Chez Pierre

Comments for Chez Pierre (18 Eyre Place, Edinburgh)

1. crewsaustin, Chez Pierre – 23 July 2008, 2:57pmReport

I've eaten here twice and been pleasantly surprised both times. The first was for a light evening meal where my friend and I had a pair of light bites. The tempura was generous although a bit underdone in some areas. My friend enjoyed the lamb shanks. The second occasion was for lunch where we dined sumptuously on two of the daily specials: poached salmon and chicken with fresh tarragon. The starters for our two-course meal were stuffed pepper and minced pork balls. But wait! The price each was a mere £6 and we couldn't even consider dessert! Surely the best buy in Edinburgh.

2. DB, Chez Pierre - Eyre Place – 3 September 2008, 2:31pmReport

This restaurant lacks atmosphere. It's over-lit, there are too many hard surfaces and the dining is in one big room. If there's a large party dining at the same time you won't be able to hear yourself think. I thought we'd seen off the days of wobbly Formica tables but at Chez Pierre I regret to say that they're making a comeback!

The menu is confused to say the least. The restaurant bills itself as French but has a slightly strange Asian influence...my seared scallops came with a plate of basmati rice! However, the food is prepared and presented well.

The service can be on the abrupt side but I suspect this is down to who serves your table.

Overall this restaurant is best avoided. There's better atmosphere, better food, better service and better value for money elsewhere.

3. Caroline, Edinburgh – 17 November 2008, 11:43amReport

I've visited this restaurant a couple of times now and it's been lovely on both occasions. The first time for a great value set-price family Sunday lunch which was delicious (especially the fish and salads). The second time for dinner with friends where we ate from the largish tapas dishes which were fantastically good, and given we all had a huge amount of food, dessert wine and coffee good value at less than £25 a head.

4. Nina, Edinburgh – 29 December 2008, 9:54amReport

I ordered the goose, duck cassoulet with toulouse sausage and pork belly. The duck was off and tasted like a game bird gone bad. Thought maybe it was a pheasant. So I asked the waitress what this meat was and she went to ask in the kitchen and came back to tell me it was lamb!!!!!!! and that it wasn't mentionned on the menu. I couldn't believe it that the so called chefs didn't even know what was in the cassoulet and couldn't even spot the difference between a bird and a piece of lamb. I am french and I know what duck should taste like!!!!!! and what lamb meat tastes and looks like. The so called Toulouse sausage was a venisson sausage as it was bright red inside and tasted like one. The so called confit belly pork comprised of 3 slices of bacon! I felt that I was been taken for a complete fool. How dare they put 3 slices of bacon like that and call it confit! The goose was rather dry.
The service was abrupt and the waitress was rude. It took her 10 minutes to bring the bill when they were 2 waitresses to look after 3 tables. (Not exactly difficult to manage). One waitress was stuffing her face with bread behind the counter. I am not asking for much but really....
The restaurant had no atmosphere and was over- lit. I agree with DB comment above.
My advice, don't go there.

5. Pip, Edinburgh – 30 May 2009, 6:04pmReport

What an excellent dinner! We went for the 10 quid special and were so happily surprised! a whole bream, cooked to perfection, but tapas starter and yummy dessert.

It's a great local. We'll be going back.

6. ColinG, Edinburgh – 28 August 2009, 1:34pmReport

Have just come from having lunch at this restaurant and the initial impression was good. My friend and I were sat at the window seat and were given tapas to start the meal off. No menus are given so you have to crane your neck a little to read the boards which are outside. We ordered the chicken escalope and the cod. Both dishes were not good. The chicken was very tasteless and the cod was swimming in oil. Having not eaten more than a mouthful, the plates were removed without comment and a bill for the full amount was presented. When I asked if the bill could be reduced, the manager came storming out of the kitchen and I was subjected to a stream of abuse and threats of calling the police. His argument being that you ordered it - you pay for it. My friend and I were rather embarrased, paid up and left. On the basis that the pen is mightier than the sword, I am now posting reviews of the restaurant.

7. pierre levicky, chez pierre – 29 August 2009, 2:07pmReport

I like a story to be right. My name is Pierre and I own the restaurant
Our lunch costs £6.90 and yesterday included the following
For tapas
A small fish and chips of haddock in fresh breadcrumb deepfried with a few chips and garlic mayonnaise
The choice of main dishes was
Escalope of chicken Chargrilled (this was a chicken leg boned) then Chargrilled and baked in the oven with garlic white wine and rosemary, this was served with a cheesy polenta, a rich roasted cherry tomato tuscan sauce and a small salad of canellini beans with peppers and celery. A very "Italian affair".
The fish dish was indeed a good slab of fresh cod roasted in olive oil with garlic and herbs served with hand cut chips.
This couple arrived and were served what they ordered, they had two drinks and coffee. Only when they asked for the bill (1hour or so later) & got presented with the bill (£18.80) the gentleman stated that he did not want to pay for his chicken dish because he found it disgusting. May I add that he had ample opportunity to return the dish anytime when it was served.
I agree that my food might not be to everybody's taste and indeed for this reason we always ask our customers a few minutes after they have been served whether everything is ok, which we were told was.
We were never given an opportunity to rectify (if it was required or indeed even change the dish if this was so bad).
The gentleman started to monopolise the full attention of our waitress and for this sole reason I came out of the kitchen. Indeed I stated that I would have no alternative but to call the police so that he paid his bill.

I never had in so many years experienced this type of request, some of my patrons complained bitterly (sometimes with reason) on the quality of my cooking but we always managed a happy compromise.
This gentleman simply did not want to pay for his meal.

The gentleman threw a 10 pounds note on the table and told me to call the police and left. I followed the couple out of the restaurant and 10/15 meters outside our restaurant I asked them to stop in order for me to call the police.

They refused to do so and only stopped when I stated that I would walk with them until such time as they stopped. So we started walking together (amusingly) and his girlfriend turned around stating that it was all her fault, pulled a £20 note out of her purse and handed it to me in order to pay the full bill.
The gentleman demanded that I gave him the change which I did and he threatened to start sending reviews about how bad Chez Pierre restaurant is. Hence my reply.
I am really sorry Mr ColinG that you did not enjoy your lunch but wished that you mentioned it earlier when something could have been done. Yesterday 38 clients enjoyed our £6.90 Les complets lunch

8. The Muser, Edinburgh – 4 September 2009, 5:22pmReport

I think the last complainer a tad harsh. You get what you pay for generally and the food here is ok for the price. For sure it's a bit rough and ready and the chef Pierre somewhat inconsistent with the quality of his food preparation but, hey - as he tells us - he's the expert.

I've eaten there twice - once ok, another time bloody awful. I paid because I was in a hurry and couldn't be a***d to complain. No-one asked me if the food was ok sir? I would have told them if they had.

I thought it slightly odd that the main man admits to "some of his patrons complaining bitterly - with reason" about his food quality so it makes one wonder just how many punters the guy's losing to his somewhat indifferent approach to his job?

9. Jav B, London – 5 October 2009, 1:17pmReport

I would just like to help set the record straight about Chez Pierre, which imho should actually be considered as something of an Edinburgh institution much like Luca's ice cream and Valvona and Corolla.

As a child I used to stare longingly into the windows of the Pierre Victoire restaurants on my walk to school. The only thing that stopped me from going in was a lack of ready cash but the smells that emanated from those restaurants were so seductive that, as an adult, when I found myself in Islington and the restaurant had expanded to London, due to it's success, in no small part down to Mr Levicky's fabulous food and fantastic training of his chefs, I became a regular in the Islington restaurant- or at least as regular as my funds would permit. You may be wondering what Pierre Victoire has to do with Chez Pierre?

Pierre Victoire was Mr Levicky's previous restaurant incarnation and I ate some fabulous food there. The atmosphere was always lively, chatty- the staff extremely attentive. Most importantly the food never failed to impress- I can remember a particularly fantastic lobster stuffed with crab which was absolutely delightful.

I was very sad when the restaurant had to close due to the over-rapid expansion of the chain. The chef at Pierre Victoire in Islington was personally trained by Mr Levicky and indeed was one of his prodigies and, as such, he never failed to impress but was always very mindful of what Pierre would think if things were not just so and also aware of the opportunities that he had as a result of being personally trained by Mr Levicky.

I have to admit, to my shame, that I have not yet visited Mr Levicky's latest enterprise and that I do think for someone that is doing what he does and that is good honest top quality restaurant food at fantastic prices that this is quite an achievement which should not be ignored. As far back as I can remember, in Edinburgh at least, no one else started this but Mr Levicky and long may he continue.

As a final note once I have been to Mr Levicky's restaurant, which I expect to attend within the next two weeks, I will be sure to report back here but I am equally sure that I will not be disappointed!

10. Don C, Edinburgh – 25 October 2009, 12:01pmReport

I ate here with a large group for a friend's birthday on Friday. First the good bits. The restaurant itself is attractively appointed and we were given a room to ourselves so it felt like private dining. Its inexpensive and they do very good chips. Also the staff were friendly and attentive which was good because the food (other than the chips) was just terrible. It wasn't just that the flavour combinations were questionable (although it'll be a while before I want to have my melon and ham served with a brandy sauce again) but also the execution of the dishes was woeful.

As a pre-starter the staff brought us plates of mussels in a curry sauce. The mussels (when we found them amongst the sea of empty shells were overcooked and the curry sauce tasted like a value curry meal. A really bad one.

My starter (the aforementioned ham and melon) was a good sized portion but the melon was the wrong side of crunchy, the ham was billed as crispy but turned up uncooked and had to be returned to the kitchen and then there was the brandy sauce.. Just awful.

My girlfriend had ordered the scallops which were plump but ranged from undercooked to burnt and were overwhelmed by the heavy dusting of cracked black pepper that had been dredged over the plate. A similar fate had befallen the king prawns which my friend was eating.

For main I chose mushroom omelette with fine herbs and chips with a side order of ratatouille. Not one of the more challenging dishes however it must have taken a fair bit of cooking as it turned up at least eight minutes after everyone's else's dishes had arrived and five minutes after the ratatouille had shown up. The ratatouille itself was hot on one side and stone cold on the other and tasted only of tinned tomatoes. The omelette, when it finally arrived, was overdone and sat in a pool of mushroom juice as these had been undercooked. Apparently mint is now a fine herb but it does not live well with egg and mushroom. As previously stated the chips were very good.

Which meant that this was still better than the monkfish and spaghetti with pesto that my girlfriend ordered. The monkfish was brutally overcooked, the pesto was missing, the spaghetti had clealy been done in a batch some time ago and the whole thing sat in a bath of oil. She returned the dish and was offered a replacement which my she declined (just to be on the safe side) and shared my chips instead.

The staff took the monkfish and the ratatouille off the final bill but it couldn't dim the memory of some truly awful food. The idea of french food at reasonable prices is a good one but not when the cooking is so far away from even average. Cheap doesn't have to equate to bad and I'd recommend Tony's Table or The Dogs to see it done so much better

11. Sally W., Edinburgh – 1 November 2009, 11:43pmReport

Delicious!!! I had a great dinner tonight at Chez Pierre, lovely food (I had a Monkfish with chanterelles which was absolutely amazing!).
Big choice of sweets, all kinds of coffees (at £0,90!),also very friendly waiting staff (which can be hard to find these days)

We had a really nice evening and a very tasty meal, so thank you! And we are going to be back soon!

Sally W.

12. Sally W., Edinburgh – 1 November 2009, 11:45pmReport

very good indeed!

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