McKirdy's Steakhouse

Very, very disappointing indeed. There is no reason to think there is anything special about the meat on offer here, so don't be swayed by the irrelevant nonsense about 'x generations of butchers' or whatever. The 'average price' of 24.00 given above for an evening meal would be hard to achieve; McKirdy's charge 24.95 for a fillet and 19.95 for sirloin, plus 1.50 extra for sauce. The steaks come with four leaves of rocket and two warm cherry tomatoes, so you'll have to order chips or potato too. Starters are all 6.25/6.50. The info above says 5 wines by the glass; in fact there are only two, one of which was quite nasty.

My fillet steak was tasteless. My wife had the sirloin, which was sinewy and of poor quality. We asked for chargrilled, but they arrived pale and flaccid. Note to chef - it is possible to cook a steak which is nice and caramelised on the outside and rare within - pity you couldn't be bothered. The sauces were insipid. My starter was three slices of black pudding forming a kind of weird sandwich around a couple of slices of apple. My wife had garlic mushrooms - big mistake - not fresh and swimming in a gloopy soup. Looked tinned.

Bright lights, intrusive music (dinner for two with Simple Minds anyone?), plain, almost anti-decor interior. More like a motorway service station, and positioned on a shabby and gloomy street.

You could go to any number of superior places in Edinburgh charging 25.00 per head for a main course and get a far, far better steak than offered here. Try the Tower Restaurant above the museum on Chambers Street (OK a few pounds more), or the side of beef for two at L'Escargot Bleu on Broughton Street.

I have no idea why anyone would want to go to this place, except perhaps those who think restaurants are a bit posh and are happier with a fast-food vibe, or are from out of town, have a train to catch (it's next to Haymarket) and money to burn.

Madly aspirational pricing, almost aggressively dull interior and the blandest of food. Really, we felt embarrassed that we had been conned into thinking this was something special. Avoid. Rivals Prezzo at Newhaven for cynicism.

One of the best steaks I've had in this country, only beaten by those I had in France. Really fantastic food, had the Sirloin (medium), with homemade steak chips, also came with fried onions, tomato. Starter was BBQ ribs (decent size portion for a starter, I wouldn't have complained if I'd been given half the size, but def. not complaining at getting more!), had coffee and dessert after, had the homemade sticky toffee pudding with ice cream. All the food was of excellent quality, but served in a relaxed atmosphere. Alo the servers were polite, helpful and everything came in good time (i.e. not right after our plates had been taken away but not 20 mins either!). I went at about 6.30 on a Wednesday and it got much busier by the time we left. Oh 1 more thing, they had music on but it wasn't loud!! I seem to have gone to restaurants lately who either have silent dining rooms or music so loud you can't chat with companions!!

Would recommend this place in future if you like steaks, can only think of one other place in this city which comes anywhere close to the quality of meat here and that is a much more formal place where you must reserve a table a few days in advance for a table. Don't let the "interesting" logo or frontage of McKirdy's put you off, it just shows how homemade all their stuff is lol.