Month: July 2024

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Kost

So this rooftop was on top of the hotel I was staying at (The Bisha Hotel). Got breakfast and dinner (plus drinks).

For breakfast (which $60 per day was covered by the hotel since I booked through Amex), got their breakfast special. I will say the scrambled eggs were a bit more runny than I wanted, so I would get it again, but tell them to make it less runny.

For dinner + drinks, got an expresso martini which was great (asked them to put no sweetener / simple syrup). Also got macallan 12 (actually got a bunch of them because at the time, the LCBO was on strike!). For dinner just got the bread plate and tacos (tried both the beef and chicken). Will say that I would probably try something else instead of the tacos next time.

Also, as you can see from below the rooftop view was great. So will be coming back.

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Dragonfly

This is apparently the oldest cocktail bar in Edinburgh.

Got the Whisky Away drink. It seemed like it would have been an old fashion with a banana twist, but it was not as sweet as expected, which I was kind of disappointed.

My friend got the Ka Pao Tao (or something like that) drink, which I thought was great.

Also tried their cheese plate. The Scottish brie was pretty terrible, but I did like the Scottish Gouda.

We went on a Tuesday night so vibe was pretty dead. So maybe would go back on a Thursday or Friday night.

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Ondine

We ate here for our last night at Edinburgh. Would come back here in a heart beat.

First started off with an espresso martini. Not the greatest but would still get it again (told them to remove their custom sugar syrup from the drink, which probably affected the taste). Then got a Cragganmore 12. Slightly peaty, but nit more than an Oban.

For appetizers, got the asparagus with crab meat, and the scallops. Hands down would get all of them again.

For the main, we got the see food platter (warm version). Would get it again as well (but you need a friends to be able to eat the oysters and mussels first you). It came with clams, mussels, crab, lobster, a baby lobster, razor blade clams (which are amazing).

Ended off with a cheesecake. Also really great.

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Noto

For our second day at Edinburgh, we decided to try this Michelin star restaurant for lunch.

The menu is fairly simple, and they mentioned we should order 2 to 3 dishes per person.

We ended up getting the North Sea crab, the trout temaki, arbroath smoke croquettes, and the okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake).

I would say the first two items I would get again. For 3rd, it was too salty, and the 4th I didn’t like the ginger.

For drinks got an espresso martini. That was good. And for desert got the chocolate ice cream (hidden inside is a lava cake) and strawberry hibiscus meringue (hidden inside is the strawberry sauce you put on waffles). The deserts were amazing.

Overall I would come back, it probably replace the last two dishes with others.

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NRH (Never Really Here)

We went to this sort of speakeasy place (it has an unmarked door). It has a reaction system (fortunately they were able to accommodate us with just a 45 minute wait).

For our waiting the bartender gave us free apple martinis.

For main drinks, got an old fashion with just regular sugar (not simple), and a custom drink that had whisky, chocolate, and cherrry flavors.

Also, you’re supposed to write on anything in the restaurant. Wrote Trancienzo.

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The Alchemist (Edinburgh George St)

This place has no relation to the SF one, but it does have multiple locations in Edinburgh.

They are known for their flashy drinks (and looks like it could be similar to Bergerac in SF where they sometimes have DJs on the weekend.

For drinks for the flash, which is basically a sweet martini and they light flash paper on fire for presentation.

Would come back to this place to try their other drinks like the Colour Changer one.

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Ka Pao

We went to this restaurant for our first dinner at Edinburgh.

One interesting thing I noticed is that there was. I Asian staff for a Thai restaurant (of course that is totally ok).

For this restaurant it is basically family style. We got the short rib (which was a red curry), the green beef curry, the sea bream fish, cucumber salad, and the crispy chicken. I would get all of them again except the crispy chicken.

For drinks, got their version of a cosmo (wish it was a bit sweeter), and an Aperol spritz (can’t go wrong with that)

One thing we did wish though is that they had some sort of noodle dish. Aside from that would come back.

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Encore Une Fois

We ate here for a dinner at Inverness. Got to say even though we had to wait an hour for our reservation, it was worth it.

First the piano player / singer was amazing. Also the drinks were good (got a raspberry and lemon martini and an Aperol spritz).

For appetizer the pork belly was phenomenal. And for the main, got the cod (it had mussels, but safely ignored that). Would get everything again.

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Ubiquitous Chip

First restaurant we ate at in Scotland! Was highly recommended at the west end of Glasgow (near University of Glasgow which is why there were a lot of students). I really liked it (the friend I was with wasn’t as impressed).

We mainly loaded on starters first. Tried the scallops (which was my favorite), then a salmon dish followed by haggis (that Scotland dish wish I was willing to try but probably wouldn’t be keen on getting it again).

For drinks got an espresso martini and a whisky drink.

For my main got the cod with lobster cake. I liked the cod, but would probably skip out on the lobster cake next time.