Whenever we are abroad we love to try new restaurants, spending a bit more to go to places that are not like the usual franchises where everyone eats the same thing over and over again. So when we visited Edinburgh recently we immediately started looking for a place to spend that special evening. My husband and I prefer places that not only have fantastic food but that are also a bit unusual – and The Witchery by The Castle certainly fit the bill.

The restaurant is right at the top of the Royal Mile, which is the main thoroughfare in the old part of Edinburgh, and it is located right underneath the castle – so it’s already pretty special. The restaurant entrance is marked by a kind of coat-of-arms and as soon as we went in we knew that we had made the right choice.

Part of the beauty of this restaurant is its somewhat spooky appearance

Part of the beauty of this restaurant is its somewhat spooky appearance. The place is very well named and you do get the impression that there might be a couple of witches or ghosts hiding around this historic building. Even though Scotland is not known for nice weather, the place has a lovely courtyard, which they call the Secret Garden, and people can choose to dine there when it is good weather. It was too cold for us, though, and I preferred to stay inside.

The food was fantastic from start to finish. Such mouthwatering dishes, and all beautifully presented. The set menus offer good value for money and, washed down by some great red wine, this was a dinner that I will remember for a long time! We were there in the evening (it’s one of the few fine dining places that also open regularly for lunch, we were surprised to find out!) and they offered us a choice of à la carte (with very expensive prices even for the starters) or a three-course set menu. The price for the latter was around €40 per person, which I thought to be fair considering the ambience and the high quality of food and service. They like to put a touch of actual Scottish food, the nice kind as opposed to the fried and battered Mars bars that are so common. I had an amazing fish whose name I can’t remember, but I do remember the long explanation that it comes from some Scottish river. This was accompanied by a remarkable potato salad that was curried – spices are not my thing, but I loved it.

For my main I had some terrific risotto, followed by mouthwatering Yorkshire cake. We were told that there is also a small hotel attached to the restaurant. Maybe next time, though for some reason I suspect the prices might not be exactly music to our ears!

http://www.thewitchery.com/