Restaurant review: The Tower Restaurant
Address: The National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF – map
Phone: 0131 225 3003
Rating:
Overall experience: **** (out of 5)
Service: ***1/2 (out of 5):
Food: **** (out of 5)
Atmosphere: **** (out of 5)
Review by: Alexa Williamson
For those who love fine dining in modern or sumptuous surroundings, then this is an eatery worth trying – particularly as it’s run by the owners of The Witcherie -Edinburgh’s most famous restaurant.
Located on top of the recently redesigned, slick and shiny, Museum of Scotland, the restaurant continues the chic trend. With its many glass windows that have an outlook towards Edinburgh Castle, its chunky wooden tables, overstuffed, round, leather chairs and deep purple fabrics, eating here is a pleasure for the eyes as well as the taste buds.
Prices can seem a little expensive (eg a main course is £16-25), but the excellent quality of the food and the views justify them.
I visited for lunch, hoping to sit out on their pleasantly sunny terrace, but this was scuppered by strong winds. Instead I made do savouring oysters on the half-shell as a starter, a lemon-flavoured chicken with withered greens and durham wheat as a main course and a chocolate fondant with chocolate ice cream for dessert.
Overall, The Tower is a great experience because of its delicious food coupled with a wholly satisfying view. Where it falls down, for the epicurean, is that the menu could be more highly inspired and that the staff were not as attentive as one would expect for that price bracket.
