The Witchery

THE WITCHERY

by the castle

Castlehill, The Royal Mile, Edinburgh EH1 2NF

Telephone: +44 0131 225 5613

www.thewitchery.com

 I was told by a Scotsman to eat at The Witchery   while in Edinburgh, so I did as I was told and made reservations.  Before I forget some witches were once killed on the premises.  It's also a small elegant hotel if you'd like to stay there as well...

Located in a historic 16th century building at the gates of Edinburgh Castle, James Thomson's Witchery is the most atmospheric and spectacular dining destination in the city or so its website says... A unique setting, with red leather, old tapestries, mirrors, paintings, gilded ceilings and carvings everywhere. At one point I think our only light source were all the candles in the room. A bit romantic and a bit scary. It felt a bit naughty at times like we were in some kind of lust den. 

Much of the paneling was rescued from St Giles Cathedral and a Burgundian Chateau.

The staff were nice and seemed to tolerate all my questions quite well, keeping a good sense of humor through out the evening. When Mike asked about Scotch suggestions our waiter sent Laurence over, I expected him to be a Scotsman, but when his North American accent came out... it was obvious that he wasn't... a bit of a let down, but he assured Mike that although he was not by blood a Scotsman that he had drunk enough in his day to be able to answer any question Mike threw at him. He looked all of 23 years old. £18 later Mike has a glass of something that smells flammable in front of him and its no taller than a half inch.  I kept my mouth shut. I figured if that's what he wanted then go for it. After all, we WERE in Scotland The Land of Scotch...

Mike ordered some type of fish, turbot I think? It arrived, it looked good, but for the price...TOO SMALL... I gave him my side of leek risotto that I ordered to help out his portion problem.

I ordered the 3 for £30 deal. I started with 7 small asparagus, 

then onto a delicious yet small tomato tart with 8 tiny fries and goat cheese on the side,

and then for dessert I had a strawberry shortcake.  

I had pictured this beautiful fluffy scone to be used for the shortcake, but NOPE I was tricked and was given two hard small shortbread cookies.  Don't get me wrong, it was tasty, but again it was small and not what I expected.

Mike's dessert was his lil' glass of Scotch and if I'm not mistaken a few martini's. Oh I also tried this beer called "Edinburgh Gold" there, theirs was FANTASTIC, nothing like the one's we got at that pub called "Dirty Dicks"(barf).

Overall, we really liked the Witchery, good atmosphere/vibe, great service, tasty yet small portioned food... our biggest complaint was the price. For what we got, we didn't feel it was worth what we paid. 

Cheers,
WMMc