Le Bistrot

One of the best meals we’ve had, excellent service and delicious food right within the French Institute. Would highly recommend the lamb shank, meat melted off the bone. Thank you!

We had an enjoyable early dinner at Le Bistrot! Greeted and served by two wonderful ladies, all the foods were great, we had olives, fried salmon, pasta and orange tarts! It's was fresh and tasty.

Hello, I am Thailand I came to try your food. It was very delicious and I am sorry that I came when the restaurant was about to close. Although the food took a while to wait and the price may be a bit expensive. For THB currency converted to GBP currency, all the staff were very nice and provided good service. It was the first time I ate French food and loved it very much. Next time I will come back to eat again.

+1

The service was smooth, the food was perfect. I enjoyed my ice cream a lot and everything looks fresh. The place decoration is fantastic! Merci🤍

What a lovely quaint place,just like in France,service excellent ,staff very nice and food is excellent ,very tasty and well presented thank you

Excellent French food especially the steak tartare and especially good Cockburns of Lieth vintage Claret.

Took the Family for Dinner last night, elder daughter’s 25th Birthday. Absolutely amazing, staff were helpful and lovely. The meal was fantastic, wine excellent and coupled with a surprise of a ‘ Happy Birthday’ rendition and cake for my daughter. Well worth a visit. Will definitely go again! Thank you so much. Best regards

Hidden gem in the French embassy building. Good and fair price French restaurant with lunch specials 3 courses with starter, mains and dessert for only 29 pounds. Highly recommended

Amazing restaurant. So professional and elegant but such a cheerful environment as well. The food was good. Mussels were amazing. Would like to thank our waiter Mario for being an absolute gem as well! Making our galentine’s date night out the best date we’d ever been on 😂😂 will definitely be back for their brunch. Officially my favourite restaurant in Edinburgh.

The host was super attentive and friendly, we received a complimentary welcome drink and bread bowl. The food was really delicious, I strongly recommend the Ratatouille and Terrine de Campagne. Set lunch menu was well priced and the service felt top notch. Will definitely be visiting here again.

My goat’s cheese and tomato quiche comes in a rich, collapsing, eggy slice. Thin with a meltingly short pastry crust. Requires no knife. Parfait. Ragoût de boeuf à la bière is the best I’ve encountered in Scotland. This is generous, hearty, homely food, everything cut chunky and holding itself together beautifully: big hunks of beef braised in beer, thick carrot coins, soft fudgy potato halves, earthy slabs of swede, plenty of not overly reduced tomatoey gravy, and a thin ring of oil around the edge to let you know it’s been puttering on a stove for many hours.

We dined at Le Bistrot on NYE. The restaurant is lovely and cosy, staff are friendly and attentive. The food is amazing, so glad I tried something different for my starter (I had the salad de betterave) absolutely delicious! I had the ragout de boeuf de la biere with lyonnaise potatoes - again delicious! Highly recommended

Oh my goodness we had such a good time here. I just wanted another pub meal but the rest of the family was tired of that food. So we ventured out. I don't even think I got our Bulgarian friends name but he took great care of us. The four us dined on the charcuterie, vegaterien risotto, linguini & prawns, moules frites, and the french shepherds pie, knocked back with a couple of delicious bottles of Pinot Noir and followed up with some choco heaven and a whisky. We had a delightful evening with great service and great food. This was our last night in Edinburgh but if we're ever back we'll be eating here again.

Fabulous meal tonight, was a fairly last minute booking but I think we agreed that it was one of the best meals of the week for us, the food was piping hot, and very tasty, we didn’t feel rushed and the quality was excellent, as was the service received too, we would definitely return if back in Edinburgh

This is a very nice eatery. The following are the things we ordered: 1. The charcuterie board - was very nicely presented. 2. The beef stew - was very well balanced a the right saltiness and sweetness with a hint of certain herbs. 3. The frites and moules was of a big portion, and the sauce base was very creamy. 4. The opera and mille-feuille were very tasty and aromatic. I would come again if I come to Edinburgh again.

Just a stone throw away from the Royal Mile. Café-bistro is located in a grand building which houses the Institut Français Écosse. My husband and I decided to dine here for an early dinner. Upon arrival we were the first customers, and it slowly began to fill up. We picked the caramari and scallops for starters. The caramari was coated in a light batter so the fresh caramari flavour was able to shine thru. The scallops (2) was served in a rich creamy sauce. Scallops tasted fresh. For main we had the mussels in the cherry tomatoes and caper sauce,served with a slice of bread and fries. The mussels were very fresh and juicy, generous portion. The sauce was beautiful so much so you could lap it up like soup. Dipping your bread in was a must. The steak was cook perfectly to my taste med rare. It was well seasoned, cooked with a slight char and still moist inside. The 'Diane' sauce was runny for my taste as i prefer it a bit thicker so I can coat my pieces of meat. It was thin and couldn't taste much apart from the hints of mushrooms. Only the seasoning of the steak saved this dish. It was also served with baby potatoes and a side of salad. Also a very generous portion, so much so we could nt manage dessert. I settled for a cappuccino. The cappuccino was strong, just how I liked it. The service was friendly and felt no rush. I would visit here again, however..... Menu states a discret 10% service charge for tables of 6. But we found it on our bill for 2 ppl. We were happily willing to pay this as we enjoyed our meal here. But we could have easily missed this and given more. Also staff failed to tell us the soup of the day and the specials on the wall.

We had lunch on an Itison deal here and it was lovely. Great food and very friendly and efficient service. It's a small place and was a little noisy when full, but quite a relaxed atmosphere.

Eight of us for lunch. Excellent food and service in a very much relaxed atmosphere. Have already rebooked for us all in April.

Super coffee house with lovely atmosphere and decoration, drinks arrived quickly, delicious black coffee with syrup= scrummy! + kind service. Incredibly peaceful considering it’s right in the centre of town.

Moved back to the UK recently after 12 years of living in France. This place is just like something you'd get back in France. I was surprised that the staff were nervous in telling me I'd have to get a two or three course considering that's extremely common in France and, unlike here, you don't get to pick from the menu itself. The food itself is absolutely divine. Absolutely plan to come back at some point. 100% recommend

Quiet place but really nice, mam and brother had the bourgignon and were very happy, lamb shank was lovely and fell off the bone

Mid week so was quiet with no real atmosphere. Unfortunately, the red berry sauce had been drizzled over the mash which meant I couldn't eat it. The burnt cabbage was bitter, just give me carrots or buttered green beans. The duck was cooked well. The lamb shank was tender. And the onion soup tasty. The scallops on celeriac were cool and not paticularly flavoursome. I would have appreciated a more seared outer but it is what it is.

This french restaurant is located at the end off the royal mile and easy to find. It was small but cozy and intimate atmosphere. The service was excellent—the staff welcomed us with warm smiles and were more than happy to answer any questions we had in detail. We used a coupon for this meal. The French onion soup was another highlight. It was flavorful, generously portioned, and quite filling—after finishing it, I was already about 70% full. We also ordered a potato dish, which was well-prepared and delicious. For the main courses, we had beef and sea bream fillet. The beef was very tender, though I personally found it a bit too soft. However, the flavor was rich and well-seasoned. The sea bream, on the other hand, was perfectly pan-seared—crispy on the outside and tender inside, with a wonderfully fragrant aroma. For dessert, The fruit tart was beautifully presented and not overly sweet, making it a delightful way to end the meal. Overall, it was a satisfying dining experience with great service and well-executed dishes.

+2

the service was really good, the food did take a while to come out, but the meat was cooked very well. the atmosphere was very relaxing and we were very happy to find seats because every other restaurant around was full

Enjoyable restaurant with good food and service. We had the brut sparkling which was very good. The onion soup was different from the usual in France, the goat cheese salad was very small with fluffy goat cheese so not what we expected and it seemed overpriced, the salmon and the breast of duck were good.

+1

Very bad service. We waited about 40 minutes to place our order. Upon entering, we were immediately informed that we needed to order 2-3 dishes per person. This seems to be a way to ensure a minimum bill. However, I believe that if you want to increase the average spend per person, you should focus on making the atmosphere more pleasant. Right now, it feels like a place where you'd want to leave after just 5 minutes. However, food was good

A bit slow, but friendly service. The food was delicious (note that it can be quite filling) and the selection is vegetarian and non-vegetarian friendly. The restaurant itself has nice windows facing the Royal Mile.

We really enjoyed, food is amazing! Really tasty, good portions and really good service. Just a little bit disappointed with the waiter because he started to clean the table when one of us was still eating, not too polite.

We got off to a bad start when we were told that the previous diners at our table hadn't finished. Le Bistrot allocates a time you have the table for and it didn't seem unreasonable to hurry the previous diners who were talking over coffee. We were asked to sit in the hall under the stairs and had to wait 10 minutes before our table was ready. Once we got to our table, the food was excellent and the service friendly and attentive. There is an extensive menu with dishes not common on menus in Scotland. All was fresh and well-prepared.

Service was atrocious, though in their defence, they removed the mains from the bill. The real worry, is that they weren't even that busy 😕 Would try the a la carte for dinner, though wouldn't return for lunch

I had octopus and beef bourguignon. I do not think eggplant is a match with octopus but enjoyed the beef bourguignon even though it was too hot outside :) It was delicious. My friend had linguine and hummus and bread.

Arrived at 7pm with my adult family of 5. The complimentary bread was nice. Ordered drinks, appetizers, and meals. My appetizer was French onion soup- this was an amazing soup! For my meal I had the mussels and French fries, the mussels were more fishy than what I had previously had in Scotland, and the French fries tasted like McDonalds. My sister gave a 6/10 for her risotto. It took over an hour for our meal to be provided. We were not checked on very often, and our water was taken to be refilled and then not brought back for 15 minutes even though the restaurant was not busy. Staff apologized for the wait time. Out of all the places on the Royal Mile, I wish for our last meal in Scotland we did not choose here. We did not leave until after 9:30 due to wait time.

Can't recommend this place even though I loved the music and atmosphere. The waiters were really warm and friendly - but not exactly attentive. Food was sadly awful, apart from the fine cheese platter and husband's scallop starter. I've ordered betroot and "blue cheese" foam salad. There was no blue cheese, just a tiny bit of... Cream (?) looking foam that hardly perfumed the overtly sweet and bland mixture of betroot straight from the pack and caramel sauce covered cashews. I was gagging but being diagnosed with anemia lately attempted to conquer my plate. Then arrived the main: duck. Big mistake. No potatoes, even though it said potato mash "Foam". I was mad. Because the duck basically arrived unaccompanied by any side, let alone one you could satisfy your hunger with. The foam was a tasteless substance that amounted to nothing at all - I mean it was literally 3 spoons of... foam that was neither salty nor tasted of much of anything. The duck was delicious so I destroyed it. Was hungry. I'm pregnant. The duck sauce was a gag inducing candy-floss grade sweet sea of something resembling, say, caramelised mango which also covered the sad amount of greens in the corner. It was absolutely distasteful, I am sorry. I love French cuisine - my husband is French. I get that sometimes they add a little twist with some sweetness to their meat. But in this case the "mango candy paste" overpowered the "foam" of nothing to the point I was actually angry. They should rename the dish to Duck & Jam. No waiter came to check how we got on - if they did I would've ordered side potatoes and I would've been a happy lady. But no, they collected the plates with a smile. The cheese plater I ordered as a means to fill my stomach after a disappointing starter and main was tasty indeed. But I mean that's it. My husband's dish was also disappointing. I doubt the cooks are actually French, and if they are, they're junior chefs infected by a "add-sweetness-to-absolutely-everything" mind virus. Disappointed with the experience.

Wish we would have had a better experience here. The restaurant itself is ok. Food was a bit disappointing. We ordered the steak, scallops, and chicken. The steak was under seasoned and over cooked. Scallops were over cooked to the point I couldn’t eat a couple pieces of them. The chicken was delicious and the sauce it came with was very delicious. Portions are on the smaller side. I would not return or recommend this place as a dining option.

+1

The food is OK, but I can't say it's the same you can eat in France. It was also fairly expensive. They also added the optional service charge. I'd have asked to have it removed if my friend hadn't insisted to keep it in the bill. The service charge is becoming more and more common in the UK but isn't a very French thing. There is no tip in France and certainly doesn't get added to the bill.

The restaurant charged me 10% service fee but there is absolutely no service. We asked for water and waited for 10 minutes to get the water. When I tried to figure out the ice cream flavor, a young lady told me they only have strawberry. However, I saw other clients ordered mango and lemon. Maybe I got treat differently because I’m an Asian. I had a horrible experience. The food is good though. The tarte and chocolate cake is TOO sweet.

This was just a disappointing experience. Thought it would be more ‘French’. Staff were non engaging and nobody asked at any point if we’d enjoyed our meal or if everything was ok. French onion soup lacked any depth. Onions were not caramelised in any way. Bland. King scallops ok but again no colour on surface. Moules ok but nothing great. Sauce average. Frites soggy. Beef Bourgogne more like a tomato stew. No baby onions or much else apart from tomato sauce meat. House Wine Italian. Fine. Overall £100 not well spent and left feeling meh.

Food was alright for the price, but the service was absolutely outrageous. I suppose an important group was coming for lunch, but it was no excuse to pull apart tables, sweep the floor, very noisily prepare the table, take decoration from our table to place on theirs, and unapologetically do so right next to us while we were eating. One waiter kept coming right behind us, and in one instance loudly put down a tray of cutlery right over my mother’s head. We voiced our concern, but was hit back with “our guests are coming right now”, when they didn’t appear for the next 30mins even after we have finished our meal. They definitely do not treat all customers the same. In all a very disappointing experience and I will not be coming to this restaurant again.

At the entrance the waiter looked at me : "Are you sure you want to eat here?" Service was very long the mash was cold and the rest too peppery. I should have taken the hint from the hostess.I don't recommend.

Service appalling, food served immediately one course straight after the other, no dessert offered. Food had been kept warm with fish too dry to eat and gravy on lamb shank congealed. Meal booked for 8pm but when asked for another bottle of wine just after 9pm was told they were clearing up and closing gradually. Would not recommend, doesn't even deserve one star.