The Tattoo is on; the Royal Mile is full of tourists; we have to confirm our restaurant reservations before we are even allowed up to the castle. It all added to the atmosphere before we entered the Witchery.
Because we only booked over a month in advance, and because is was in the middle of the festival, we ended up in the Witchery rather than the Secret Garden. Never mind - a new experience. Some hopeful Americans were hanging around at the entrance hoping that there was an empty table for them (there wasn't).
Atmosphere
I had heard that the underfloor heating made the restaurant too hot for comfort. If there was underfloor heating, it wasn't on, but the restaurant is quite small, and busy, so it was warm, but not uncomfortably so.
Better than the Secret Garden? I'm not sure - each has it appeal. We had a large table so didn't feel crammed in, as you sometimes can in the Secret Garden. The atmosphere is different, with dark panelled walls and ceiling, and small windows high on the wall to allow passing tourists a look in at your food. The restaurant was somehow smaller than I had imagined, but more intimate for that.
For my money though,
if you can get one of the tables in the Garden besides the patio doors, you'd be a fool to eat anywhere else.
Wine List
What can I say? The Witchery is renowned for its huge wine list, and although there are some
very expensive wines on it, there are also some decent bargains to be found. We enjoyed a Forrest Estate Sauv Blanc from Marlborough, and a Pavie-Macquin 2001. The latter was, we decided after much debate,
very slightly corked and we sent it back - the first time we've ever had a corked bottle in a restaurant. The Sommelier agreed with our assessment and replaced it immediately. Good depth, nice cherry fruit: a very enjoyable wine.
Food
A mixed bag here. For starters we polished off 2 Crab with Iberico ham, 1 fish bisque and 1 smoked barbary duck. The verdict on the crab was good, the bisque and the duck however were a little lacking in seasoning. I had never, until last night, reached for the salt and pepper in a restaurant before. For me, there was also something missing from the duck - the prune chutney would have been better replaced with something like an onion marmalade. That was my overriding impression of the dish - it
could have been so much better.
Now, my main course was a completely different story. We had 2 salmon with gingerbread crust and lemon grass velout, and 2 grass fed fillet of beef, with a savoury bread and butter pudding, celeriac purée and smoked garlic.
Smoked garlic??? It was lovely! The salmon had a good balance of ginger flavouring - not too much to drown it out, but no 'crust' as promised. The beef was delicious in every respect, and cooked perfectly.
And so to dessert. This was one of the most tempting dessert menus I've seen in a long time. I settled for a vanilla brulee and strawberry milkshake. We also had: one chocolate torte; one dessert selection (how we longed to try them all) and one cheese selection. I have nothing bad to say about dessert at all. The torte was lovely, rich and creamy, the vanilla brulee perfect, the cheese eaten completely. Very good.
Conclusion
I really like the Witchery - it's my favourite restaurant in terms of the whole experience, and I generally end up there at least once a year. Yes you can get better food elsewhere, but I don't think you can get a better wine list, and you'd have to be doing something very special to get a better atmosphere.
But ... last night we were surrounded by people who said things like
"That's it, we've 'done' the Witchery"; last night we had to season our food; last night we had to top up our own wine glasses; last night we had to order water twice before it came.
My heart wants to say it was great, but my head says that I've eaten far better food. My heart says that the Witchery should be trying for a Michelin star (the prices are certainly comparable) but my head, and my taste buds, says there is a long way to go.
When the Witchery is good, it is very very good. When the Witchery is not so good, it leaves you wondering why you are left with such a big bill, and why you keep going back.
Will we go back? Of course! How can you live in Edinburgh and not go to the Witchery? Besides, we've promised someone a meal there in October ...
I'll never be going back during the festival again though.
Mr Thomson: please, please, please pay as much attention to your food and service as you do to the wine list; please
try for a star: your restaurant could eclipse so many others if only you just tried a tiny bit harder.
Is the Witchery trading on its reputation at the moment? Probably not, but it felt like it was last night. Having said all of that - did we have a good night? Yes.
We were back in the Secret Garden, a bottle of champagne waiting, celebrating a birthday with 2 Witchery virgins - they loved the place. I believe that the Secret Garden cannot be beaten for atmosphere - no restaurant I have been to yet has even come close. If anyone knows of any contenders please let me know! Comparing the SG to the main restaurant I can now say that there is no contest - Secret Garden every time.
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