Gleneagles Townhouse

Guests appreciate the exceptional service from friendly, professional staff. They also love the fantastic, convenient location in Edinburgh, ideal for a city break.

Five of us visited for dinner. The setting and interior decoration is impressive and special, lots of charming interior design and comfortable seating. A warm welcome at the front door by a member of staff and then seated for dinner. I ordered the crab which was £18 and it was very tasty, however absolutely tiny! It was more of a taste of crab than a starter to be honest. An amuse-bouche really. My friend ordered the Burrata which was very nice but sadly his bread did not arrive until the last bite of the dish, even asking and reminding staff. When he's finished, two more breads arrived which was rather silly. Serving staff don't seem to see the food on the table or sensibly read what is needed or missing. I had ordered a bottles of White Rioja Crianza and the waiter kindly poured me a taste, it was very good. She then poured two glasses for my guests and then left the table, forgetting to pour an actual glass of wine for me and one other guest. Really very odd. Things were busy and a feeling of multiple people serving multiple tables rather than one person managing a table. When main source arrived, the food auction of "who's having this, who's having that" happened - I would have considered this establishment to be better service than that. My friend and I ordered the shared Chateaubriand which when we selected it were quite negatively informed it would take 1 hour to cook which we were happy with. It was an unexpected reaction from the server who took the order. When the Chateaubriand arrived, it was very salty and very small. We did enjoy it, when one single piece was on the board - almost finished, the accompanying sauce arrived and the chap left it for us! It was really laughable and again demonstrated a real lack of common sense and the ability to look at the food on the table and recognise the situation and error. No apology was made. We poured the red wine ourselves as otherwise it would have sat on the table. When our bill arrived, 15% gratuity had been added which we had removed. We're not in the USA so these huge tips are not necessary but if we'd had brilliant service, we would not have had it removed. It's a pretentious place and really needs to train staff and have them working to a managed standard. All a bit glitz and glam with very little substance and matching service. Everyone was polite and pleasant but seemed inexperienced and lacking enterprise. I wouldn't rush to return, highly priced, small portions, discombobulated service and pretty unmemorable food - lovely building!

My wife and I ate in the restaurant at the Gleneagles Townhouse and enjoyed the ambience and the service was very pleasant. Not too impressed with the crab starter however and found the Sunday roast beef a bit tough! Enjoyed the experience though.