The Elephant House
- Food served: Mon–Thu 8am–8pm; Fri–Sun 9am–11pm
- Number of wines sold by the glass: 2
- Also offers: Vegetarian options (at least ¼ main courses), Children's portions, Children's high chairs, Wheelchair access
- Music on stereo: Jazz
- Capacity: 75
- Largest group: 75
- Open since: 1995
- Average price:
£6.50 (lunch)
£8.50 (evening meal) - House wine: £12.50 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.
Perhaps hoping that diners will be distracted by its association with the boy wizard and his chums, the erstwhile haunt of JK Rowling appears to lavish more attention on its Potter-themed loos than it does on its food. While, admittedly, it has recently come under new management, and the menu is tempting, there is a tendency for some options to run out of an evening while the remnants are largely uninspiring. Poor ingredients lets down a bacon double cheeseburger, while a Caesar salad is an insipid attempt at a bistro standard. Cakes and coffee are the main draw in the daytime to the students and tourists who create a lively buzz in the airy back room. Generally these are excellent, though the trademark 'hot chocissimo' is watery, while the ice-cream in the affogato is completely melted by the time it arrives, and makes for a disappointing finale.
- High point: The view to the castle and over Greyfriars kirkyard
- Low point: Eyes off the ball when it comes to food
Reviews of The Elephant House (21 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh)
- 4. John2604, Edinburgh – 15 December 2009, 10:56amThe Elephant HouseReport
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As a regular customer to the Elephant House with my kids I find the other comments on this page quite hard to believe. We eat weekly in this establishment and have never encounterered any of the problems mentioned. I think sometimes people have extremely high expectations of what is essentially a coffee shop. My kids love the pizzas and I find that the quality of food and the friendliness of the staff to be the main reason for us continuing to frequent this busy place. It is really good value for money. Anyone who thinks otherwise does not eat out very often. Keep up the great work Elephant House.
- 3. ArrrJay, Edinburgh – 11 November 2009, 11:27pm
The Elephant HouseReport -
My boyfriend and I have been to The Elephant House on several occassions but the last couple of times have been extremely disappointing, especially when it comes to service.
Upon entering one is met with sullen stares from staff, and I have on more than one occassion been kept waiting several minutes before someone showed me to a seat (when they do, after all, have signs saying "Table Service, Please Wait To Be Seated"). The last time we went, in June, we arrived at about 6.15pm and were shown to a seat. We were not given a menu for several minutes (I had to ask for one when eventually the waitress came back to us) and ordered at around 6.25pm. Our coffees came 10 minutes later but our food did not arrive til 6.55 - half an hour after it was ordered, a wait which is unacceptable (by which time we'd finished our coffees, we'd only ordered a CCB and nachos, hardly anything complicated). I did in fact ask the waitress how long our food was going to be a few minutes before it arrived, but was given no apology when we at last got our food. We both noticed that service to all tables was poor, not just to ours.
This is not the first occassion we have encountered bad service at The Elephant House. On the previous visit we were similarly kept waiting for an unacceptable amount of time. Eventually, a long time after we'd finished our mains the waitress came to ask if we would like anything else and we enquired about desserts only to be told the kitchen had closed. This is not acceptable. We had been there for a long time already and should have been told the kitchen was about to close before it did, rather than being asked if we wished to order anything after it had closed.Not only that, but our food was very disappointing, with the CCB pizza being sparse of cranberry sauce and very dry, and the nachos just being very unimpressive.
After our last visit I did in fact email a complaint to The Elephant House, but never had any response. Needless to say we have not been back.
- 2. The Boss, Edinburgh – 3 May 2009, 4:02pmThe Elephant HouseReport
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Decided that we should try this place as every time we passed it was fit to burst. So on a quiet evening went for a cup of coffee.
What we were served however was the most vile cup of dark matter it has ever been my displeasure to drink, and would curl Dumbledoor's beard... Needless to say I have never and will never go back as I feel this place trades on the "harry potter" connection and is aimed at gullible tourists and festival goers.
- 1. raw1981, Edinburgh – 7 April 2009, 6:07pm
The Elephant HouseReport -
Mediocre food ruined by abysmal service.
This review relates to evening service.
I was sitting on a broken chair at a table that acted like a see saw. It took the waiter 15 minutes to produce a menu and I had to stop him rushing off to try and get a drink out of him.
A plate of nachos took 40 minutes to produce.
I hasten to point out this place was not busy. Judging by the poor levels of service, I'm not surprised. I did raise my complaint and to be fair they did grudgingly offer a %20 discount, after calling me a liar and accusing me of being childish and having spent most of the night ignoring me.
If the prices were lower, I could live with the rickety furniture. the place is supposed to have atmosphere after all. But if I'm paying for food, I expect a decent level of service, regardless of cost.
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