The worst place you have been for a meal

[Diadora Van Basten]

Longniddry Inn. 

 

We we had a meal for a group of friends who played fives together. The table was way by itself (were the old pool table was in the stable bar for those who know it) and the waiter didn’t come round so we couldn’t get drinks or order food. When we did call him he took the hump and treated as trouble makers. 

 

The food itself was poor. I ordered fish and it came with two fish one on top of the other both soggy. 

[Governor Tarkin]

13 minutes ago, redjambo said:

 

Gonnae no give some more details?

 

Ach, cold steaks, overcooked steaks, the wee roasted cherry tomatoes on the vine replaced by a half tomato like the ones from a greasy-spoon full English, wilted rocket, peppercorn sauce that's little more than a watery dribble.

 

It's by no means the worst food I've ever been served but I fancied a wee whinge as it used to be a guaranteed top quality feed and it's too inconsistent these days. 

 

Are you the chef?  

[redjambo]

17 minutes ago, Governor Tarkin said:

 

Ach, cold steaks, overcooked steaks, the wee roasted cherry tomatoes on the vine replaced by a half tomato like the ones from a greasy-spoon full English, wilted rocket, peppercorn sauce that's little more than a watery dribble.

 

It's by no means the worst food I've ever been served but I fancied a wee whinge as it used to be a guaranteed top quality feed and it's too inconsistent these days. 

 

Are you the chef?  

 

Not any more. 😉

[Governor Tarkin]

9 minutes ago, redjambo said:

 

Not any more. 😉

 

Well where are you now?

Edited October 19, 2019 by Governor Tarkin

[Jambo-Jimbo]

On 17/10/2019 at 21:15, Toxteth O'Grady said:

Most recently it’s That pretentious place upstairs at castle street Chaophraya the starters were basically packet food - Thai Fishcakes that were slimy and Chicken satay - both were like something you’d buy from Iceland and I’d be amazed if they were made from scratch on the premises.Then a Thai red curry that was very poor. Add in some overpriced wine, and shite service before being presented with a hefty bill with an extra dish added. I won’t be back 

 

We had a cracking meal there last year, however have heard from several people in the last few months that's it's went really downhill, and expensive as feck, especially the drinks.  Was thinking about going back, don't think I'll bother now.

[redjambo]

5 minutes ago, Governor Tarkin said:

 

Well where are you now?

 

Don't worry, I'm not your man. I wouldn't recognise a gratin dauphinois or a crème brûlée if it hit me in the head.

 

Sorry to hear you've been underwhelmed with your meals though - did you have a word with the management?

 

[Legend Claws]

6 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

We had a cracking meal there last year, however have heard from several people in the last few months that's it's went really downhill, and expensive as feck, especially the drinks.  Was thinking about going back, don't think I'll bother now.

Best Thai in Edinburgh is Nok's Kitchen in Stockbridge.

[Governor Tarkin]

4 minutes ago, redjambo said:

 

Don't worry, I'm not your man. I wouldn't recognise a gratin dauphinois or a crème brûlée if it hit me in the head.

 

Sorry to hear you've been underwhelmed with your meals though - did you have a word with the management?

 

 

Yeh.

 

The whisky keeps drawing me back, though.

[Jambo-Jimbo]

2 minutes ago, Legend Claws said:

Best Thai in Edinburgh is Nok's Kitchen in Stockbridge.

 

Will need to try that someday. 👍

[Governor Tarkin]

Just now, Legend Claws said:

Best Thai in Edinburgh is Nok's Kitchen in Stockbridge.

 

Thanks for the recommendation.

It seems like the general standard of Thai food in Edinburgh has declined from when it first really arrived here around 20 years ago (with some notable exceptions).

I guess it has just evolved to meet local tastes and in so doing has become less Thai.

Dusit on used to get rave reviews but I always found it to be more like western style chinese food with an extra spoonful of palm sugar and a bit of lemongrass. 

[Sooperstar]

12 minutes ago, Legend Claws said:

Best Thai in Edinburgh is Nok's Kitchen in Stockbridge.

Mrs always goes on about this place. Still never been myself.

[Budgie's Boyfriend]

On 17/10/2019 at 21:15, Toxteth O'Grady said:

Most recently it’s That pretentious place upstairs at castle street Chaophraya the starters were basically packet food - Thai Fishcakes that were slimy and Chicken satay - both were like something you’d buy from Iceland and I’d be amazed if they were made from scratch on the premises.Then a Thai red curry that was very poor. Add in some overpriced wine, and shite service before being presented with a hefty bill with an extra dish added. I won’t be back 

Always check the bill , twice we have been charged for drinks we never had !!

[Budgie's Boyfriend]

The take away we had from Taste Good a couple of weeks ago was horrible , half the order was wrong , the chips were brick hard etc 

[magic roundabout]

19 hours ago, Governor Tarkin said:

It seems like the general standard of Thai food in Edinburgh has declined from when it first really arrived here around 20 years ago (with some notable exceptions).

My missus (who is thai) is a chef in a thai restaurant. One of the reasons for this is its almost impossible to bring chef's over from Thailand. Immigration laws changed a few years ago which means in order to get a visa they must be paid approx £35k per annum. This is unaffordable to most small/medium size restruants. 

[gjcc]

3 minutes ago, magic roundabout said:

My missus (who is thai) is a chef in a thai restaurant. One of the reasons for this is its almost impossible to bring chef's over from Thailand. Immigration laws changed a few years ago which means in order to get a visa they must be paid approx £35k per annum. This is unaffordable to most small/medium size restruants. 

Makes sense, I know 3 or 4 people that used to work in chaophrya. They were all poached from other Edinburgh bars and restaurants. Not one of them was Thai.
 

Wouldn’t surprise me if everyone in the kitchen except the head chef was European.

[Cade]

I was going to add Cramond Inn to the list, but it's been awful for so long that I'm sure everybody knows it by (bad) reputation these days.

Not even sure if they still offer food at all any more.

Edited October 20, 2019 by Cade

[gjcc]

9 minutes ago, Cade said:

I was going to add Cramond Inn to the list, but it's been awful for so long that I'm sure everybody knows it by (bad) reputation these days.

Not even sure if they still offer food at all any more.

The missus wanted to go here recently after a walk at Cramond. I pulled up it’s trip advisor for her. She got as far as one of the reviews saying phones weren’t allowed*.  

 

*Presumably so people can’t take photos of their Shan food. And in the hope they forget to post to Tripadvisor once they’ve left. 

[Cade]

Sam Smiths (and their CEO in particular) seem to have a serious issue with that pub.

Phones are banned.

Swearing gets you thrown out.

Prices rise every single year.

Food is barely served at all now.

Nobody who lives there actually drinks in that pub anymore and have all moved to the boat club round the corner.

The place must be losing money hand over fist and has been for many years.

Managers come and go every few months and the place gets shut and re-opened on a regular basis.

 

One time when prices were put up by A LOT and locals started their boycott, the owner of Sam Smiths had some sort of mental breakdown and wrote a letter banging on about how ungrateful Scots should thank Maggie Thatcher for being able to even afford a pint and had it stuck to the front door and all the windows.

It was truly bonkers.

 

 

[The Real Maroonblood]

12 minutes ago, Cade said:

Sam Smiths (and their CEO in particular) seem to have a serious issue with that pub.

Phones are banned.

Swearing gets you thrown out.

Prices rise every single year.

Food is barely served at all now.

Nobody who lives there actually drinks in that pub anymore and have all moved to the boat club round the corner.

The place must be losing money hand over fist and has been for many years.

Managers come and go every few months and the place gets shut and re-opened on a regular basis.

 

One time when prices were put up by A LOT and locals started their boycott, the owner of Sam Smiths had some sort of mental breakdown and wrote a letter banging on about how ungrateful Scots should thank Maggie Thatcher for being able to even afford a pint and had it stuck to the front door and all the windows.

It was truly bonkers.

 

 

Correct me if I’m wrong but I went there a few times about 25 years ago.

It was a pretty decent pub with decent ale.

It shut down for a while. Don’t know how long then reopened.

[Cade]

More than likely you're right.

It did used to be a great pub with good food.

 

Last few managers have been caught stealing, drug dealing, closing the place on random days for no reason and one of them even voluntarily handed back his personal license to the council then fecked off.

It's a total shambles.

Bloke currently in charge used to run the doocot and has gone full Trump, branding any bad review as "fake" and getting his mates to write ACTUAL fake good reviews.

[The Real Maroonblood]

9 minutes ago, Cade said:

More than likely you're right.

It did used to be a great pub with good food.

 

Last few managers have been caught stealing, drug dealing, closing the place on random days for no reason and one of them even voluntarily handed back his personal license to the council then fecked off.

It's a total shambles.

Bloke currently in charge used to run the doocot and has gone full Trump, branding any bad review as "fake" and getting his mates to write ACTUAL fake good reviews.

Sounds a hoot of a place now.

[SecN]

Ghillie Dhu was rank.
 

Actually bounced the ‘burger’ meat off the table to demonstrate how bad it was to the duty manager. He agreed with me and we were able to leave without paying a penny. 

[joe.gausden]

17 hours ago, Cade said:

More than likely you're right.

It did used to be a great pub with good food.

 

Last few managers have been caught stealing, drug dealing, closing the place on random days for no reason and one of them even voluntarily handed back his personal license to the council then fecked off.

It's a total shambles.

Bloke currently in charge used to run the doocot and has gone full Trump, branding any bad review as "fake" and getting his mates to write ACTUAL fake good reviews.

I think he is still involved with the doo'cot too. Sam Smiths own both pubs

[Ray Gin]

On 19/10/2019 at 19:37, Governor Tarkin said:

 

Thanks for the recommendation.

It seems like the general standard of Thai food in Edinburgh has declined from when it first really arrived here around 20 years ago (with some notable exceptions).

I guess it has just evolved to meet local tastes and in so doing has become less Thai.

Dusit on used to get rave reviews but I always found it to be more like western style chinese food with an extra spoonful of palm sugar and a bit of lemongrass. 

 

Passorn (Bruntsfield) was superb when I went a couple of years ago.

[Ray Gin]

On 18/10/2019 at 15:53, Cruyff Turn said:

100% agree, over priced and utterly horrendous. I’d never go there again.

 

I had a steak with Mushrooms and chips the last time I went, the steak was over cooked, chips were soggy, I got two mushrooms. They wanted to charge me for the meals 30odd quid, Ieft 15 and walked out. That’s how shite it was.

 

I went to a North African cuisine restaurant called Giza, last weekend, that I had been too twice before after it recently opened.

 

The first two times when the wee manager or owner boy was on the floor running the show, no complaints whatsoever. The service was good, the food was reasonable and a bit different. I went last weekend and the wee guy wasn’t there and it was quite apparent that the place had fallen apart pretty quickly. 

 

Walked in and the waitress bluntly said, how many, I said “table for two” she just pointed to a table. The she took an order for drinks and delivered them by slamming them down infront of us, I was like WTF, then we noticed my Missus’ glass wasn’t even full, mines was and we ordered the same drink. 😂🤦🏻‍♂️ Then another customer complained that the soup she had ordered and received was stone cold and the waitresses reply was “is it”... That was it for me, me and my missus just walked out without paying for the drinks and went elsewhere.

 

Absolutely shocking service and I wanted to complain but there wasn’t a manager on by the look of things. Certainly won’t be going back and I reckon that the place will be out of business within 2 months. 

 

So you basically stole two drinks because somebody else got cold soup?

[AW1]

20 hours ago, Cade said:

I was going to add Cramond Inn to the list, but it's been awful for so long that I'm sure everybody knows it by (bad) reputation these days.

Not even sure if they still offer food at all any more.

Had a cracking fish and chips in there with the wife a couple of years ago. Shame to hear its gone downhill 

[luckyBatistuta]

21 hours ago, gjcc said:

Makes sense, I know 3 or 4 people that used to work in chaophrya. They were all poached from other Edinburgh bars and restaurants. Not one of them was Thai.
 

Wouldn’t surprise me if everyone in the kitchen except the head chef was European.

 

Don’t be surprised to find out that some of your sushi restaurant chefs are actually Chinese🤐

[Cruyff Turn]

1 hour ago, Ray Gin said:

 

So you basically stole two drinks because somebody else got cold soup?

No, I didn’t steal them, we didn’t even drink out of them. We left because of the service and the way the waitress treated us and another customer, nothing to do with the Cold Soup, it was her attitude. 

[DETTY29]

On 19/10/2019 at 19:31, Legend Claws said:

Best Thai in Edinburgh is Nok's Kitchen in Stockbridge.

If it can beat Passorn at Tollcross, it must be some food.

Edited October 21, 2019 by DETTY29

[Ribble]

On 19/10/2019 at 18:28, Diadora Van Basten said:

Longniddry Inn. 

 

We we had a meal for a group of friends who played fives together. The table was way by itself (were the old pool table was in the stable bar for those who know it) and the waiter didn’t come round so we couldn’t get drinks or order food. When we did call him he took the hump and treated as trouble makers. 

 

The food itself was poor. I ordered fish and it came with two fish one on top of the other both soggy. 

 

Sure that it's temporary management at the moment, seen the lease was up for grabs

[Ribble]

Recently was travelling back from Orlando and we were all hungry as we transferred through JFK, decided on Buffalo Wild Wings as we'd been to the one on Idrive and both the food and staff were superb, much different story in JFK!

 

2 servers working the side we on and we ordered drink to start, still waiting on the drinks when the server returned to take our food order.

15mins later 3 out of 5 drinks appear

another 15 mins and 4 out of 5 meals appear with a promise of the remaining 2 drinks

10 mins pass and ask server number 2 where the drinks and my meal were, responded 'I didn't serve you'

another 10mins and the remaining 2 drink appear, ask about my meal, server has to confirm what it was I ordered

15mins later my meal appears, boneless chicken that was rock hard and the wrong sauce

 

All in we had 2 people get their drinks after their meal had been eaten, I got my meal after the rest of the table had finished eating and then when the waiter challenged me not tipping I lost the plot asked for the manager and ended up with a full refund for all the food and the drinks!

[Owlvisiting]

On 20/10/2019 at 15:54, Cade said:

Sam Smiths (and their CEO in particular) seem to have a serious issue with that pub.

Phones are banned.

Swearing gets you thrown out.

Prices rise every single year.

Food is barely served at all now.

Nobody who lives there actually drinks in that pub anymore and have all moved to the boat club round the corner.

The place must be losing money hand over fist and has been for many years.

Managers come and go every few months and the place gets shut and re-opened on a regular basis.

 

One time when prices were put up by A LOT and locals started their boycott, the owner of Sam Smiths had some sort of mental breakdown and wrote a letter banging on about how ungrateful Scots should thank Maggie Thatcher for being able to even afford a pint and had it stuck to the front door and all the windows.

It was truly bonkers.

 

 

 

This is standard for Sam Smith's pubs across the UK. No mobile usage, swearing gets you barred. 

 

Rumour locally ( Yorkshire ) was the CEO has visited two pubs recently and shut them down because of bad language.

 

As you say Bonkers 

[The Real Maroonblood]

18 minutes ago, Owlvisiting said:

 

This is standard for Sam Smith's pubs across the UK. No mobile usage, swearing gets you barred. 

 

Rumour locally ( Yorkshire ) was the CEO has visited two pubs recently and shut them down because of bad language.

 

As you say Bonkers 

Is the CEO related to Ann Budge?

😉

[Marvin]

Last Christmas was a bloody disaster. Had a table booked at my local Indian, which of late had been very hit and miss. We ordered starters which,  got sent back. I had Saag Aloo which normally is quite  tasty but on this occasion just smelled bad . The mains were inedible and after stamping of feet we got refunded. I have never been back to that restaurant/take away. Sadly when I first moved down South it was really good but it had been gradually going down hill over a sustained period of time. I fortunately have a better take away which I have been going to since that Christmas nightmare. 

[GPaterson51]

On 20/10/2019 at 15:47, gjcc said:

The missus wanted to go here recently after a walk at Cramond. I pulled up it’s trip advisor for her. She got as far as one of the reviews saying phones weren’t allowed*.  

 

*Presumably so people can’t take photos of their Shan food. And in the hope they forget to post to Tripadvisor once they’ve left. 

Some of the reviews and subsequent replies from the manager are brilliant 😂 the manager seems a right tit 

[Legend Claws]

9 hours ago, DETTY29 said:

If it can beat Passorn at Tollcross, it must be some food.

Def does

[the general]

Noks is brilliant but a special mention for Tattu... amazing food and beautiful building 

[3fingersreid]

Wasn’t the worst , but the biggest disappointment was the Anstruther fish and chip shop , expected so much got so little 

[Stu40]

1 hour ago, the general said:

Noks is brilliant but a special mention for Tattu... amazing food and beautiful building 

Tattu in Edinburgh, is it open?

Been to the one in Leeds. It was very good. 

[JamboSpur]

Dobies Garden Centre 

[Ray Gin]

1 hour ago, Stu40 said:

Tattu in Edinburgh, is it open?

Been to the one in Leeds. It was very good. 

 

Just opened. My mate was there at the weekend and said it was incredible.

 

[weegranty]

3 hours ago, 3fingersreid said:

Wasn’t the worst , but the biggest disappointment was the Anstruther fish and chip shop , expected so much got so little 

Was also dissapointed,better going to the Fish Market at Newhaven,was really good.

[Stu40]

2 hours ago, Ray Gin said:

 

Just opened. My mate was there at the weekend and said it was incredible.

 

👍 cheers

[Ray Gin]

13 minutes ago, Stu40 said:

👍 cheers

 

Actually apparently it was a "soft launch" he was at and it doesn't open properly until early November.

 

 

[luckyBatistuta]

My wife and a group of her friends went to The Ivy when it opened and every one of them said it was terrible. 

[Jambo-Jimbo]

9 minutes ago, luckyBatistuta said:

My wife and a group of her friends went to The Ivy when it opened and every one of them said it was terrible. 

 

And mega expensive for what you get, plus they add I think it was 12.5% service charge to the bill, but it's written in the smallest of smallest writing at the foot of the page of the menu, so small you don't even notice it until it's pointed out.  We certainly won't be back.

[luckyBatistuta]

13 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

And mega expensive for what you get, plus they add I think it was 12.5% service charge to the bill, but it's written in the smallest of smallest writing at the foot of the page of the menu, so small you don't even notice it until it's pointed out.  We certainly won't be back.

 

I won’t be going 👍

[Armageddon]

21 hours ago, 3fingersreid said:

Wasn’t the worst , but the biggest disappointment was the Anstruther fish and chip shop , expected so much got so little 

 

YES!  The only other person on earth who agrees with me, it's a standard chippy with a **** off queue full of people saying how amazing it is to justify them to themselves for the shitty drive and the long wait.

[the general]

20 hours ago, Stu40 said:

Tattu in Edinburgh, is it open?

Been to the one in Leeds. It was very good. 

 

Yes it was the soft launch

Half price grub

[3fingersreid]

19 hours ago, weegranty said:

Was also dissapointed,better going to the Fish Market at Newhaven,was really good.

 

52 minutes ago, Armageddon said:

 

YES!  The only other person on earth who agrees with me, it's a standard chippy with a **** off queue full of people saying how amazing it is to justify them to themselves for the shitty drive and the long wait.

3 off us now , let’s get a protest going 😉