Twenty Princes Street

The tired and dusty old Royal British Hotel has been undergoing a radical transformation, of late. It has a rather fabulous looking new cocktail bar, Juniper, and a smart new restaurant, Twenty Princes Street Grill & Steakhouse, with a Josper grill as the workhorse of its menu.

For lunching interests, it has a rather impressive introductory deal, running until the end of November, which offers two main courses and two drinks (house wine, beer or soft drink) for £20.

As with most new openings, there has been a flurry of reviews, with Bite Magazine and the Scotsman both saying qualifiedly good things about the place. I had it in mind for a review, early in the new year, to give them a bit of time to settle in, but when today’s quest guest, Kim, suggested a visit and pointed out the lunchtime deal, I was more than happy to bump it up the list.

As mentioned the place is smart, with a beautifully appointed dining room, complete with majestic view across the city. The half a dozen large booth seats are what catches the eye. I’m not convinced they quite mesh with the classic cornicing and other fixtures and fittings, but they do provide islands of seclusion in the otherwise entirely open dining space, so I get what they’re trying to do.

The relatively large dining room does sometimes feel a little bereft of staff, so there’s definitely room to improve how they’re managing the space, even just in terms of there being a spot where the waiting staff can more readily see and be seen.

Their “twenty’s plenty” lunchtime menu offers a nice range of main course dishes, with a little array of sides, for those with a bolder appetite. Kim opted for the steak sandwich, served with chimichurri mayonnaise and triple-cooked chips. I chose their house burger, which was served with an Innis & Gunn-infused rarebit, bacon, cornichons and more of the excellent chips. I added a little side of mac n cheese, all in the name of research.

Dishes arrived promptly, looking very smart. The burger was right on the edge of knife/fork or faceward shove, so I adopted a bit of a blended approach. It proved to be absolutely outstanding, and head and shoulders better than any burger I’d been served in Edinburgh, previously. The chips were outstandingly good, too, and the mac n cheese was delicious.

Kim was equally impressed with her steak sandwich, which featured fillet steak beautifully prepared on the Josper. The steak cut like butter with regular cutlery, and was packed with flavour.

So overall, it’s a resounding thumbs up for the food at Twenty Princes Street. This current lunchtime deal is quite exceptional, so do make every effort to visit, in the next couple of months. I’ll be back again, soon, and look forward to trying other things on the menu, then spending a little time in their cocktail bar, too.

Scores

Blythe scores Twenty Princes Street
5/5 for food
4/5 for presentation
3.5/5 for service
4.5/5 for setting
giving an overall 17/20

Today’s questers were: Kim, Blythe

We ate: steak sandwich, burger, chips, mac n cheese

We drank: water, red wine, espresso (2)

We wore: black jacket, white shirt

Total bill: £26.50