The Mussel and Steak Bar Reviews Summary

Service

Pros:

• "Service excellent. Clean well presented tables."
• "The staff were very attentive and friendly with me all evening."
• "Friendly staff especially Ashley’s service was amazing, she made sure that we were happy with the orders."
• "The whole experience was made better by staff and an owner who have a clear passion for their craft."
• "Manager gives excellent service (gave us a side of sauce - not typically provided)."
• "The staff were very friendly and are happy to offer suggestions if you're struggling to decide between dishes."
• "Great service from friendly, attentive staff."

Cons:

• "We waited about 1 hour for the entree."
• "Zero atmosphere, unfriendly waiter (and the rest of the staff wasn’t really more friendly)."
• "The waitress was sultry and uninterested."
• "The waitress who served our table was kinda rude and unprofessional."
• "It was so difficult to ask for ketchup."
• "Just about the worst service I have ever encountered in a restaurant."
• "Inattentive service."

Food Quality

Pros:

• "Food is good and service was even better."
• "Amazing food, the best surf & turf I’ve ever had and the steak was cooked perfectly, exactly how I ordered it."
• "The soup was outstanding and the haggis Wellington with whiskey sauce was incredible."
• "Everything surpassed my expectations."
• "The seafood platter! Huge crevettes, scallops, mussels, clams... and all in a delicious sauce."
• "The best seafood platter I've ever had."
• "The food was delicious and cooked to perfection."

Cons:

• "The prices are quite frankly extortionate."
• "Prices are high for the quality of food."
• "The sides of the salmon were plane with no flavour. As for the steak sides, the salad was so sweet and the fries was not cooked properly at all which is a MAJOR failure for any restaurant."
• "Food ok but if you screw up mussels in white wine there is no hope anyway."
• "The mussels were ok but very small and rather disappointing."
• "The fish and chips were not great."
• "The steak is just average."

Atmosphere & Location

Pros:

• "Victoria Street is a really nice place to walk your dinner away."
• "It was in a very cool part of Edinburgh."
• "Restaurant was welcoming and cosy."
• "The restaurant is small and simple with great music and great service."
• "Very cozy place with good background music."
• "Located in the heart of Edinburgh old town."
• "Really nice little restaurant in the Grass Market area of Edinburgh."

Cons:

• "It's pity, my husband booked for our wedding anniversary via online... they withdrew everything between 15 and 18 minutes before they brought us the bill, they NEVER offered us a dessert... the service was friendly but definitely I do not recommend it for anniversary celebrations or special events."
• "The little touches such as the gents having no toilet paper or paper hand towels, which you wouldn't expect when you're there for opening time."
• "From the outside it's nothing of note, a bit like an upscaled cafe. Inside it's cramped but slightly nicer."
• "Probably no one wants to have dinner (or any food) in front of the toilet."
• "It felt very 90s and brightly lit."
• "There is no helpful accessibility for disabled people."
• "We were also removed from a small table for 2 upstairs to a booth downstairs that could fit 6 to finish our wine after paying."

Value

Pros:

• "We ate delicious seafood here which was fresh, tasty and very well priced."
• "Oysters were on the house today and tasted very fresh."
• "Reasonably priced for what you're getting."
• "A la carte can be a little pricey... but the lunch menu is excellent and incredible value."
• "Great value for money."
• "Yum! I had a half Kilogram of mussels with white wine sauce and some chunky chips cooked in beef dripping oil - all for the cost of £7.95."
• "Great place for a night out reasonably priced fantastic and delicious food."

Cons:

• "It’s so pricey compared to the value you’re getting."
• "The wine was over priced by £10 not a £26 bottle by any restaurant standards."
• "It was over £60 each for the house wine, a shared starter and two mains, no desert, so all in all very pricey but without the matching ambience."
• "Disgusting prices for thin steaks that had obviously been hammered to hell."
• "Just one lobster, one crab, few shrimps, and the rest are mussels oysters and scallops. Two people sharing platter charged us 150 pounds… just don’t order, not worth at all!"
• "The food/ alcohol are grossly overpriced."
• "The world famous sharing platter…don’t order, not worth, similar thing in other restaurants just 60 pounds."