Queen's Arms

Saturday night a group of seven of us decided to Dine at The Queen's Arms on Frederick St in Edinburgh. I had been sent a link to the menu and was really surprised at what was available and how cheaply priced it was.

We arrived at the bar at 7 and were shown to our table. It was not in the designated dining area but in the lovely bookshelved corner of the bar (shown below), where 2 huge round tables had been pushed together. It was very spacious, but may have been a bit of overkill, as whole-table conversations were almost impossible, unless yelling.

We perused the menu (well those of us who hadn't spent all week deciding already) and made our choices. Our waitress took our orders, but I was rather surprised when she chose to take all 7 orders, of 2 courses each, without a pad by memory. As suspected, her eidetic memory wasn't as she had hoped, and returned 3 times to confirm orders.

For starter I chose the Orkney Crab Cakes. They were served golden, crispy and piping hot. It was lovely to have crab cakes that actually tasted like crab, and the spiced mayo was a perfect accompaniment. My fellow diners had the mussels, and a haggis tart. The tart looked amazing, and apparently tasted as such.

For the main I chose the Pork Loin. It was beautifully cooked and the sauce was divine. The others had the Haddock which was a HUGE serving and looked lovely, and the Brisket which fell apart with a fork. Both of which I would love to try at some stage.

Although full, I impulsively ordered a dessert of Creme Brulee, and after breaking through the crispy top, was delighted that I did. It was one of the most beautiful desserts I have ever tried: Thick, creamy as just perfectly sweet enough. The blueberries and shortbread were lovely with the custardy brulee.

The Queen's Arms is a beautifully atmospheric pub with a great menu. The waitress we had was fantasic to begin with, but as the meal went on and the pub filled up we did struggle to get her attention. The placement of our table was also of slight concern as the pub filled up, as us sitting on the outer side of the table were getting bumped by passer-bys continually. But these 2 small things were my only complaints.

Will happily return to try more of the menu items.