Monday lunch time at the Cramond Brig – you would think it would be simple and good because it’s not the busy weekend ? Mmmmmmm
My mum had eaten here a few weeks ago with a group of fellow walkers (it’s a common place to end up after walking in Edinburgh) and had a delicious meal. It was on that strength that we decided to go for lunch today and that they are currently doing an offer if you are a returning customer, you buy one meal and get one free.
I have eaten and had a few drinks at the Cramond Brig over the years and had mixed experiences to say the least, mainly poor, but thought I would try it again.
I had phoned and booked yesterday (Sunday) as this was what you had to do according to the voucher. When I telephoned, I said I had a voucher and the voice at the end of the phone said ‘I thought so, why else would you be eating on a Monday ?’. I thought that was a strange thing to say and explained that it was my day off !
I arrived slightly early and was meeting my mum there (she was walking along the River Almond which ends up at The Cramond Brig). I was welcomed by a member of staff who told me to sit in the lounge and wait, but didn’t offer me a drink or a menu. The seats were comfy and I thought to myself that it would be nice to come here for a coffee, cake and a veg out on the sofas.
We were shown to our table (in an alcove, hidden away) and our order was taken for drinks. The waitress didn’t tell us about any specials or what the soup of the day was ( I know the menu changed daily). So we just ordered the 8 oz rib eye steak, cooked medium to well, with onion rings, rocket salad and chips £13.95 and battered haddock, mushy peas and chips £9.95.
The order came through quite quickly and this was the fish dish
Which is how you would expect fish and chips to look and a reasonable portion size. The fish was very light and tasty, but the mushy peas were dry and weren’t eaten.
I was presented with my steak and had to lift the onion rings and salad to be able to see it – it was sooooooooooooo small
It definately WAS NOT an 8oz steak. Having travelled through South America, I am a bit of a beef afficionado and know how things should be cooked and sizes. As you can see from the picture, it was burnt to a cinder and had no trace of pink in the middle whatsover.
I actually thought it was a joke, the steak was so small, but then realised they probably gave me a small one because I was on a buy one get one free offer. The picture does not demonstrate that the left hand side of the steak had been cut before it was cooked (i.e lobbed a bit off which was not because of the cut)
I would normally complain about this standard of food, but did not have the energy today, but would have definately done so had I been paying full price for it. The steak was a disgrace.
Over done and burnt.
The rocket salad that came with it hadn’t been dressed in anything, so was a bit bland and there was no vinegar to be seen anywhere despite us both having ordered meals that came with chips.
The staff saw that I took photos of my meal but at no time came over and did the mandatory ‘is everything alright for you ?’
They cleared the plates away and asked if we wanted dessert and we were given menus. I had put the menu towards the edge of the table to show that we were ready to order, but the waitress came back, took the menu but not our order and that was that !
We couldn’t be bothered at this point with the service and just went to the bar and paid.
I was not impressed with the service at all (I had to ask for a steak knife) and the steak was tiny and badly cooked. The restaurant had about 8 other diners in it who had already had their mains, so was it really that difficult to cook a steak and portion of fish and get it right ?
Needless to say, I won’t be going back in a hurry. I had good expectations of today after my mum’s good experience and thought I would dine their with my brothers and their children in the next few weeks, but even with another buy one get one free vouchers, I wouldn’t go back.
I will be sticking to La Favorita or Diner 7 next time where the food and service is consistently good and will be staying away from the Cramond Brig. It is a good place to have a drink on a hot day due to its’ location beside the River Almond Walkway / Cammo Estate.
Suitable for disabled ? Partially. The car park is on a slight incline and once you are inside there is seating on ground level, but it wouldn’t be in the main restaurant. There are a couple of steps up and I think (don’t know for definate) that the children’s part of the restaurant is down a flight of stairs. I would phone for advice (if you still fancy going after my review !)
Map of this location
Tags: Barnton, Cramond Brig, disappointing, Edinburgh, overcooked, review, River Almond, steak, voucher
Interesting reading ! I also had a similar experience with bad service and food wasn’t up to much either. I am sorry your steak was so small, I still would have complained even though you weren’t paying full price !
LOL at the size of your steak