Address: 2, Rutland Place, Edinburgh EH1 2AD, United Kingdom
Phone: +441312229930
Rating: 4.2
based on 217 reviews.
Atmosphere & Decor
Pros:
"The most impressive part has to be the massively vaulted ceilings and the equally impressive chandeliers along with the very rich decor."
"The venue is very special and has a magical feeling."
"A great bar in the centre of Edinburgh. One of the few bars around which attempt to give you an authentic scottish experience."
"Beautiful bar area, lots of wooden aesthetics everywhere and the bar staff attentive and friendly."
"The decor is Gothic, but can be chic with different arrangements."
"Stunning interior of the place makes any occasion feel very special!"
"The downstairs bar is stunning - decor is perfect mix of original old features with modern twists and a huge bar area with lots of drink choices."
Cons:
"The ceilidh portion of the evening was slightly disappointing - the space was small, the calling was mediocre, and the room was absolutely roasting!"
"The service was quite disappointing in the sense that there were tables in the main bar area, however we were taken round the back and secluded away from the experience of Ghillie Dhu."
"The only large tables and food service area are also the performers / dj set and the volume is so high you can't have a conversation with your friends."
"However I visited a couple of weeks ago for a Christmas party and it was absolutely freezing inside with a cold draught blowing through the place."
"Down side is toilet facilities from upstairs function room. Down into the basement which is down a long stone staircase, a bit of a hike, for anyone."
"The ground floor bar is mainly wood, let down by bad stools that are wobbly and sometimes fixed at the wrong height."
"One star as at night you can't go to the toilet without be pestered with tips as there is a security guard in the toilet trying to offer you hard wash and so on."
Service
Pros:
"The staff wore kilts, and were friendly and helpful."
"The staff are amazing and go above and beyond."
"The staff was very welcoming and professional."
"Friendly helpful staff."
"Staff are very pleasant and food was excellent, even if the portion sizes were a bit small."
"The staff in attendance were brilliant, seamless, attentive and attention to detail was excellent!!"
"The staff were wonderful, the food was great, and we had an amazing time."
Cons:
"Took 1/2 hour to be greeted, another 1/2 hour to have our order taken, another 1/2 hour to get terrible food."
"The booking organisation is awful."
"The 2 girls serving us quite clearly didn’t have a clue what they were doing."
"Some I find to be very helpful, but others seem very unhappy or simply incapable of working behind a bar."
"When one of our starters didn't arrive, we couldn't tell anyone until they eventually came to clear the plates, as we were never checked on."
"Staff were not good, struggled to understand our orders, quite rude at times."
"Our waitress was grumpy and we were neglected for most of the evening."
Food & Drinks
Pros:
"The dessert however was quite good and enjoyable."
"The mussels were up amongst the best I've had and the sirloin was done perfectly."
"The food tasted great."
"I had baked haddock with potato and it was super."
"Went here for a meal, food was great, I had haggis to start and my main meal was chicken and bacon pie, both were good size portions and very tasty."
"Absolutely beautiful food."
"The food was amazing."
Cons:
"The food was, well, okay."
"The place looks amazing, but the quality of drinks is really poor."
"Good service shame about the food."
"The prices are quite high, 16£ for a piece of chicken and some potatoes."
"Steak pie was minced beef and a puff pastry topping."
"Great atmosphere but let down by small portions and ping and ding food."
"The food was not at all special and it is really bad value for money!"
Entertainment & Events
Pros:
"Great place to watch rugby internationals with big screens in the downstairs bar."
"They hold regular ceilidhs too."
"Good for a drink and a dance and I would recommend it for a fun night out learning your strip the willow!"
"There was live music when we arrived at 10pm and an excellent atmosphere."
"I really like the fact that they do live music every night."
"The Ceilidh band were incredible."
"Went to a Friday night ceilidh while on vacation in Edinburgh and had a marvelous time."
Cons:
"We wanted to go to the weekly ceilidh, but you can only if you get on the 'guest list' beforehand, and anyway we saw there is not much actual Ceilidh going on."
"The DJ was a little slow."
"The band left too long between songs."
"They didn’t explain the dances very well and nobody demonstrated them."
"One of the greatest things about the Ghillie Dhu that I really like is their weekly Friday ceilidhs."
"I pre-booked tickets for the new years eve ceilidh event, at £20 each. My group, along with many many others were told the event was overbooked and we wouldn't be let in."
"The live music was boring and the burger was so so."
Value & Pricing
Pros:
"The food was all good portions for reasonable prices for the area."
"Average prices and student discount on certain options (only on specific days) certainly helped!"
"Excellent drink choices inc. Whiskey flight (£13) Gins and local beers."
Cons:
"The prices are quite high, 16£ for a piece of chicken and some potatoes."
"Drinks are extremely pricey and the Christmas Dinner took me back to my School Dinner equivalents."
"The food is really pricey for the quantity and the quality."
"The turkey and trimmings was 2 thin slices of processed turkey under a layer of gravy with 2 pigs in blankets, 2 foul overcooked brussel sprouts, and a few pieces of undercooked chunky veg (carrots and potatoes)."
"Very poor food. Potatoes were raw never got any sausages and the starters were absolutely tiny."
"They had run out of some ingredients, including Edinburgh gin!"
"Food was just bad, i had the Ghillie Burger. The bun was shredding to pieces while I was holding it, the patty was rubbery and very well done, completely flavourless and hard to chew."