The Spylaw in Edinburgh, City of

Good food and great service and excellent staff.

Not a good experience for me. Although the service was friendly, the table was quite dirty and the food wasn't great. Maybe it was just the wrong day.

Ate and quizzed. Great quiz, a bit on the noisy side in the restaurant. Pork was a bit on the salty side.

I love the Spylaw - the burgers are always excellent and the staff are brilliant with kids. Added bonus it's dog friendly, so easy to get to after a dog walk along the water of leith!

Wonderful experience! We kept returning on consecutive nights. The whole menu was delicious! Great cask ales and whisky!

Super accommodating and friendly service. Lovely atmosphere and environment.

A good place for a quick meal. Friendly, efficient service and the food is good

Went for brunch, the breakfast menu was lovely. Parking isn't the best however it's in walking distance for some people I know.

Fantastic food fantastic service

Called in for coffee and a scone. Card payment only no cash accepted. Good location in Colinton Village.

Went to the Splyaw Tavern for breakfast on a Sunday and was very quiet. Took our orders just after 11am. Just as I was going to ask where our breakfast was it 11:50 was told someone had lost the order ticket. And we couldn’t order what he had wanted. Terrible service. Wasnt even busy.

Nice place food was excellent service was quick

Piatti di ottima qualità.. personale super cordiale e posto molto facile da raggiungere prezzi nella media. Consigliato!

We have adored. Welcoming people and great service. Hearty and very good dishes

staff were all very pleasant and attentive, food was very good.great atmosphere. altogether a really pleasant experience. definitely recommend the spylaw tavern

Had an amazing meal in here, steak and ale pie 🤤

We were a table of 9 on a very busy Easter Sunday, I’ve worked many years in hospitality so I understand the challenges. Starters were good, had to send a couple of the main courses back as the roast lamb was so tough and fatty and roast potatoes had clearly been reheated … a lot. Shame as the flavours and presentation were lovely. The other main course were ok, not amazing. The service saved the day as our waitress was very kind and helpful and promptly removed the cost of the meals from the bill, including one of the alternative meals. Couple of other small issues… the back door kept slamming loudly every 10 minutes, and there was no real salt and pepper. Only cheap powder stuff. Not even a communal black pepper mill. No huge deal but a bit surprising. At this stage I’d have probably overlooked the blips and returned…. The deal breaker though was being told they did not take cash. They didn’t tell us this when we booked or I’d have not bothered going. Apparently there’s a sign on the door, and on the menu, not very forward thinking, but either way it’s a big no from me for anywhere that refuses cash, so won’t be returning.

Very good for a quick bite and drink

Absolutely outstanding burgers !!! One of the best we ever had. Warm, friendly and attentive to service with a personal touch. Loved the decor. Great value for price !!! ♥️

Such a great find! Being from the USA, we wanted to experience a “locals pub” and that’s exactly what we found. Amazing food, drink, and service. The fish-n-chips was the best in the UK! Great option outside of the busy city action. Everything on the menu looked amazing as it went by! We left completely happy with full tummy’s. A special place!

We didn’t stay here was only a Sunday lunch visit

In an effort to stay awake after a 16 hour journey from the States to Edinburgh, I planned on seeing Colinton Tunnel and eating at a local pub afterwards. In my research I stumbled upon The Spylaw. The atmosphere was vibrant, service was incredible, beer was great, food was phenomenal; I loved it. I had the steak and ale pie with veggies. Delicious. Had it with some HB Sauce, recommended by staff, & it kicked it up another level. Even the vegs, carrots and broccoli, were something to write home about. After a long day of surviving on airport trash, a fresh meal was food for the soul. I was a little punch drunk from all the traveling, but thank goodness the staff was patient. Make a reservation to ensure you have a table. Thank you for making my first experience in your fine country a delightful one!

Great little pub in a lovely location

Great food for a good price and dog friendly too. The staff were more than accommodating when we asked if they had room for 2 dogs and food on Sunday afternoon. Service was very friendly and the food was lovely! The featherblade of beef just fell apart on your fork and the burger was amazing! Definitely recommend for a spot of food after a walk round the reservoirs.

Popped in for a late lunch on a Saturday afternoon. Great welcome from staff. Very friendly. Quick service and food was very good. Nice relaxed atmosphere.

Had lunch there today. All 4 of us chose the Sunday roast and had beef. Faultless, lovely meat and nice sized portion All the staff that we interacted with were so friendly Loved the decor and feel of the place Priced well for a gastro pub Definitely be back

We had a birthday meal for my mum. The service was great, and the staff were attentive. The meal (for 5 adults and 1 child, including drinks) was very reasonable. We have been here a few times now and not been disappointed. I would definitely recommend.

The interior is very nice, and the staff are friendly. Child friendly. However the food was very slow to be served. The curry was like something you would make in HE, it was just tomato sauce, peppers, chickpeas, onions and spices. And the portions were all very small for the high price. The crumble had way too much cinnamon. The beef roast was very good. Not worth the price.

The food was great, the feeling was too, all in all great, try now because in the summer this place will be rammed as it has a fab beer garden x

The Spylaw is a great pub and it’s safe to say I’m a regular now. I pop in all the time and the staff are so lovely and accommodating. The assistant manger has always been such a great help and helped me and my family book an impromptu new year eve celebration for a big crew, really grateful for her for helping us sort this, and also for generally being super helpful with bookings. Super helpful staff and lovely venue!

Lovely place, limited parking, service can be a little challenging when full, but super friendly!

Great Christmas lunch. Friendly service, tasty food.

Really disappointed!!! We were there to eat and drink and then ignored us for about 20 minutes.. after it we just left the place. I was really shocked at how unfriendly they were.

Went here for a nice meal with the family. Great food, great atmosphere and friendly staff.

Absolutely dreadful service from the moment we stepped in. Popped in for a few drinks whilst out for a walk, ordered 4 drinks at the bar and paid for our round. Waited 25 minutes before two of our drinks showed up, we then watched them serve up other drink orders before bringing the other two drinks 10 minutes later, place was a shambles. Gave two stars because after they finally arrived the mulled cider and coffee were pretty good however waiting 35 minutes for two drinks when coming in from the freezing cold is pretty shocking. Need to do far better than that.

Great food and fab location. Welcoming staff and tasty grub.

Great service and friendly staff. Good food .I had a whale and chips... judging by the size of it !!

Outstanding! Here for a week, and been twice already! The first night, the staff fitted 5 of us in with no booking. 2 vegetarian friends were very impressed with their meals. All staff were exceptional. I can not rate this place highly enough.

We came here for lunch - the food and service was fantastic. A very strong recommend indeed, and possibly the best pie and chips ever

The manager went above and beyond to assist an elderly gentleman who had issues with his bank cards. Took the trouble to contact his bank and then to accompany to a local bank ATM to resolve his issues

The food is fantastic, with great Cullen Skink if you are a fan of a warming Scottish classic, or their smash burger which has got to be close to one of Edinburgh's best burgers. They have a great wine selection on hand as well as draught beers which are always served perfectly - no stale lines or dirty glasses. The seats are comfortable and booths well sized even for larger clientele. The staff are very friendly and will get to know you if you come in repeatedly. A bit of a hidden gem and a great local haunt to have - well worth a visit from other parts of Edinburgh or further afield.

Good wine, great staff. We keep going back! 👍🌈

After a long day hiking this place came as a hidden gem, offering great food and ale. This is my first comment ever, so you should take it as an ultimate truth.

Very friendly atmosphere and the best bacon and egg rolls after our wet walk. Being dog friendly was a big bonus - even when they were as wet as their humans!

Visiting with the family to celebrate my one year old granddaughters birthday and basically the evening went very well. The two members of staff we dealt with were great. Really chatty and all of our requirements met without issue. Perfect examples of hospitality staff looking after their customers. Our 4 year old had fish, chips & peas and the portion was just perfect for her. No problems co-operating with us by getting the birthday girl a plate to help us share our meals. The adults had 2 x Sunday roast beef, macaroni cheese, chicken roast and all were excellent, tasty and plenty of it. All perfecly cooked and well presented and an excellent service well worth the highest review but..............2 poor examples really pulled down the marking! With the one year old needing a high chair, we picked one off the stack, placed it at our table and put birthday girl in. Imagine our absolute horror to find the little one stuffing some left over Yorkshire pudding that she found attached to the chair. A quick panic to get the offending item out of her mouth as she erupted at the 'gall' of us having stolen her food! The second issue was the use of a plastic cup for the 4 year olds orange juice. The cup had obviously been covered in some sort of label which had been scratched off, clearly not been removed properly and really looked as if the cup had held crayons or somethingn. We quickly decanted it into a glass but mother (who had booked the restaurant, by this time was all for walking out. Hygiene risks with such young children just should not happen, however, apart from these two incidents, this was an excellent experience and, bar the two issues mentioned, would have seen me giving 5 stars however, given the potential seriousness of the issues we encountered, I really had no option.

Comfy, hospitable place with very friendly staff; good vegetarian & vegan options. Situated in one of Edinburgh's loveliest "villages" yet easily reachable by bus.

Great food, exceptional service. One of the best dinner experiences I've had in a long time. Staff is super friendly and made us feel we've been going there for years. Cannot recommend the place enough.

Wow what can I say!! Delicious food, lovely surroundings and very friendly staff. We had the most amazing steak and Guineas pie and fish and chips. Definitely worth a visit

Very welcoming, friendly Manageress, good selection of food, healthy eating aswell as pub favourites, often serving food until 21.00 even weekdays

What a great experience! THE BEST nachos in Scotland! Lovely staff, beautiful location and indoor/outdoor dining. Just go…..

Lovely food and great service. It was a lovely day out. Staff were great with the kids and they set the table up for them with colouring in books when we arrived.

Good service. Good food. What more can you ask for?

We were disappointed in our meal. Whilst it’s a nice place inside and the staff were friendly, the food was lacking. For the price, the portions were small. We only had mains so can’t comment on anything else. I wouldn’t personally return.

The food was absolutely amazing, enjoyed every mouthful! Staff are really friendly and atmosphere is warm. Beautiful hanging baskets on the entry to the pub and the beer garden is tranquil. We were only staying around the corner from this place doing the fringe festival, this has to be the best pub meal we’ve had since we arrived four days ago!

What an fantastic night at the spylaw, all the staff were fantastic, especially to diana who looked after us all night, we will be back to see you all again. Great food and company.

Fitted 6 of us in at the last minute as was let down by the hunters tryst this place is excellent food was piping hot and big portions staff were so welcoming definitely going back here

Great place for food and drinks

Good food, drinks and service. Nothing more to be said. Decent craft beers

Sadly been using the Spylaw for a long time and really enjoyed the service and friendly staff. Today I was completely embarrassed for my brother and his wife, they were first of all blocked to join us in beer garden and then ignored to be served until he called me and I came up, I was shocked to see even as I came up other people (might add walk ins)were being seated and welcomed I would like to think it was an off day and not down to race,. Sadly due to this experience I would not recommend or return

Really nice pub. Friendly staff and good food. 👍😊

For some reason my original review didn’t save 🤷‍♀️ gorgeous wee bar and the staff was so amazing and friendly. We ordered a main and dessert and both were delicious (although I do with the main had come with a little more gravy). The sticky toffee pudding was mouthwatering and it was great to see the GF options on the dessert menu as well! Both dishes came out relatively quick. Will definitely be back for a visit!

Lovely original touches have been retained. Floors etc

Could excuse the dirty glass but not the small plates of tasteless watery soup at £6 odds a plate.

£4.50 for half a potato. They claimed they were chips. Most expensive root crop I’ve ever bought.

Lovely village pub with helpful staff worth a visit family friendly as well

I was disappointed with the food and found it expensive for what i got. I was looking forward to seeing the new spylaw as I loved the old one. Unfortunately I won't be coming back, sorry

The service at this pub is appalling. I have never felt so unwelcome in a pub. To be fair, the barmaid was lovely but the woman i assume to be the manager was rude and abrasive. She told us to take our drinks downstairs. We obliged, and then ten minutes later she came and abruptly told us that's not the table she wanted us to sit at and we needed to move. All of our brief interactions with her were unpleasant. I hope she was just having an off day because this is no way to run a business.

Arrived on spec and in a hurry. Luckily, we got a table. Explained we were on a tight timescale. Staff went out there way to turn around great food in quickest time. Fish and chips were great. Cheesecake even better. Thank you. 😊

Staff was amazing food lovely tad expensive

Food is a bit limited, and not a lot of choice for smaller meals as a lunch time snack, ie baked potatoes etc. It's also quite expensive, £6.50 for a bowl of soup? Service was efficient and polite.

We love this place. Cozy wee pub and great friendly customer service. ❤️

Tasty interesting food, fitted us in without a booking on a busy Saturday, although i think we were lucky to get a table!

Stopped in for a coffee. Welcoming and dog friendly

Príjemné miesto, chutne jedlo, žiaľ vyššie ceny, ale kvalitné jedlo

Spylaw great bar and restaurant it was great to be back after been so long away due to covid, staff are happy, helpful, beautiful restaurant, fantastic staff.

Excellent! Truly impressed with both the atmosphere and the quality of the food. Our waitress was working alone with a full house, yet we barely waited and she remained exceptionally pleasant and welcoming. The food was amazing, we took the cottage pie and it was incredibly tasty, comforting, even the vegetables on the sides were delicious. (as a French I can't help comparing cottage pie with our hachis parmentier and this plate took me right back to lunchs at my gran 😍, thanks to the chef!)

We were visiting Edinburgh and looking for a quiz, the girl in the gift shop at the Museum of Flight recommended the Spylaw, quiz was good, food was nice and staff were very friendly.

A convenient stop on a walk along the Water of Leith. We had the Sunday Roast - one chicken and one beef - and both were very tasty, well presented and big enough portions!!

This place is amazing! Friendly, warm and sweet. The food is excellent, best soup and charcuterie boards with great service. We love Mia! Thank you so much sweetheart for making our visits there so welcoming, we will miss you!❤️😘❤️

Stopped for a little drink while walking the water of Leith. Very nice friendly place to stop wished we had had time to sample the lovely menu.

Nice atmosphere, kind service, authentic Scottish.

Nice small restaurant/pub plenty of options with food and of course drink behind the bar

My client had frequented the Spylaw for years and decided to take me for lunch yesterday. She was bitterly disappointed, at 1 the place was practically empty, the menu was disappointing and an indifferent choice. Service was not hugely attentive - odd as there was barely anyone in. Food was mediocre to say the least. And in an empty restaurant we were sat next to the kitchen door... My client is still muttering over it today and is glad that we didn't take guests as originally intended.

Really nice food, we've been here a few times now as it's fairly local for us (a nice 45 min walk). Staff are really friendly too. Unfortunately we discovered last night they no longer accept cash (unless you have the exact amount) and ask for card payment as their preferred method. OK for some I'm sure.

Staff are amazing. Nice venue in a really cute little village..

Great food, great beer garden, friendly helpful staff.

Nice little place with great food and nice staff

Staff very friendly and most welcoming

Great staff and the red pepper hummus was delicious. All the food looked top drawer, we will be back.

I got more on my Mackies burger! Massively overpriced for what it is.

Friendly staff lovely food we went for brunch with my wee girl loved it

Friendly staff & pleasant local atmosphere

Good food, nice atmosphere, friendly staff.

Feb, 2022, food is good, staff are really helpful, Nice beers - neckoil and Gamma ray.

Had the sharing platters which were excellent

Fantastic little tucked away gem of a dog friendly pub in Colinton Village. Nice beer garden, good food & friendly staff. Whatever you do, don't go here: if it gets much busier I won't get a seat!

Pleasant garden setting. Nice service.

Had " slow cooked lamb" that was tough and undercooked.very disappointing.

We had the most wonderful birthday meal at the Spylaw. Kate and Mercedes were the most attentive hosts, nothing was too much effort and their customer service was exceptional. The food was delicious and the complimentary birthday bubbles were gratefully appreciated. Get yourselves there!

Good friendly atmosphere, helpful staff,BUT beware the glass of wine prices £8.75 for a glass of Californian chardonnay that's city centre Australian prices That needs to be looked at otherwise good village pub but sort the wine price If you charged city centre beer prices you wouldn't last long