McLarens on the Corner Reviews Summary

Interior and Atmosphere

Pros:

• "The guests were impressed by the interior."
• "Interior is exceptional. I loved paintings, and bit of info about Duncan McLarens opposite the bar."
• "Friendly staff and an ideal acoustic for conversation, helped by the alcove-style seating we had."
• "The downstairs area is very pretty, clean and tidy and thought has clearly gone into the seating so no one’s too close to each other."
• "The atmosphere was lovely and fun. I loved the decor!"
• "Very friendly staff who attended every need. Food was absolutely delicious. I strongly recommend the fish and chips the batter was light and crispy."
• "The decor is contemporary and fun. The staff are wonderfully attentive without being intrusive."
• "The atmosphere is very charming and the atmosphere charmed us, it is very nice to have such small fires outside and there are great mini fires inside where the fire normally burns very nice a lot of people very nice staff."

Cons:

• "Unfortunately, our meal was not good. The coffee was fine, but the breakfast was not well done and I definitely won't be returning."
• "The food is a little more expensive but of good quality and tastes great. Furthermore, the waiters are extremely friendly and welcoming. I dislike that a 10% service fee is already included (-1 star)."
• "This place is really cosy, and colourful with great service and food. I had lunch there and the ratios were perfect for me, you don't feel ready to explode. The waitresses were smiling, and polite and did an amazing service."
• "The menu knocked it back to 4 Star overall for us - it was just a little restricted and a bit too 'snacky'."

Food Quality

Pros:

• "Everything Mouthwatering!"
• "Food was really tasty (pan-seared cod, steak bavette, plant burger) with perfectly seasoned accompanying vegetables."
• "The roast chicken was brilliant - cooked perfectly and still juicy. All the accompaniments were delicious."
• "I strongly recommend the fish and chips the batter was light and crispy, we asked if we could have some salad instead of mushy peas."
• "The soup de jour was broccoli and was delicious, served with nice crusty wholemeal bread for sopping up all the remaining good bits."
• "Our mains arrived beautifully presented and hot. The hubs had a steak pie which was HUGE."
• "The food was wonderful. The sticky date pudding looked amazing. So did the cocktails."
• "One of the loveliest Sunday roasts I’ve had in a long time!"

Cons:

• "The plant burger was quite small, and served in a cold rather than toasted bun."
• "This place has vegetarian options, but they are very small compared to the other options."
• "The butternut squash 'steak' and beetroot salad were both tiny and disappointing."
• "The food is a little more expensive but of good quality and tastes great. Furthermore, the waiters are extremely friendly and welcoming. I dislike that a 10% service fee is already included (-1 star)."
• "The batter on the monkfish taco was so thick that the texture of the fish was completely overwhelmed by the batter."
• "The sides and portions in general were small. Flavours were okay and may be a result of increasing costs and trying to keep them under control which is understandable but still left us all a bit disappointed."
• "What a disappointing visit...we have been there so many times but not since April...the first alarm bells rung when my burger didn't actually contain a burger...when returned, it wasn't a new burger, just the previously dismembered bun with the burger attached. As the burger had missed the buns exit, it had been on the griddle too long, therefore when it made its magical appearance, it was burnt....our other meal, fish, was decidedly average."
• "Very slow service. 1.5 hours to get food. Charged nearly £18 for steak pie that was flavourless."

Service Quality

Pros:

• "The staff who served us were friendly and really patient with our rather tipsy bunch."
• "Service is very helpful and chatty."
• "Staff was courteous, kind and talkative. One of them even gave me a cigarette as we were there till closing."
• "Friendly and professional staff and if that wasn't enough they admired my coasters."
• "All the staff that served us were very pleasant, friendly and chatty."
• "The tall lady (sorry I have no idea of her name) who greeted us on our arrival for our booking was the most friendly and welcoming waitress I can ever remember coming across."
• "I was out in a group of four when we decided to give McLarens on the Corner a try. We hadn't booked but, at the time we enquired (about 1630) a table inside was available. There are other tables.outaide.most of which are covered by parasols, but not all. There are some cute little cable cars also to sit in around the front entrance."
• "The staff were very friendly and super helpful. The food was excellent (the s’mores mess is probably one of the nicest desserts I’ve ever eaten!) and the place was kept immaculately clean. We will most definitely be back!"

Cons:

• "Menu very limited. unless you like chicken. Used to be much better choices. Complaint about my meal but nothing done about it. Service was poor,, too many dis-organised staff long wait drinks and missing food items . Manager unhelpful."
• "Difficult to review. It's a very attractive place, especially the outdoor part on a sunny day. Unfortunately, our meal was not good. The coffee was fine, but the breakfast was not well done and I definitely won't be returning. The head staff were unfriendly and unhelpful, for example they did not explain the set up so we did not know until it was too late there was an option to eat outside, which is what we really wanted to do. On the other hand, the waitresses were very kind, and the drinks were good."
• "I rarely bother to leave reviews but I just wanted to say the tall lady (sorry I have no idea of her name) who greeted us on our arrival for our booking was the most friendly and welcoming waitress I can ever remember coming across. I hope her effort into giving great service is rewarded. Also, all of the other staff were extremely pleasant including when I asked to be moved table to a booth under the chandelier - they could not have been more accommodating. 5 stars all around including the food and the prices."
• "Out for family dinner, but the music was so loud everyone at other tables were shouting to be heard and we couldn't have a conversation. We decided to get pudding at Tesco next door and take it home where we could talk comfortably. Real shame as the food is great, but the volume spoilt it for us. Staff were not very happy being asked to turn the music down a bit."
• "The place is really nice and the most of the wait staff was polite and friendly but some others (the head waiter and manager) were a bit rude and made us feel uncomfortable."
• "This is a gem of a restaurant, I was so impressed with the staff they were attentive to our needs and so welcoming. The food was the best I have had in Edinburgh try the carrot soup it was amazing, chef even shared his recipe."
• "McLarens is a cozy, family-friendly spot with a nice ambience. However, the service is consistently sub-par and the food overpriced for the mediocre quality. We booked a dinner for 5 last night and the service was shocking. They forgot my friend’s drink. They took 80 minutes to serve our meals, then forgot one of the meals and had to wait a further 15 minutes for that meal. They got my husband’s salad wrong. I asked for condiments and they forgot to bring them. And when my husband complained about the sum total of these shambolic goings-on, the manager replied, “I don’t know anything about it.” Can we say unprofessional? They have no interest or incentive to improve because they know they serve a captive audience. However, we are local, and we won’t be returning."
• "One of the loveliest Sunday roasts I’ve had in a long time! The downstairs area is very pretty, clean and tidy and thought has clearly gone into the seating so no one’s too close to each other. All the staff that served us were very pleasant, friendly and chatty. The roast chicken was brilliant - cooked perfectly and still juicy. All the accompaniments were delicious and the fact you could order more gravy was a godsend for me! Thoroughly enjoyable and we’ll definitely be back."