Browns

We had dinner with «the ladies» as Randy called them or ya ya’s as they called themselves — I had spent the day with them after seeing the Castle and had a wonderful time picking out gifts for everyone. We ended up here and Randy met us. I had the burger, which I inhaled and a Sazerac — most places don’t know how to make that drink. I had introduced the ladies to the benefits of hard apple cider at a pub earlier on Rose St and many of them had cider with their burgers. We had excellent service and we got to eat outside Ina covered tent next to the most fragrant Rosemary plant. It was a great dinner with great company and I think I love love Scotland.

Browns. Edinburgh Tuesday. 7.15 ish pm
I feel so fortunate to know how wonderful this place is. The ambiance and the service second to none. Tremendously aware and polished. Not only the entire restaurant but the service. Eye contact and gentle check ins to see all ok. I’ve had the crab & king prawn linguine — beautifully cooked (nice al dente pasta). And had a side of broccoli with hollandaise and Stilton on the side. All with a large class of gorgeous Malbec.
Truly divine.

I experienced my first afternoon teatime with three friends at Browns, and it was lovely. We ordered two teas-​for-​two, which allows you to choose your own pot of tea and comes with quite the assortment of snacks. There are three kinds of finger sandwiches, a warm scone with clotted cream and jam, a chocolate-​covered cream puff, a meringue, and a piece of fruit cake.
The inside is really pretty, with high ceilings and glass for sunlight to come in. It felt very classy, but was affordable. Altogether a great experience.

Yum yum yum yum.
Browns is a gastropub, so obviously most of the menu is a bit over-​priced, but I hardly care because it’s so good. The servings are a bit on the modest side, which is perfect for me but might put off a more grizzly bear-​esque appetite. I always get the lobster dishes and my partner always gets steak. Both are perfect every time. The lobster pasta is ridiculously delicious, and much to my pleasant surprise, not stingy on the lobster. The lobster salad sandwich is also amazing, with just the right balance of a generous heaping of lobster, crunchy veg, and crispy bread which holds the sandwich together well but doesn’t overpower the other ingredients.
The steak is always cooked perfectly, and the sides are fab as well. The cocktail menu is creative and really tasty (though the sweeter cocktails are quite sweet, so if sugary alcohol isn’t your thing you might want to ask them to go light on the more sugary ingredients). The service is always friendly and attentive, and more easy-​going than the posh interior of the place would lead you to expect. There’s occasionally live piano music coming from the back of the restaurant — pleasant but not enough to drown out your conversation.
Browns is one of our very favourite date night spots, and it’s probably a good thing for our budget that we don’t live too near it.

i have been here around 3 times now and for the first 2 it was lovely, although pricy!
it used to have a very very nice cheese and tomato flatbread, and the main reason we came back was for that! unfortunately, they don’t do this anymore which was really disappointing.
however, for the first 2 times we went there the food was icredible and cooked just right. however, last time i went it was not too good. the waiter was obviously a trainee and did not know what he was doing. we waited a very long time for our food and when it finally got to us it was cold. we asked the waiter if he could heat it up for us, and after yetr another wait, he brung it back cold again. so again, we asked him to heat it up and finally it was warm. the food was okay, but for what it was Very overpriced.
browns is very clean and classy, but i wouldn’t recommend going.

So I love the eggs benedict here but I think the buck stops there.
I had acquired a voucher for 5£ off a main so me and another mama ventured to browns with our toddlers and a baby in tow. It was a good deal cause we both had vouchers which (depending on your main) could mean lunch for 2 pounds! Not bad!
We both got the chicken and avocado sandwiches (possibly cause we are both Cali girls). The chips are thin and very yummy but the sandwich was a mess and the chicken was dry and hardened at places. Kind of a let down. The seasoning was fine but the actual ingredients didn’t seem to work well. The focaccia bread wasn’t adequate and broke apart. The sandwich just didn’t work for me. I was bummed but not too bummed cause I ended up spending about 3£ on lunch, which is quite alright!
If I had paid full price I would have been pissed and not in the drunken sense if you catch my drift ;)
Also, the kids meals/​portions are HUGE!!! If you are dining with a toddler or smaller child probably best sharing your meal and adding a veggie side.

Last Sunday I promised my guest that he needs to try out the traditional full breakfast!
Our first choice was fully booked by 10:20, plus there was a waiting queue, so after some wandering in Rose street where most places would open at 11:00 or 12:00 (not the most typical brunch places, true that), we ended up in Browns!
I really liked the setting inside Browns — we got seated on the right side (up 3 – 4 stairs), quite open area. There was plenty of space further inside too with roof windows lightening the area, but we couldn’t sit there, till the breakfast area was full.
My guest got the full breakfast and he was delighted with it, although he skipped the black pudding, but for his own personal reasons, not that there was something wrong with it.
My partner got the vegetarian breakfast — both breakfast options were accompanied by proper bread, slightly toasted to get the crispy crust. They both enjoyed it (I could tell from the empty dishes!)
I got the eggs royale option: smoked salmon and hollandaise sauce on top of a bagel! Nom, nom!
Their orange juice was not fresh, but that’s acceptable from a bar. The coffees were good, but nothing special.
Everything was cooked well, and we got our tummies full!
It was a pleasant surprise also finding out the hidden deal: 2^nd breakfast for free!
I think I’ll go back for some more in the future! ;-)

I have been to Browns a handful of times, always wanting to give it another go based on a recommendation and always walking away wondering why I did.
Every time I have been here I have had food which is mediocre at best. It does a job but doesn’t exactly do it well. My most recent visit was no different — everything we ordered turned up greasy and on a bed of mayo. Did we choose poorly? Definitely. But come on. The fish cakes were about 95% potato and the sweet potato wedges were enormous slices of sweet potato which must have been boiled first as they were (mostly) cooked through but were soft instead of coming across as baked or fried, albeit covered with a layer of oil. Very confusing and resulting in not a nice dish. The chorizo sausage roll was dripping in oil (bad choice on our part but really poor menu choice on Browns part), which left is with only the Cesar salad which was fresh and well dressed.
On top of the food, the service was close to abysmal. Our server brought ice water when I asked for no ice (I know, and by itself it wouldn’t matter but paired with the rest…), then never returned to refill our glasses when they were empty. In fact, the next time we saw her after our food was deposited was when we hunted her down for the bill. Even then she didn’t clear our dishes and instead opted to do so once she brought our change and we were in the process of leaving, which felt weird and almost as though we were being guilted into leaving a greater tip.
I think I’ve given Browns enough chances. There are plenty of half decent places to get food on George St, no point in returning to one which can’t even deliver the half.

It was a weekend evening during festival time = probably no surprise that the service was slow. A long wait to order, a longer one for the bill and the wait staff generally looked overstretched and rushed off their feet.
Luckily we’d come with patience, being grateful just to have found somewhere convenient that wasn’t fully booked! We had to wait 30mins in the bar first which was fine to get started on cocktails, and I liked that they give you one of those flashing vibrating things to call you when your table’s ready. Minimal fuss!
The barman was also a little slow and had to look up some of our cocktails but my Secret Garden was worth waiting for. I did have to siphon off a bunch of ice though as the barman seemed to think the finishing touch for all of them should be to pile it up on top of the glass. Fail. Also skip the You Rang M’Lord — my sister claimed it was delish, but it really wasn’t :P
Once at the table the annoying thing about waiting to order was that two separate waiters told us they’d be with us ‘in one minute’ but ten mins later we were still waiting. They may need some tips on managing expectations — I’d prefer they said nothing if they weren’t coming back!
Our eventual waitress turned out to be very sweet and we couldn’t hold it against her. The mood was also saved by the food: gorgeously gooey baked camembert sharer with dunkable bread first, followed by fish and chips for me — lightly battered and served with fat chips and a yum pea purée. My sisters were also happy with their chicken (with potato rosti and veg), and lamb, mint and feta burger (with skinny fries).
The menu was huge and varied though and overall this is reliable, crowd-​pleasing food in a grand old brasserie-​style setting. A good fallback to take the family for a nice meal out if you’re not inspired by (or can’t get a table) anywhere else on George St.

I can understand why this place is popular — it’s as central a location as you can get, however I find the service and food very hit and miss and there are plenty of better options on the same street.
Three times I’ve been here as part of a group who have booked well in advance yet the booking has mysteriously gone missing on arrival — a table is found but it simply shouldn’t happen like this.
The food is ok, nothing special and I wouldn’t choose Browns myself.

Not impressed with the food, ok service, good drinks.
Hubs ordered the surf and turf which was the tiniest lobsters tail and bite of steak I’ve ever seen. I believe I had a burger.
3 stars because their cocktails were very yummy. I believe they have nice specials on the cocktails during the week. I’d return for the drinks but not the food.

I live around the corner from browns and often look for a place to do a bit of work on the laptop, have some breakfast and a coffee.
Browns has been amazing on my last few visits. I particularly like the simple scrambled eggs, toast and smoked salmon. The coffee is well made and not your atypical restaurant coffee.
Evidently I am not the only one, often see people doing the same or having a morning meeting over breakfast.
The service is friendly and attentive (especially for someone who’ll come in for a breakfast and linger for a couple of hours!).
So if you’re looking for a place for a breakfast meeting, or just need a space to send some emails over some tasty food, Browns is a great bet.

Went to Browns for a late lunch today (a Saturday). At 2:30pm, I couldn’t believe how busy it was — the restaurant was almost completely full! There was a mixture of families, couples and even a hen’s do. It is a lovely setting with natural light coming in from the ceiling windows and lots of greenery. It was rather noisy though. I liked the look of the menu, a little bit fine dining, with a few classics as well. However, for the price, I was rather disappointed with my main of sea bass fillet with sweet potato, roasted courgettes, red onion and black olive dressing for £10. The waiter had informed that this was a small meal, so if I was really hungry to order a side too. So, I also ordered some green beans, which were literally just a pot of steamed green beans with no dressing or anything, yet still cost £2.50! All of my vegetables were underdone and the fish was just average. It still tasted nice, but I feel like I could have cooked the dish better myself. My friend had fish and chunky hand cut chips, which I’m told was nice, but a bit steep at £12.50 and likewise with the drinks.
I liked the setting, so would possibly go back for drinks, but not for food.

Hadn’t been for ages and we were on George Street on Friday night when I took a notion for some comfort food to warm us up — any excuse to get out of the freezing cold on Friday night.
We popped into Browns, it wasn’t too busy at 7pm on Friday which was a nice surprise and meant that the service was superquick — the food arrived before our drinks! I had the steak and guiness pie with mash and the boy had a pasta dish. Both were lovely and we shared a nice bottle of red.
The icing was definitely the chocolate brownies for desert. Huge and delicious. We shared two — one dark chocolate and the white chocolate and raspberry one. I will definitely go back.

This is a fabulous choice for cocktails. I came here with a group of hens for a friend’s weekend and was pretty bowled over by the drinks on offer. On Sundays they offer their signature cocktails for £5 in the afternoon, which is a seriously good deal considering the quality of cocktails. There’s also a guy playing the grand piano — nice!
We also had the afternoon tea and were duly presented with sandwiches, warm scones and cakes. For £7 a head it was good value, but the quantity of food is on the small side, so make sure to eat your lunch before popping along for your tea and cakes! My mistake was in not eating before arriving.
To plug the gap I had some chips — they were amazing! The best chips I’ve had for ages and ages. They came wrapped up like a chip shop poke and were so tasty I would have happily ordered another plate. Yum!

to start, this review is based purely on my consumption of cocktail delights! however the first cold friday in december saw me and my work team headed for our xmas lunch and night out. being the awesome people we are the decision was made to leave the office early and head to brown’s for some of their awesome cocktails! and awesome they were!
first off they have a HUGE list to choose from! and it’s not just your classic combinations (which you can also get), but champange cocktails and signature cocktails and autograph cocktails oh my! having a quick read of the menu at work i immeditaly decided on a pretty in pink! for two reasons, it had prosecco and it was named after my favourite colour. perhaps a silly reason to choose a drink but this was certainly an excellent choice. the cocktail was bubbly from the prosecco, sweet from the sugar cube, and had a wee kick from the orange vodka! i’d definitely recommend it! i also had a sip of the rivoting rasberry which was very good as well.
sadly we only had time for two drinks before heading off to dinner, but i noticed that they offer their cocktails for £5 from wednesday to sunday so i think i will definitely be back to sample some more!

Very disppointed!!!
On a sunny Tuesday afternoon my lady and I were in need of wine and nibbles. We thought Browns would be nice so sat and awaited service. 10 minutes past and nobody came so I popped in grabbed menus and the waitress said she would be along in a few minutes. 10 minutes passed… still no service.
So we went to Tigerlilly and had a fantastic afternoon! Wont be back anytime soon, Edinburgh has too many places for them to get away with service like that!
ADDITION: credit to Browns — I passed on my feedback and they have invited me to come back and try again on them!

I like Brown’s. Now I love little independent restaurants, but as a chain, Brown’s delivers time and time again.
My love affair with Brown’s started in Covent Garden a few good years ago. Great food, great surroundings and reasonably priced too but not available north of the border :-(
The Covent Garden place seems to show off their default business model and when I arrived in Edinburgh, it was the first restaurant I took visitors to.
I’ve been for food a good few times and service and quality is consistent. Sign up to friends of Brown’s and you can get sent various, great value deals.
This weekend it was for drinks only. A new work colleague was visiting Edinburgh for a few days and we decided to meet for a drink so I could give him the lowdown on Edinburgh living. It was pouring of rain but we decided to meet in George Street.
Then I started to panic. Yep, Scottish weather is horrific and it was bouncing off the streets. And its graduation ball weekend so bars would be full of pissed, glammed up students (maybe some of mine). Where was going to be great for having a couple of drinks, a chat and in civilised surroundings? Brown’s was my saviour. I knew the new colleague was a man who liked his ale (CAMRA membership) and the Caley 80 on tap at Brown’s would fit the bill.
We had a great chat and Brown’s was good. Yep, it was busy but we got a table easy enough. Bar service was efficient and we weren’t being hassled to leave or keep ordering more drinks so a pleasant drink turned into being there till closing time.

There’s something very comfy about eating at Browns; it isn’t too clink clink, but has the service and attention to detail that makes it welcoming no matter whether you’re in with a date or work colleagues for lunch.
Don’t miss deserts, especially the crepes and if you can’t get a table right away, have a drink at the bustling wee bar.

A nice experience.
Starters were pretty good, everybody’s mains were very well received (particularly the pheasant) but deserts were reported as ranging from excellent through to unexciting. The cookies & cream cheesecake wasn’t enjoyed — hot choc brownies were universally appreciated.
Waitress was excellent & coped cheerily with the chaos, of our ordering.
We were a party of 15 but even allowing for that, food wasn’t quick enough to arrive.
Overall; good & enjoyable.
Most had just two courses & not much alcohol was quaffed. Came to £37/​head.
We will return at some point.

Ich kann mich über Ambiente und Service nicht beschweren. Auch das Days Special, ein Rumsteak, war sehr lecker.