements and the like so we were all quite excited to see what was on offer.

Car doors were opened by kilted members of staff and we were led through the double doors and up stairs to one of the many dining rooms. The whole setting was amazing although slightly lacking in atmosphere, it was all very quiet and we were slightly disappointed that despite numerous tables available we were sat next to a couple who were clearly not going to receive any privacy that evening and any sweet nothings would have to be whispered very quietly. 

Those of you that know will not be surprised that I had already scanned the menu and was aware that my dinner was going to be very similar to that of The Witchery but I did spot soup available to start so I could mix things up a little. Once handed our menus' there was no soup to be found and whilst I feared it would be beetroot and goats cheese once again for me on asking one of our waiters we were brought an additional menu we could also choose from. This was similar of the small touches that were missing at the Rhubarb that made our experience slightly lacklustre. Whilst we were lucky enough to layer our tables with cocktails it took some time between drinks being brought, ordering our wine and then of course our food orders that left us checking our watches and having to call waiters over rather than them come to us.

Gressingham duck and foie gras terrin, lime brioche, nibbed cacao and macerated blueberries

Isle of Mull scallops, saffron-braised chicken wings, charred spring onion and crispy anchovy

Starters arrived and I'm so glad I tracked the soup down as it was delicious. My memory is a little hazy but I'm pretty sure it was a butternut squash soup of some description. It was actually served with some goodies (blog speak for I can't remember what) at the bottom of the bowl and the soup poured in by the waiter which was a nice touch. My fellow diners were for the scallops and terrine which I hear were delicious also.

This evening Ben was happy to have steak too so we all ended up choosing the Chauteaubriand which was served in delicious platters. Whilst the spectacle was quite nice having the waiters serve it felt time consuming when all I wanted to do was dive in! It was something of a carb overload (no Aitkens fans here) with crushed potatoes and the most amazing crunchy yet smooth potato croquettes that unlike the previous days dinner after eating a full plateful I was beyond stuffed and ready for a snooze. A subsequent picture of me went on Facebook of me pretending to fall asleep in the restaurant that far too many people fell for and I was living with 'I can't believe you fell asleep in the restaurant' comments for days.

Chateaubriand for two

Belly fit for bursting I chose the mix of ice cream, sorbets and sherbets needing something a little lighter whilst Lavinia was slightly braver and kept going with a chocolate fondant which was melt in the mouth delicious.

Freshly churned ices

Whilst I'm glad to have visited the Rhubarb and I'd be interested to return in the Summer as the grounds were amazing and would love to stay there and perhaps try their Afternoon Tea the evening was slightly lacking. In comparison to The Witchery were there was a gothic ambience Rhubarb felt too stuffy. It was a shame that the rather large table next to us below wasn't filled earlier in our evening. When the group did arrive in full kilts and evening wear they added the energy our evening needed.

That said and despite all that food I still managed to pinch a cake leftover from Afternoon Tea on my way out! 

Have you ever visited this restaurant? 

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