The Standard

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• Average price 2 courses:
   £12.50 (lunch)
   £13 (evening meal)
• House wine: £11.95 per bottle

• High point: The illuminated bar
• Low point: Lack of care shows in the food and its service
• Food served: Mon-Sun 10am-10pm
• Bar open: Mon-Sun 10am-1am
• Private dining: Up to 40 covers
• Open since: 2005

The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 is now in the shops.

This review is from the 2007 edition.

Lurking betwixt George Street and Stockbridge, the Standard lures ladies who lunch, homeward-bound bankers and New Town students. The look, intentional or not, is somewhere between pastiche Paris brasserie and film-version 50s New York diner. Upstairs is a surfeit of red leather, mirrors, black & white photos, TV screens and an illuminated bar, while downstairs a small sports bar satisfies more boisterous locals on (rugby) match days. A particularly extensive café menu is intended to cover all occasions, from brunch to bites with drinks, but there are some indicators that not every visit to the Standard will be trouble-free, such as missing dishes and the surprising service of all four starters and main courses at once. Starters include portobella mushrooms on toast and an intriguing terrine of bacon, black pudding and sausage, decorated enthusiastically with balsamic syrup. 'Fish-light' fish-cakes are rather stodgy, their accompanying salad found sitting strangely in the crab bisque. For afters, the crème brûlée and raspberry sorbet are safer bets than the temptingly-titled Mojito sorbet, which, arriving without the promised fresh mint, is like snow in a glass.