Howies in Edinburgh, City of

Eravamo in cinque e ci siamo andati a pranzo il giorno di Pasqua e c’hanno riservato “un angolino” molto carino e con privacy disposto in parte su divanetti. Il cibo e il servizio sono stati buoni. Lo consiglio!

My favourite goto restaurant for lunch. We. Recieved a warm and genuine welcome from our dedicated, friendly and supportive Howies ambassador who tended to our needs throughout service and beyond and made our visit all the more special. Kris is a real asset to the Howies family who clearly puts the customer at the heart of everything he does. As for the food- wonderful as always on recent visits. The dip complimented the Calimari, which was delicious in the crispy and crunchy batter. And as always the Bowyers Venison casserole was melt in the mouth and to die for. Jackie never by passes the salmon main course which was also excellent. The Howies ( Made by a distant relative 😀) was delicious too. Al in all a wonderful experience topped off with the excellent and very personal , kind and attentive service given by Kris at your Waterloo Place restaurant Will definitely be back soon 😀

Visited twice during our 5 days in Edinburgh. Really excellent, food, atmosphere and service. I would recommend this excellent restaurant without hesitation.

Everything was delicious. Service was excellent and we liked the atmosphere very much. I highly recommend to everyone who is visiting Edinburgh

We had dinner in the private dining room and everything was perfect from start to finish. Cannot recommend highly enough. Absolutely delighted with the food, service and the room itself. Thank you

Went here for my birthday it was amazing, great service and the food was amazing. Much better than i expected. Lives up to its reviews!

Good value for money with great Scottish classics, friendly and accomodating staff, in a very pretty place. Great to grab a dinner after a stop at Calton Hill.

Everything was 5 stars. Definitely will come back

Always great service and great food at a very reasonable price!

Food, service and ambience were very good. Ev. The food could have a little more taste.

Traditional cuisine. Plain flavored. Very busy restaurants need reservation in advance. Good stick pudding and haggis and salmon. Soup of the day is the best! Dear strew bit not recommend.

All very good and impeccable service... Almost perfect...

Had a lovely evening and a great culinary experience!

Food was very tasty and cooked very well! Service excellent! We were served my Kris who was very professional, polite and engaging! He looked after me, my wife and family very well! We throughly enjoyed our visit and I would highly recommend the restaurant as a place to visit!

Another fantastic lunch at Howies Waterloo Place

I love the payroll receptionist🌸

"Discretionary charge" is not a common thing in this country and should be clearly started in the menu. Waiting times are very long.

First time to visit Howies and was not disappointed. Kris, our waiter was very helpful and pleasant. Food and wine were excellent and would definitely visit again when we're next in Edinburgh.

Very rude staff at the front. Restaurant closed 1.5 hours earlier than advertised.

Absolutely fantastic lunch, as always, at Howies! Kris served us and was brilliant. Perfect balance of attentive, whilst leaving us to enjoy :) it was my mums birthday and he made it very special for us - it was very much appreciated. Best service I’ve had in a long time. Food and wine was great also. Will be back!

Excellent team running restaurant. Special mention of Beth - she was welcoming, efficient and added much to our enjoyment and experience.

Even though it is a nice place, we were surprised by the "discretionary" fee/tip that no one told us was optional and it added almost 8£ more to our bill. So be aware of that! The beer costs almost 7£ and it's in a can, I was badly surprised.

I had the cullen skink and the catch of the day(cod). They were delicious. Service was fantastic too

Always a pleasure to dine at Howies. Food & service always excellent. Can highly recommend.

My beef burger was a bit tough. My friends’ meals were all fine.

Lively, vibrant atmosphere as always. No pressure to leave after we finished eating. Perhaps a little bit noisy for people with hearing difficulties

We had a lovely lunch with family. Would definitely recommend.

Always tasty food. Good service and the 2 course menu is good value.

While the atmosphere and the staff were very friendly, I was unimpressed with the cuisine. The Cullen skink was under seasoned and the carrot side was over seasoned.

Excellent food, attentive and kind service. Lovely atmosphere

Fantastic food, good service, lovely dining room

You can find an authentic Scottish food here. The price is not cheap but the quality is great. I love the great Scottish atmosphere in the restaurant. Try it before you leave Edinburgh!

Very good food with good prices and wonderful service. They have an extensive menu and the guy who served us recommended us very well. 100% recommended.

Such a great restaurant very welcoming and the food is amazing

Good as always. Service was a little slow after first course. But it was Friday lunchtime! I will be back soon.

Got the early dinner sets Service was attentive and charming Haggis is tied best I've tried, and the accompaniments were great Cullen skink was pleasant and executed well as well Mains of cod and pork belly were overpriced, bland and not crispy. Famous banoffee pie has good reason to be famous, it's quite well executed. Banana taste comes thru and it's quite refined, not overwhelming Overall pretty good except that it's quite pricey, their traditional Scottish stuff are good but the mains are lacking

We bumped into the place after visiting the hill monuments. Everything was excellent and the people working here are very friendly

I have the most amazing time here with my family and we are definitely going to return back soon

Kris was amazing! Food amazing!

Expensive for the amount of food

Very good meal, service from Kris was excellent.

Whenever I have guests I take them to Howies to experience upscale Scottish food. I've never been dissapointed. I've had haggis as small dish and being non-british, is the only place I'd eat it. Recently had the ribeye and the quality of the meat is just great, tender and juicy. Best Scottish restaurant in Edinburgh

Very nice food and very nice atmosphere

Excellent lunch and service from Kris who was courteous and efficient

We keep coming back as we have such a great time here. Atmosphere and lovely choose of food.

Great food, great value and a lovely ambiance!

Another lovely evening was spent at Howies, Edinburgh for myself and my friend Saturday evening (05/04). Extremely good service, delicious food and wine and lovely atmosphere. Looking forward to returning again soon.

We have dined here many times and consider Howies one of our favourites. However on Saturday 5th, we were slightly disappointed for the first time. Our table was fantastic as usual; our server was pleasant enougg but seemed to lack the usual Howies politeness and all round awareness we've had on all other visits. I also didn't like the fact that one of us were served main course, then waited for the server to walk to the kitchen snd back with the other one. I think our server was trying so hard to be himself/matey that I felt it wasn't polite at some points. Even when my husband was considering ordering another drink when I was on water, the waiter joked 'dont look at her' as if asking for approval. Very rude. We then ordered 1 dessert and the waiter said 2 spoons, I said no but he then arrived back with 2 spoons and just grinned - the spoon sat untouched. Finally and possibly the most annoying part of the night, the waiter brought the bill and laid it out in front of my husband and chatted with him. I had felt slightly brushed off by the waiter already but this was the final straw. Given that it's usually me that pays, sometimes with our joint card and sometimes with mine, this was a poor, sexist move. I wouldn't rush to return again purely for the service but also that my chicken dish felt a bit lost and was not that tasty.

Lovely celebration lunch for 7 of us including a 3 year old. Good food and attentive service.

Food was very good and staff were very attentive

First visit with our 4 friends. We all enjoyed our meal and the service was so professional and efficient.

Easy to get to, good menu selection which is not overpriced for its fabulous location, great atmosphere and attentive service.

The food was terrific. We really enjoyed our meal.

Wonderful place, we really enjoyed the food and we had excellent service,we will definitely visit again when we are back in Edinburgh

Beautiful room, gourmet food with a Scottish provenance, great service. Always a joy

Beth was attentive and.cheerful in this bright and lively venue. Food was GOOD and the cheese course generous. Go!

Fantastic as always. Celebrated a 50th. Thank you to all the staff.

Great food. Great customer service. Very neat environment.

Actually lovely food but the portions compared to other similar restaurants have got quite small. Waitress a bit brisk. Usually go to Howies when we come to Edinburgh but may not because less value for money.

Lovely ambience, warm and welcoming service and love the food.

For a fussy diner this place ticks all the boxes.

An excellent restaurant for lunch or dinner in Edinburgh. All of great quality, a great vegetarian Hagis and a delicious sticky pudding. And the staff, super friendly!!

Busy bustling atmosphere. Good tasty daily specials at a veryerasobal price.

Fantastic wee gem in the heart of Edinburgh. Food was outstanding and service excellent

Such a wonderful dinner. Beautiful building, excellent staff and service, outstanding meal.

Incredible, as always. Service was flawless, food incredible and I had to question the bill as I it was such good value i assumed they had forgotten to charge us for dessert.

Food excellent and our waitress Beth was superb. She was very attentive and funny and made our night.

Food and service were excellent as always.

Delicious food, lovely friendly staff and nice surroundings. Will definitely be back.

Excellent and quiet traditional restaurante in Edinburgh!

We visited as a large group. The food was very good and the staff were helpful. A good spot for Scottish dining.

Quality food and service at a really value for money cost. Cullen Skink to start and the ‘catch of the day’ Pan Roasted Cod with Celeriac Curried Purée, baby potatoes and vegetables.

Delicious and delightful as always but missed out top table! Only because of the acoustics! Therefore difficult to chat amongst the five of us! Already booked for our next lunch, tho, as always. Love to all and enjoyed a fabby cuddle welcome from Ryan. Miss you Emily and Lara (alphabetical as you're all my favourites!) Sorry I forget the name of the lovely lady who took my next booking and the fabby guy who went out of his way to chat and welcome us even though we weren't on his table (at the top). You know who you are! Must write your name down so forgive me! 💖

Only issue was the disappearance of the set 3 course meal deal . We wondered how our bill was £4 more expensive a head . In future. I think we will limit ourselves to the 2course deal

Best value for lunch, delicious food and great service. Very happy diners. Thank you to Beth for making us feel so welcome and for her sunny smile.

Very disappointing repeat visit today. First, the food - the main component of the 'catch of the day' menu was slightly overcooked, enough though to spoil the culinary experience. The haggis, neaps and tatties, was a very small portion, so much so, I wonder if it had been a starter portion instead of a main portion - it was clearly ordered as a main. Unfortunately, as 2 courses were ordered it would not have been discernible on the bill. The puddings were OK but not memorable. Second, the service - greeted appropriately when arrived, the place was almost empty at that time. The waiter at the table was very polite but needs to develop discretionary skills to help read body language, in order to walk the fine line between attentiveness and pestering. Third, being asked to leave, with half a bottle of wine still to be drunk. At 1.45 we were offered coffee and told we needed to leave at 2 (15 minutes to order and drink coffee), we declined even though we would have liked some. I know that most restaurants in Edinburgh have a footnote about the table return time on their booking system. However, I have never been asked to leave any restaurant (including this one in the past) at this tentative cut-off time. We asked if we could finish our wine in the foyah but that was already full. We were offered a seat outside in the cold on seats that had been dried off, because of earlier rain. We asked if they would take the wine back which they could sell as a couple of glasses but were told they couldn't do that because it was open. We were told we had another 15 minutes to finish the wine, which we did but didn't enjoy it. On the way out, I suggested that maybe they should discourage people from buying a bottle of wine if they were going to be strict about the 2 hours. This was dismissed on the basis that lots of people easily finish wine in the time span. Maybe 3 or 4 people would find it easy to drink a bottle in an hour and a half but there were only 2 of us. A relaxing catch up between friends was certainly not had. I will not be back, my friend, who has been a number of times with 2 other separate friends will undoubtedly share this awful experience. Please do something about overcapacity because the building is lovely and the buzz with other customers provides a nice atmosphere. The 3 legged stool will fall down if everything is not good and that includes the customers.

A lovely, sociable room. Short menu, but delicious food and excellent service.

As always, a very good meal with attentive service.

I had a fantastic experience at Howies! The atmosphere is warm and inviting, with a charming and cozy setting that makes you feel right at home. The staff were incredibly friendly, attentive, and professional, ensuring a smooth and enjoyable dining experience. The food was absolutely delicious—fresh, well-prepared, and beautifully presented. I particularly loved the home-smoked salmon, which had a rich, delicate flavor, and the cullen skink, a creamy and flavorful traditional Scottish chowder. The venison was also perfectly cooked and full of taste. The pricing is very reasonable for the quality of food and service. The set menus offer great value, especially for lunch or early dinner. Overall, Howies is a must-visit restaurant in Edinburgh, and I will definitely return on my next trip!

Took the parents here when they came up to visit. Needed a place with good gluten free options and this place is fantastic! The food was amazing and the staff were fantastic! If you’re GF I highly recommend. So many options and it’s so good! My mother was thrilled with her meal! Would come again and definitely would recommend.

Been there for a faculty dinner. Great service and delicious food, salmon was excellent 👌🏼

We came across Howies by chance on our last night in Edinburgh and it was fantastic. The food was sublime, the best by far we had eaten in Edinburgh and some of best we had eaten in a long while, and we are foodies that eat out a lot. The staff were equally attentive, the waitress really engaging (sorry I didn't get her name but had recently started and moved from Glasgow) and added to the whole experience. I can't praise the restaurant enough, highly recommend

The food was cooked perfectly the staff very helpful and obliging we have visited many times and and every visit has not disappointed will be definitely be back in August

Always a warm welcome. Staff very friendly and efficient. Great food choices (even better that they cater for those who cannot consume gluten) which deliver amazing taste. Always our go to venue when on a day trip. Thoroughly recommended. (Booking essential)

Great value for money lunch sets. A must visit spot in Edinburgh.

Restaurant in Waterloo Place, brother of the one on Victoria Street. We made a reservation in the morning for 6 to secure a table. Our experience was magnificent, we had a very good dinner and had a good time. We were wonderfully looked after by the staff. I highly recommend this place to try the typical fish soup.

My son took his girlfriend and I for her birthday Lunch first time we had been service and food first class. Great menu plenty to choose from very reasonable enjoyed it very much.

The best restaurant we've been in Edinburgh. They have daily menus for a reasonable price and the quality of the food is astonishing. They have traditional dishes; we tried the haggis, the smoked salmón, and the deer cassole. The menu is not so extensive, but they offer different products every day. Highly recommended!

Reason why I give 1 star? As a tourist visiting this place for the first time, we went to Howies as a recommendation for traditional local food, and when requested the bill, they tried to charge us more money for the meals we ordered. Although they were very apologetic about it, it seemed like a tourist scam.

Fellow golfers lunch which was a terrific success in part due to our jolly Aussie waitress. Food and wine were perfect for us.

Delicious food, good service, sticky toffee pudding desserts are the best.

Delicious Scottish food with vegan & vegetarian options. A quality dining experience at very reasonable prices.

The restaurant itself is lovely - beautiful decor and nice and light. Given the very good reviews I am assuming that our disappointment with the food was a one off - undercooked fish and over cooked burger.

Was not particularly impressed with our visit, portions a bit miserly, haggis tattie and turnip starter very small and pureed which is unusual. Casserole also small portion. Service, not the friendliest either.

Booked early dinner for 1800, they had a 2 course deal which was good value for money and service was great. You can take your own wine, which they charge £7.50 for corkage. The haggis starte was lovely and we decided in the pan fried hake for main. Overall dinner for 4 cost just over £100 which included at 10% service charge

If you book online make sure they have your booking,we thought we had booked we even gave bank details and £0 was taken incase we never turned up, got to the restaurant no booking, lucky they weren't over busy, before someone says we might have booked the wrong restaurant we didn't.Food was ok had the fish of the day Hake mash prawns with pepper hollandaise sauce couldn't taste the sauce there was that little of it, wife had the chicken she said it was ok not the best for those who watch Great British menu it wouldn't make the banquet

Very good food, tasty, hot and good portions. We ordered the haggis and they are very delicious. The staff very attentive and friendly. We went at noon on a Wednesday without a reservation and only waited 5 minutes. Eddie, our airport driver, had recommended us.

It was my first trip to Scotland and I'm glad I came to this restaurant. I had the daily (?) soup and salmon menu, both of which were very delicious...!!!!! The waiters were working efficiently, the customers all seemed to be having fun, and the restaurant was full of energy. It took longer than expected for the food to arrive and for the bill to be paid, so I think it's best to go with plenty of time! ! ! Thank you for letting us have a wonderful time ❤️

Great food, super friendly service! The lady who served us was so friendly and gave great recommendations! Would definitely come back.

The soup of the day and the casserole of the day were outstanding! Great cocktail and service too!