Hadrian's Brasserie
1 Princes Street
- Food served: Mon–Fri 7–10.30am, noon–2.30pm, 6.30–10.30pm; Sat 7–11am, 12.30–2.30pm, 6.30–10.30pm; Sun 7.30–11am, 12.30–2.30pm, 6.30–10.30pm. [Extended in Festival]
- Bar open: Mon–Sun noon–1am.
- Number of wines sold by the glass: 17
- Private dining: Up to 25 covers
- No. overnight rooms: 188
- Also offers: Gluten-free options, Children's portions, Children's high chairs, Wheelchair access
- Music on stereo: Lounge jazz and light classical
- Capacity: 110
- Largest group: 110
- Open since: 1997
- Average price:
£16 (set lunch)
£27 (evening meal) - House wine: £19.50 per bottle
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The 2011/12 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).
This review is taken from the current (2011) edition.
With its chartreuse walls, walnut finishes and crisp linens Hadrian’s oozes refined elegance. The service is as slick and professional as you’d expect from the five star setting of the Balmoral Hotel. The menu showcases fine Scottish produce in a selection of predominantly British and European dishes that’s cleverly pitched to appeal to well-heeled locals and international visitors alike. There’s an admirable focus on seasonality, and executive chef Jeff Bland clearly takes tremendous care over the sourcing and traceability of his ingredients. The stars of the show are the shellfish dishes and meats supplied by Perthshire butcher Alan Kennedy, but the supporting cast of accompaniments and side dishes occasionally fails to meet the same high standard. A starter of Ardnamurchan scallops is prettily presented with celeriac cream and a delicate lemon butter sauce. However, a perfectly pink and flavoursome roast loin of venison arrives with bitter, undercooked cubes of beetroot and cloying sweet potato purée. A superb (if pricey) wine list and extensive selection of aperitifs, digestives and cocktails could help you forget any minor niggles.
- High point: Great menu and quality ingredients
- Low point: Accompaniments can be a let-down
Reviews of Hadrian's Brasserie (The Balmoral, 1 Princes Street, Edinburgh)
- 1. Lean, Edinburgh – 15 September 2008, 10:07pm
Hadrian's BrasserieReport -
We went here for dinner on a Sunday night. The restaurant was about half full. We were seated on bench seating with very little space between the other diners on either side of us. Was a little disappointed in the seating considering there were numerous other tables that were empty - and remained empty all night. I ordered a chicken and chorizo salad which was not great. The lettuce was browned on the edges and seemed like it was the bits of the lettuce you wouldn't use. The chicken was very fatty and the salad on the whole was very tasteless. My husband ordered a sirloin steak with chunky chips. He asked for his steak to be medium to well done but it was close to rare. The chunky chips consisted of exactly four chips! For dessert we had a very tasteless, bland creme brulee and a rubbery chocolate mousse. On the menu they had an apple creme brulee and a traditional one. We ordered the traditional one but received the apple one which had congealed pieces of apple at the bottom. Not nice. The wine was great - a lovely Margaret River - but we ordered the Cabernet Sav. and recieved a Shiraz! But it was still a lovely wine. The food arrived in good time after ordering but service was slow, but polite, and had we had to ask for the bill more than once. I was really looking forward to this meal and was very, very disappointed. We won't be back.
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