The Witchery, Edinburgh

The Witchery by the Castle link

There were two restaurants that Ben wanted to visit whilst in Edinburgh for his birthday, The Witchery being one of them which we booked for our first night of our weekend break. I was quite excited to dine there myself as anyone I spoke to about Edinburgh recommended it. 

The Witchery is hidden down an alley in Edinburgh's Old Town, the entrance through an ancient 'close' below a guild heraldic sign. Unfortunately I have no photos from outside as it was very cold, dark and wet when we arrived for our reservation.

Despite arriving just five minutes before our scheduled reservation our table wasn't ready and due to the size of the restaurant there is no bar or area to wait. As mentioned it was a particularly grim evening so we had to make do with an offer of a drink whilst we waited and crammed into a small bench behind the host. Not ideal especially when the arrival drinks did not end up being complimentary (and I won't mention the incident with a selfie stick that resulted in aforementioned drinks ending up on the floor!). 

We were not left waiting and were soon sipping red wine whilst perusing the menu. If I'm honest I already pretty much knew what I'd be ordering as I always read menus in advance - anyone else do that? We were also told we were the last reservation for our table that evening so could enjoy our meal in leisure, more than making up for our short wait. 

Ben picked his favourite the steak tartare of seasoned raw prime Scotch Borders beef, with remoulade and raw quail egg and I went for the slightly less exciting but pleasing for my fussy taste Roast Arran Beets, Katie Rogers crowdie, toasted hazelnuts, smoked cauliflower puree. I must confess it was the only starter I thought I'd eat but wasn't sure I'd like it but was pleasantly surprised. I'm having something of a moment with beets of late. Lewis went for the Witchery Haggis which unfortunately I was unable to get a snap of.

After our starters it was time to do the obligatory photos before the main course arrived. Lewis and I both chose the Fillet of Scotch Borders beef whilst Lavinia and Ben shared the Lamb Wellington. Lamb Wellington isn't something I'd order but I was able to try some and can't deny it was delicious and melt in the mouth. We shared the usual sides of mash potatoes, greens and baby carrots which unfortunately we were not fans of an jokingly referred to them as sambuca carrots due the chervil butter.

Thankfully due to the wonderful service at The Witchery which allowed us to take our time before courses we were able to wait a short while before we ordered dessert. I had to pick the Pineapple Tart Tatin with rum caramel and coconut ice cream, the pastry was so light and Lavinia chose the Dark Belgian chocolate tart with orange marmalade ice cream which was rich but delightful

We gave our waiters the heads up that it was Ben's birthday and they added a candle to his cheese plate which was a lovely touch. Slowly the restaurant emptied completely but for us but there was no rushing  from the staff as they cleared up around us and left us to our evening. After one or two glasses bottles things started to descend into chaos so we made our leave and returned to our hotel for a few more cocktails.

The whole experience whilst off to a slow start was fantastic. The service was impeccible and I had some expectation that the evening would be stuffy and we wouldn't be allowed to talk and laugh as much as we would like but I was proved very wrong.

I can fully see why The Witchery has such a good reputation and I will be joining the ranks of people recommending it whenever I hear anyone is travelling to Edinburgh. 

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