Oloroso Restaurant

Amazing fillet. Amazing.

Overhyped, snobbish, over-​priced.
Many Unilocaled glowingly about this restaurant, so I went to castle street hoping to capture a piece of exceptional taste. Results: sheer disappointment. Oloroso is about fine dining, great wines, decadent desserts, things which i find mostly lacking in my dining experience.
The entrance was post-​modern, which heightened my anticipation of an artsy and filling experience. The walls looked like a modern art room, with an elevator that will take you to the top floor. Here, there was a beautiful rooftop view of Edinburgh and the city. The restaurant looked out to the water with a tranquil and romantic air flowing in the place.
Everything was downhill from there.
My waiter service was virtually non-​existent. I dined by myself and was ignored during my meal. It took 30 minutes just to fill my glass of water! The server did not know nor understand the menu (I asked him about diver scallops for appetizers and he seemed clueless). He seemed more keen on serving the business table of 8 people next to me. I suppose you go where cash flows or am I being too cynical?
The food taste and quality were mediocre at best. I started with the smoked salmon which had neither the savory nor smokey taste that good dining delivers. The salmon tasted like it was defrosted from the fridge — bland, unappealing, and absolutely forgettable. The salmon portion, while large, is entirely disproportional to the bread and was not appetizer portion. This was a very rookie mistake that renowned chefs on shows like the American series Chopped criticized the novice contestants in just about every other episode. A premium smoked salmon from Costco would taste better.
My entrée was lamb. I was told that it would be medium and I requested it medium. The final product was well done, harder to chew, with a lack of taste. The sauce base was also too watery. I would have sent it back had there been waiter coming to check on me.
For my desert, I had the warm rice pudding with strawberries. This was a fun and tasty dish, i must admit. Not out-​of-​this-​world great, but something i would try again. My server finally showed up when he offered to bring me the check. Great!
My final take: despite the contemporary feel and great rooftop view, the place is an age-​old ruse (pardon the pun!) — overpriced, subpar food masked by nice furniture, design, and real estate. It caters to the business and upper class crowd, I supposed.
Food-​wise, I look for the great tasting food and Old-​la-​Ruse is no better than a 3-​star restaurant. You can count on my £50+ would not be gong there again.

Not a review of the restaurant!
Discovered Oloroso on our week of Summer in March. Saturday afternoon and the outside tables in George Street were crowded due to the one week a year that is the Scottish summer. A nondescript entrance and a roof top bar which remains unlabelled can be seen from the top deck of the buses travelling along George St. Till this point, I didn’t know what it was but an Edinburgh local introduced me to the Oloroso roof top bar and I was impressed. Playing the tourist card and ‘enhancing’ my west coast accent, got us a sunny spot with gorgeous views over to the castle.
A great (pricey) winelist (slighly more than other local bars, wine is around £20-£25 for the cheapest bottle) and knowledgeable and attentive staff meant that one drink turned into several, staying on the roof top till the sun went down. Started off with wine but sampled some fabulous cocktails. Even when it started to cool down, the view and sunset are fabulous and if you start to feel cold, ask for a blanket…
The food menu looks great — dinner starts around £35 per head and is on my to visit list. For a special occassion or having visitors — the Oloroso roof top bar is highly recommended.

Gotta say I was not too sure about how I felt going to have dinner here. I had heard good things AND bad things… turns out I had no need to be worrying my wee socks off.
Oloroso has got to have one of thee best views… EVER. Fact. I would come here for that alone, it would have been sickeningly romantic and I not been coming with my best mate!
The food. Amaze Balls. I had smoked salmon, capers and shallots with some bread. Can’t got wrong. But it was delicious and the capers were an interesting addition that worked really well.
My main of duck with stir fried noodles and veg with a little wee broth was equally delicious, but maybe a little too aniseed-​y. But that is just my personal tastes!
Then dessert, oh. Dessert. It was on the menu as something very inconspicuous, which we later found out meant, rhubarb crumble, rhubarb panna cotta and some vanilla ice cream. I full on heart this pudding. Sweet but sharp and the ice cream… give me buckets of that stuff!!!
I was quite surprised to read some people thought the service wasn’t that great. All the staff here were welcoming, friendly and totally got it spot on.
Overall, a brilliant meal out. I would encourage anyone to go!

The food is great but really pricey. I love to come for lunch on a sunny date and sit on their roof top terrace that overlooks my favourite view in Edinburgh the Castle from Castle Street.

You know the food is good when your dining companion takes a bite and says «what is that amazing magical spice they put on it? It tastes incredible» and then you take a bite and say «that’s salt and pepper».
This actually happened. I took my boyfriend here for his birthday dinner, hoping his experience would be better than mine (for the uninitiated, see my review of Ondine) and Oloroso delivered up, up and beyond expectations. The food in question was scallops — big, tender scallops, seared to that perfection where the outside is golden and just crispy enough and the inside is melt-​in-​your-​mouth soft, seasoned simply with sea salt and black pepper — simple, quality ingredients cooked with such skill that it fools you into thinking that there’s some magic spice at work but in reality it’s just great ingredients and talented chefs.
Oloroso is quite nice, and quite pricy, but you really get what you pay for. The scallops came on a bed of squid ink pasta with seasonal vegetables, crawfish and mussels, and the portion was quite generous — not always something that happens in fine dining restaurants. Boyfriend’s main — pork loin with roast baby potatoes — was just as good, the meat slightly sweet and oh-​so-​tender, prepared with simple herbs that complemented, not overpowered, the food. Our starters (him: lightly smoked salmon consommé with crawfish, me: smoked salmon with ‘ugly toast’ and capers & onions) were perfect as well.
I’d persuaded the boyfriend to order dessert, and as I’d mentioned upon booking that it was his birthday, it came out with a golden candle and ‘Happy Birthday’ written in chocolate on the plate. It was sour cherry cheesecake with chocolate cherry ice cream and a tiny pitcher of melted chocolate to pour over it all. Light, fluffy, almost mousse-​like, just a slight tang in the sweetness, it was some of the best cheesecake I’ve had. The service was impeccable throughout the experience, from the moment we stepped foot in the upstairs dining room to the moment we descended the stairs on our way out.
There is a lovely outdoor terrace, and although it was raining, we stepped outside to admire the view (which is just as stunning from the inside) and immediately begin plotting our return.

The only good thing about this place is the view, though on a sunny day, the white table reflecting the sun in your eyes makes it difficult to see. Sadly the drinks (cocktails) are bad, the staff are awful.

We went here based on them recieving a three star review on Frommers Scotland, and were expecting a very good meal.
I guess this must have been an old review as the food was more like a 5 out of scale of 1 – 10. We ordered the Langostine and were shocked and upset that the waitress did not warn us that this was messy finger food! The shell as not even cracked at all so this was way more effort versus payoff. Eating at a fine restaurant one expects the chef to take the extra care to make it easy to eat with a fork not fingers like bar food.
We had the pork which was a bit fatty and a bid dry. The veggies were over cooked and unflavorful. I had the duck which was well cooked but lacked enough flavor that I had to add salt, now that should never happen at a good restaurant. The desert options were pretty weak; we asked about the cheese plate. That was a joke the cheese selection was one (1) cheese. They tried to improve on that and added one other cheese which was not that good. The wait staff was not great and the tables are packed too close together. The atmosphere is one of loud cafeteria yet had white table cloths. Most people around came more for the drinks of alcohol rather than the food as we saw many people whom left, whom left a good portion of their meals on their plate.

I was lucky enough to be taken to Olorosso recently, and I can honestly say it was the best, and my most favourite, dining experience of 2010. As someone who thinks, breathes, and talks food 80% of my waking life, this is probably the highest compliment I can give.
Olorosso is fine dining, exquisite seasonal food, exceptional wines, decadent desserts — somewhre you come for an occasion, a treat, a celebration.
The entrance is a bit bizarre, and almost seems like a bank. Just a plain tiled room, with an elevator. But you’re taken up to the top floor and enter a dark, subdued and romantic restaurant with breathtaking views of the castle and city.
The food was absolutely divine. I had the duck terrine with foie gras to start, and my only slight complaint is that there wasn’t much foie gras and an awful lot of duck terrine. Foie gras is one of my top 5 favourite foods, and they did skimp a little. But it was still delicious. My partner had the smoked salmon, which was also delicous, and the serving was surprisingly large for a fine dining starter.
For mains we both had the fillet of marlot with paprika potatoes, spinach, peas and pancetta. Whilst my partner described it as «basically posh fish and chips» (*eyes to heaven and sigh*) it was just exquisite. I’d never eaten marlot before (a type of fish it transpired) but it was just wonderful.
I was actually too full for dessert but they have the delightful option of ‘liquid dessert’ which we both partook of: Espresso Martini and Black Forest Gateux cocktails. If I hadn’t been in such lavish surroundings I may have actually licked my glass clean.
The whole experience was just lovely. The waiting stafff were attentive, polite, and you knew you were somewhere just that bit more special than the normal nice Friday night restaurant on George Street.
My only other minor complaint, apart from the measly measure of foie gras, was that we weren’t given a window seat despite that it was quiet and there were some available. But it was dark outside — had it been summer, I would have requested we were moved. I’m sure they would have obliged.
I’d love to say I’d go back, but I must wait until such an occasion calls!
For anyone visiting the city, and wanting a wonderful «last night dinner», book yourself a table at Olorosso. Or for a romantic meal, birthday dinner, celebratory meal, Olorosso will charm your socks (or rather, silk stockings for such an occasion) off.

Da sag noch mal einer, dass es kein gutes Essen bei den Briten gibt. Für Schottland gilt das überhaupt nicht!!!
Das Lunch bei Oloroso war oberköstlich. Nicht billig, aber absolut jeden Pound wert. Netter Service.
Die Bar kannte ich schon; absolut ein must-​go.

I was so excited about coming here — it’s that place that everyone likes to drop into conversation that they’ve been to, whether for cocktails or for a full meal. Maybe I’d built it up a little too much, but I have to say it didn’t exactly blow me away.
Don’t get me wrong, the views are just as good as everyone says: from the roof terrace on a gorgeous sunny day like the one when I was there, you can see right up to the Firth of Forth, and in the other direction the views of the castle are amazing.
But we weren’t there to just look at the views, we were there to have a cocktail, and they were considerably less impressive. Call me cynical, but I don’t understand why they bother asking you a million different questions about whether you want your vodka martini perfect or dirty, shaken or stirred, or served with a twist or an olive, and then ignore everything you said. Although it does look very impressive when the waitresses don’t even use pens and notepads, it seems pretty pointless when they forget what you asked for.
Still, I’m the first to admit that I’m a bit on the high-​maintenance side when it comes to vodka martinis. I’ll be heading back there soon to see how the food compares…

Elusive, in fact unless someone has informed you of its location your likely to never spot Oloroso.
Three floors up from the main street takes to the modern chic interior of Oloroso, of which boasts arguably the best views in Edinburgh and arguably one of the best dining experiences.
I’m leading you on here, I’ve only read the menu and heard rave reviews of the food but it’s seemingly top notch stuff. Instead I’ve simply enjoyed a drink on the restaurants terrace on one fine summers eve. With the sun setting behind Edinburgh castle and a perfectly crafted cocktail at hand, you can do no better than Oloroso.
A place for special occasions.

Oloroso is, unarguably, a pretty sleek and nothing less than excellent place to drink, eat, and peruse the Edinburgh skyline.
I’ve been here for lunch, dinner, and cocktails, on separate occasions, all of which were super tasty, and pretty much faultless. My most recent evening meal, which was with my family, i.e. I most likely don’t have to pay for anything, put me in a positive frame of mind for enjoying the best of Oloroso in the first place, without the added worry and fear of the waiter/​waitress giving you that awkward look when your card doesn’t go through. That’s happened to everyone before… right?
Anyway, accompanied by a Casablanca Sauvignon Blanc from the extensive wine menu, I had Fife pigeon, cooked medium, with asparagus to start, followed by an amazing, amazing, halibut dish, with pancetta and a helping of potato. This is definitely haute cuisine style, so if you’re wanting some huge, hearty, stodgy meal, I would head elsewhere, but I think the portion sizes are just perfect, leaving you not too full, but definitely hunger quenched.
If you don’t want something quite as formal as the main dining room, there is also a food menu for the bar area, where you can nibble on something a bit smaller while you’re having a few drinks. I would certainly say that if you’re looking for somewhere which will impress whoever you’ve invited for dinner, and you want a really special, top quality eating and drinking experience, then Oloroso should be very near the top of the list. Also, something handy to remember is that the restaurant has a brilliant roof terrace, which you can sit on in warmer months and take in some fantastic views. Oloroso is expensive, but you are paying for a superb experience, so it is worth the investment for the memorability factor.

Having been pretty underwhelmed by Oloroso’s front doors, I wasn’t really expecting much from the bar. I hadn’t actually heard of the place before being from Glasgow, but have since learned it has a fabulous rep in Edinburgh for fine dining.
Unfortunately my visit was short and only consisted of one drink in the bar, but what a drink it was! The cocktail waiter couldn’t have been more professional and the whole experience was tres Manhattan! Don’t think its cheap though, as well as the gorgeous cocktails I expect you are paying for the experience.
I can’t wait until I persuade my boyfriend to bring me here for dinner!

Have you ever had one of those stunning dining experiences that absolutely exceeds your expectations in every way shape and form?
Well focus on that moment, because it is with that mindset and emotion that I want you to read this review. (Granted… now that you’ve committed to reading this far, I’ve already raised your expectations to a level that heaven’s restaurant itself probably couldn’t accommodate… so if you do plan on splurging at Oloroso, I’ll just say this: yeah, sure, it was just fine. Now stop reading and just go!)
The glass doors at the entrance along Castle Street were the only underwhelming aspect of the entire evening, and after we made the choice to go through them, we were continually impressed.
First it was the view. It’s been said before, but at 3 floors up, you’re soaring above most of Edinburgh’s rooftops. (Over half the world’s «view» restaurants would stop there and not worry about ticking the other boxes, like, I don’t know, decent food. Space Needle, what?) We love the fact that there were two distinct dining experiences: the dark black, swanky sultry bar where you could order cocktails, indulge in the view and pick of a smaller and more bar-​suited menu, or the dining room, bright white with floor to ceiling windows and mirrors. Très chic, très hip, très sexy!
But then we met the staff who instantly outshined the view. Friendly, considerate and accommodating to the core, we did not encounter one member of staff that did not greet us with a genuine smile and desire to make our visit comfortable and memorable. Seriously, even the table-​setters and bus boys were walking on sunshine. It was eerie.
Then the food arrived and I stopped caring about the view or the staff or the ambiance or my dining mates or even my first name at that point, because they all faded away into a glorious foodie haze, induced by mouthfuls of roasted baby carrots and new potatoes along with two beautifully presented swordfish steaks… oh. my. God. Swordfish. I think someone at my table got … steak? And maybe dover sole? And… bread was involved somewhere in there… perhaps? Swordfish. Wow.
All in all, yes. I did spend a lot of money. But let’s just for one moment consider the phrase «you get what you pay for,» because if this is true, I completely ripped them off, not the other way around. My experience at Oloroso was absolutely divine and worth every penny, so like I mentioned earlier: yeah, sure, it was fine, I guess. Now stop reading and just go!

Oloroso is one of those places in Edinburgh that I would only tell my best friends about. If you walked past it on the street you wouldn’t look twice, but going up in the elevator and reaching the roof-​top terrace still gives me butterflies. My family only go to Oloroso for special occassions, it’s a tradition for my brothers and I to go there on the day of our graduation, so it’s only reserved for special ocassions. The lay-​out is really quite chic, the grey-​and-​yellow colour scheme inspired my brother to do the same in his bedroom, which, annoyingly, is really cool. It’s really special and the terrace is in the perfect position to get great photos with the castle in the background.
However, I have been for a drink in Oloroso and found the whole experience entirely different. The bar staff are quite arrogant (but extremely handsome, so probably quite right to be) and shaking a cocktail is as much about the performance as the drinking. And it’s really pricey, not the place to go to for a quick drink and catch up with a friend.

Oloroso has great views, great cocktails and average food. It is certainly not worth the money.
I have been there twice for Dinner and I found the food barely adequate and certainly not what I would expect for the price. I have heard that it is great when Tony Singh cooks but have yet to experience it.

If I was a lady who lunches I would come here every week. Unfortunately, I am not and my Oloroso experience is limited to just the two visits but oh, they were good! The entrance to this place is almost hidden, just a doorway on the street with a small silver print reading ‘Oloroso’. Take the lift up three floors and you’ll get the best restaurant views ever. One side looks out to the hills of Fife and another leans over to the Castle. Very beautiful, very romantic!
The restaurant itself is split in to two with a posh dining room at one side and a more casual bar at the other. If you’re looking to take in the views without paying through the nose then I’d recommend the bar. The food is still great but a lot more reasonably priced and you can get a glass of wine for about £6. If you’re out to impress, take note– bring a date here for a drink and a few nibbles and I guarantee they’ll be swooning.
If you’re out to splash the cash a bit more, Oloroso’s dining room is wonderful. I have never had fish cooked so well in my life before, so light and fresh it was delicious. The chef and owner Tony Singh is always about (despite his rising celebrity status) and his Indian influence is clear throughout the menu. Spices are subtle yet powerful and discreetly paired in unusual combinations. In my eyes Oloroso is one of the best restaurant’s in Edinburgh and a real favourite of mine.

Whilst having one of the best locations in town (despite the entrance from the street being hard to find), this trendy restaurant will do nothing but disappoint.
When the owner, Tony Singh is in residence, it is apparently excellent but on the evening we visited, we saw him leave whilst we had some pre dinner cocktails. We weren’t to know this was not to bode well for our meal.
The cocktails were fantastic, reasonably priced and the large glass windows gave a fantastic view. We sat down for our meal and my girlfriend ordered the foie gras which was stunning, if the portion was a little on the large side. I had a mushroom tart as a starter which in flavour was delicate yet intense. Unfortunately, the mushrooms clearly hadn’t been cleaned very well and the texture was gritty. I’m reluctant to send food back and make a fuss so didn’t send it back.
For the main, we ordered two steaks, both medium. Mine turned up blue, which I will eat but my girlfriends was well done and cooked throughout. I sampled the red wine jus I had ordered with mine before we declared the other inedible and the jus was over salted and bitter as if the wine had been left open far too long before cooking with it.
The staff were initially friendly enough and offered to take both steaks back and replace them so we could eat at the same time as this was a romantic meal we had planned. This seemed like a good idea until both came back well done and my steak had clearly been taken off the plate, returned to the grill and still had the chunks missing I had already eaten. It was now so tough that I couldn’t even cut it with the steak knife and neither could the staff when they told me they didn’t believe me.
So the steaks went back again. We then waited over half an hour and were told we had been put to the back of the queue for the kitchen as other customers were waiting for their meal and ours was to be cooked fresh. It took a substantial and loud effort for any of the staff to come near us and we were told by one that they had been shouted at by the chef for taking the food back.
We promptly decided to leave, paying only a fraction of the bill for the drinks we had consumed and the starters. The head waiter was extremely rude to us claiming that this was an excellent restaurant and the food could not have been bad but he clearly didn’t want a scene created and accepted our payment offer eventually.

Oloroso is such a classy bar! I can’t vouch for the food but they have the best selection of martini’s I’ve seen in Edinburgh.
The décor is very up market and a great place for a date or romantic drink.
It’s not cheap, but you don’t really expect it to be.

Rooftop dining in the heart of Edinburgh. This is very cool. Nice bar (perhaps a bit too close to the restaurant area?) and delicious food. They’ll do a surprise scrummy cake with sparklers if it’s your partner’s birthday.

Ok, ich geb’s zu. Ich hab ein Faible für gute Aussichten. Und von der Dachterasse des Oloroso sieht man zur einen Seite wunderbar über den Firth of Forth, zur anderen Seite blickt man auf das Edinburgh Castle.
Wenn dann auch noch eine erfolgreiche Shopping– oder Sightseeing-​Tour hinter einem liegt, der Tag seinen Regen schon hatte, die Sonner heraus kommt oder vielleicht sogar gerade am Horizont verschwindet, dann ist ein Glas Wein auf der Terasse im Oloroso wohl mit das Beste was Edinburgh zu bieten hat!