I recently visited Howies in Victoria Street for a long leisurely lunch.  I have been dining in all the branches of Howie’s for a number of years.

I have always found the food to be fantastic and agree with their motto of  ‘great food………without the faff’.

I had made a booking for lunch to be sure of a table and it was probably 50% full ( a Wednesday lunchtime) so probably pays to make a reservation

One thing that impresses me from the moment you step into Howie’s is that you are served a complimentary bowl of organic bread with butter and given a jug of iced water.  If only other restaurants would follow suit with such traditions.

For starter I had rosemary crusted haggis balls with a sweet chilli dipping sauce £3.50 and I have to say that they were mouth wateringly delicious.  The haggis wasn’t too spicy, but if you did want it hotter, you just needed to scoop up some chilli flakes in the sauce.  You can also have it as a main, (£6.50)  but perhaps 8 of them would become repetitive on the palate

Haggis Balls With Sweet Chilli Sauce

For main I had shredded beef ciabatta with a rich onion and thyme Lyonnaise served with thick cut chips, £7.55 and my dining partner had the fish of the day which was hake served with baby new potatoes and vegetables £7.10.

Shredded beef ciabatta

Fish of the day - hake

I also tasted the hake and pleased to report that it was perfectly cooked and beautifully flaky.

The service through the meal was attentive without being over eager to move us onto the next course.  Both the waiter and waitress who served us were polite and friendly and knew the menu well.

The waiter was perhaps not expecting me to reel off my dessert order without looking at the menu again – there is only one thing to choose at Howie’s and that’s their famous banoffee pie !

Howie's Famous Banoffee Pie

My dining partner also had the same and we sat in silence for the few minutes it took us to devour the dessert.  The caramel layer is to die for and I am pleased to write that the pie is as good as it’s ever been.

We actually used a voucher for lunch today, Howie’s do them, so check here before you dine.  2 courses were £6.95 and since I had 3, the extra course cost an additional £2.

At this price, I honestly think that this is the best value meal in town without losing any quality.

I  had a group dinner at the Waterloo Place branch last week (seperate review) and felt the food wasn’t as good, but this was perhaps because it was a Friday evening and there was 20 of us dining.

The bill which came with a chocolate mint was £16 plus drinks / coffee  and tip and for that price, I highly recommend eating at Howie’s.  Their wine list is good and I look forward to spending a future evening here having a feast with wine, and of course, a banoffee pie for dessert.

Suitable for disabled ? Half of the restaurant is on street level, so you would need to get a table on the left hand side of the restaurant as there are two shallow steps up to the other half.  The toilets are on street level, but are not wheelchair accessible completely

Map of this location

Tags: eat, Edinburgh, Howies, recommended, Scottish, Victoria Street

This entry was posted on Monday, October 19th, 2009 at 19:03 by Miss Edinburgh and is filed under Food & Drink, Restaurant reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.