Shebeen

Good service and good steak. Not the best I have had at this price. but worthy of 4 stars. The service was very prompt and friendly. I had the cheetah sized bone in sirloin. Equivalent to a large steak at any other restaurant. Would love to go back next time I am in Edinburgh to see how big the lion sized steak is.

Shebeen is a South African restaurant, with a fairly simple menu that’s very meat-​heavy. I tried the Mixed Grill, but there is a selection of steaks, sausages, ribs, and other meats to try as well.
The food tastes excellent. I was in a group of about 10, and every single person gave great feedback about the food. Steaks were tender and juicy, sausages just the right level of spiciness etc. Really, top class food.
Portion sizes are great too. You will not leave Shebeen hungry. I struggled to finish my Mixed Grill, but I couldn’t leave any of that delicious meat behind.
Service was a bit slow on the evening I attended, though others have said this was an exceptional case, so I’m not sure.
The restaurant is however too expensive for my regular budget. I attended for a friend’s birthday, but I cannot splurge this amount on food on a regular basis, so I probably won’t be back in the near future for this reason. However, if you appreciate good meat, and have a large appetite, Shebeen could well be the place for you!

Outrageous portions and food (and I mean that in a good way)!
I enjoyed a nice dinner here with some friends and we were all astounded at the portions of food we were given. I had their bunny chow, which was a bowl made out of bread that was filled to the top with curry, carrots, and meat. It was super hearty, but delicious.
My friend enjoyed their burger, which was large enough to feed two people (and I’m a big guy) easily. The freshness of the burger was absolutely amazing and it tasted better than any other that I’ve had in Edinburgh.
The service was fine and the prices are a bit steep. But given the portions, I can live with that. The food was excellent. I am going to come back for steak before leaving the UK, you can bet on it!

Ended up here after reservations with another restaurant fell through, but the excellent offerings did not leave our party feeling like we settled.
We split the lion’s share sirloin and ribs, with a bottle of wine. Everything was great — I really enjoyed the favorable spice rub on the steak and the bbq on the ribs. It was nice to not have to season my meat, for once. If I had any criticism it would be the chips — I prefer a nice, crispy potato and these were very soft, though wonderfully seasoned. Still, a small personal preference was hardly enough to derail a wonderful meal.

Went here for a birthday meal and was really impressed. We were quite a large group and they asked us to pre-​order our food (which i thought was a bit strange). I am quite indecisive so this was slightly off-​putting but to be honest everything on the menu looked good.
The staff are really fab. Super friendly, really funny and they do seem to care that you’re having a good experience there! (They got our mate a free birthday shot and specified at the end the service charge wasn’t compulsory despite the fact we were a group of 11 people!!)
THE FOOD! Amazing, super steaks, super beef, awesome looking bunny chow. Absolutely stuffed by the end. It is pretty pricey, but the portions are generous and it’s sooooo tasty!

Great food and friendly host. Definitely recommended

«Welkom To Meat Heaven» is on a sign as you come in the door, and this place certainly lives up to that!
Seriously, if you like meat come here immediately. I ordered the Shebeen Mix Grill and my jaw dropped when the waiter brought over this slab of wood piled with steak, chops, sausages and the thickest damn wedges ever! It was great, and amazing value for money.
Can’t recommend it enough!

who wants to eat animals all unhealthy, fried and greasy? makes you want to be vegan

If you are a meat lover, this is definitely the place to go!
I can’t believe I have been dining there for the 4^th time and not yet written a review. It certainly was not the last time. In addition a new addition was recently opened and a visit is soon on the cards.
I still like the intetior of the current place. It looks wild and is decorated with various African ornaments.
The staff is super friendly, especially the waitress that served us, a group of 9, and quite a lively groups as well. She was funny so and entertained us all evening.
I only ordered a main: rack of rips. I know how BIG the portions can be. My friends were overwhelmed with the sizes of all dishes, even the sides. We had to laugh as the food kept coming. The infamous «meat bucket» served 4 people and we could not even finish this one :-)
Prices match with what you get.
There are steak competitions. Warning: its Huge!
Toilets are small and there can be a waiting time. Not sure if they have air conditioning. We were all melting that night :-).
It was a fab evening and hopefully soon again.

Fantastic evening at Shebeen! A meat lovers paradise!!!
Can I first of all say this restaurant is extremenly good value for money! As a groupe we ordered ribs to start — finger licking good ! fall off the bone goodness… I ordered the steak for main (id heard soo many good things about these juicy steaks) and so had one! I ordered the LION size and my goodness I was given a steak bigger that the average head !!! It was juicy, full of flavour and lovely !!!
Because it was a birthday meal for one of my friends we were allowed to bring a couple of bottles of fizz and the girls that served us were attentive and friendly.
At the end my friend ordered a mint milkshake desert and the wrote on the plate Happy birthday and gave her for free a chomp (s. african chocolate) and to us all a free spingbok shot each!
I am sooo pleased that Sheebeen seems to be doing so well and i cannot fault it — Please please go!

This was so awesome. Meaty perfection followed by wonderfully comforting milk tart. Proper south african food at its best and obviously made with love.

YABBADABBA DOO! Finally went to this place after waiting and waiting to go I finally got to ! Awesome awesome place! Hidden little place, as in you could walk right by it and not even know it was there. Went in, the waitress greeted us and I asked for a table. She said most of the tables were booked but checked anyways to see if she could squeeze us in which she did and I was very thankful. She came and got us a pitcher of water and asked what we would like to drink. I had a cheap S. African beer which was ok (it was a cheap beer what can I complain about). We then ordered the appetizer which was recommend to me. The Fandalango, which was a bucket of meats. It was a meal unto itself. Seriously guys and gals thats all you need it was filling enough. But since I was feeling like Fred Flintstone and I am a Leo I went and ordered my steak to, but let me finish with the appetizer first. The fried pork belly was strangely good! I thought it would be a bit sweeter in terms of the meat but it was still really moist and yummy. The fat on it was the best part I think, it had that pork flavour with something else I cant put my finger on. The ribs were also amazing I think I started sucking the bone marrow out of them. Then my T-​Rex steak arrived. WOW, um waitress, ma’am, sorry but theres half a cow here I think your butcher messed something up. The steak was huge!!! (you can all see from the pictures obviously but I still had to tell you and one more time) The steak was huge!!! Perfectly cooked as well, I love my steaks pretty rare, and seasoned lightly. Thats my only bit of criticism I wish it had a little bit more seasoning on it, just a bit to enhance the flavour. I didnt even get into the little bit of chips on the side. I had one of the onion rings and it was good, not burnt, not greasy, slightly sweet from the onion and otherwise perfect. The salad on the side is to clean the palate so I had some of that as well when I threw in the towel. Great place I will be back again for the ribs. Sadly this lion couldnt finnish his lion sized meal and had to take it home in his doggy– bag.

so i finally made it back here for dinner! and oh my, what a meaty delicious dinner it was! seriously the steaks here are enormous!!! no joke, my boyfriend’s steak was the size of my face if not bigger and my ‘smaller’ steak was of an equally large size. the sides that came with the steak were quite good, especially the garlic mushroom and also my grilled prawn starter was super tasty! definitely will be heading back here for another dinner!

Roll out the meat!
This place is a real meat fest for people that want meat meat meat. (no pescetarians or vegetarians allowed!)
In a place that looks like a converted Boers Farmstead they offer buckets and lion shares of ribs, fillets, T-​Bone, Oxtail and Boerwors.
What more is there that you need? Oh yes beer, Amstel, Castle and Corona or a good Savannah Dry cider to wash it all down with.
I like the atmosphere and a birthday meal for 6 people needs a big table — which they have. The zebra skin on the ceiling beams do authenticate the feel of this place, and the springbok skin oval shield with spears on the wall creates an idea that they catch and butcher their meat them selves — well the butcher part is correct!
The service is totally appropriate — always asking is all is fine or if you need more, MORE?! Are you kidding me? I am bursting after all this delicious meat. Just bring me a finger bowl to was off what didn’t manage to lick of my digits.
Few things though — some drinks are not available anymore and still on the menu. — just black ‘m out?
I have to say to them «Ek dankjie veel» !!

For some time now the name Shebeen has been bouncing around the city as the spiritual home of carnivores! A place where meat is the main event.
Under the banner of being a South African restaurant the guys here have built up a reputation for serving up big plates of well cooked, well seasoned meat. It’s a reputation which is very well deserved!
On reading the menu you quickly get a sense that this unapologetic reverence for beef had been taken to new levels.
On the starters you’ll find samosas filled with either beef or veg, ‘mini’ boerewors with they homemade tomato relish, frikadelle — a meatball stuffed with various things including cheese and a number of the other main courses in start portions! I opted for the calamari however, crunchy, soft and delicious with a lovely dipping sauce!
If it was hard to choose a starter selecting a main was well nigh impossible, steaks of varying sizes, traditional South African dishes and some straight up meat challenges! Amongst these challenges you will find the Jo Burger, 1.2kg of beef or a custom baked bun WOW! This would have to wait for a another day however, I was after some steak!
My friend Scott went for the Lion ribeye you see up on the board, that was sensational, cooked to a beautiful rare the flavour was superb! I went surf and turf, rare steak and prawns covered in garlic and chilli with double cooked fries! This lead to coining of the phrase #meatgasm!
What really stands out for me in Shebeen is the care they give to the meat! From doing their butchery, to their seasonings, to the way in which they perfectly rest the meat before serving. These guys are the kings of grilled meat as far as I am concerned!
To top it all off the service and the welcome you receive is first class! The chefs are all more than happy to chat steak and the front of house staff are welcoming, funny and efficient! They really do have it all!

Si te gusta la carne y estás en Edimburgo no te pierdas este local.
Si tu idea es ir durante el fin de semana os recomiendo reservar, ya que el local suele estar bastante concurrido.
Como bien se puede ver en su página web, tienen buena oferta de entrantes, hamburguesas, platos principales y postres.
Yo personalmente escogí carne (obvio) y puedo opinar sobre el Sirloin (Buenísimo), acompañado con patatas fritas caseras (perfectas), salsa, aros de cebolla y un poco de ensalada. También probamos como entrantes los «Sosaties» (pinchos de carne con salsa africana) y «surf&turf» (lonchas de carne con gambas enormes).
Si tu opción es la de comer carne, te dan a elegir entre dos tamaños: si tu apetito es tan voraz cuál león africano, tu opción es «Lion size» (la pieza supera los 500gr), si por el contrario no tienes tanta hambre y te conformas con menos de 500gr, te ofrecen la opción «Cheetah size» (por menor precio, claro).
La oferta de vinos no era muy amplia, pero hay oferta suficiente para cada tipo de bolsillo.
El local es idóneo para llenarte bien el buche y después tomarte alguna copa en los alrededores de Lothian Road.

All I had heard before having dinner here was that they served «a bucket of meat»… I was equal parts intrigued and excited…
I am happy to report that it did not disappoint and at £6.50/person (minimum 2 to share — although there’s talk of the boys going back and eating a 2’fer on their own), it is really just a ridiculous amount of meat! The bucket comes with ribs, South African game sausages, kebabs, giant meatballs and the piece de resistance is surely the DEEP FRIED PORK BELLY… ON A STICK! Yup huh… slow cooked pork belly on a skewer, coated in crispy batter & fried… It’s as amazingly tasty as it is bad for your health! (Luckily you only get one portion of each item per person).
I also ordered a starter size surf n turf for my main course, but I really didn’t need any more food after the meat bucket… especially since we had cake for dessert… but I managed to find room in my belly for it anyways.
The thing about a restaurant that serves mainly meat is that they really have to know what they’re doing in the kitchen. it’s so easy to under/​over cook meat rendering it inedible or just a bit disgusting. That was my only hesitation going in but I need not have worried.
Everything was cooked to perfection. It was tasty tasty murder even if my stomach didn’t quite agree with the sheer amount of meat I fed it…
Loses stars because the service was a bit ad hoc and hectic. the space is quite small and there was another large party which meant we were rather squished and the servers had no way to get around. passing plates up and down the table is never great. there was manic arm waving in order to get more drinks etc.
It was a good meal and I can’t fault it too much but I’m not sure I’m in a hurry to go back…

«Welkom to Meat Heaven» is the bold claim, as you enter Shebeen’s new premises, at the top of Morrison Street. Their South African delights, prepared on the braai, are a considerable treat, so I’d heartily recommend you pay it a visit. Definitely more a restaurant than a bar, this is the place to go next time you need a good dose of meaty goodness. The lunchtime fanagalo (a big bucket of meat, to share) is excellent value, so definitely the one to try on your first visit :-)
Overall, we said: «I was well impressed by the meat heaven available at Shebeen. For the meat lover in your life, this is the place to book for your next lunch or evening out. I’m going to go back, soon, to try their steaks, as I have a feeling they’ll be good, based on the care and attention shown in the preparation of the items we had, today. Veggies… well, this one’s not for you.»

I think I ate most of Africa here.
Brotwurst sausages. Surf n Turf. Meatballs stuffed with mozzarella. Deep fried pork belly (yes, that’s right, deep fried pork belly).
Shebeen is a newly opened African restaurant that serves up massive amounts of delicious meat at very affordable prices. I believe they used to have a bar down in Leith, that was more a bar than a restaurant; but this is definitely a restaurant. I’ve seen a few other reviews rate it on «coming in for a drink». That’d be like judging any restaurant on «coming in for a drink». Come here for the MEAT, and I think you’ll like it far more.
As Shona F has said, if you like meat and a lot of meat, you’ll like Shebeen. I came at lunch time and had the Fanagalo to share, with a burger on the side. For £5.95 each the Fanagalao — a sharing bucket, rather than platter — came with two deliciously juicy deep-​fried pork belly pieces; 3 steak and veg skewers; 2 meatballs (one beef, one pork and mozzarella); 3 giant boerwors sausages; and a rack of ribs but they had run out that day so we had 2 lamb samosas instead.
Needless to say it was a huge amount of meat. THe boerwors were delicious and peppery, the steak skewers still pink inside, the deep fried pork belly… Well, let’s just say my arteries cried at the sound of it and I planned on only having one bite, but then I had one bite and the rest I just inhaled. It was soft, melt-​in-​the-​mouth, and a very generous serving of meat too.
The staff were very friendly, it’s a nice space. It’s an upstairs restaurant, kitted out in dark wood with South African music and some decorations (I liked the painting of the buffalo head).
I am already planning on coming back here, and soon. I’d really highly recommend this platter to try a bit of everything that they offer — just don’t make dinner plans (or eat a light lunch).

Do you like meat? Do you like a lot of meat? Say no more, head to Shebeen. It’s a South African restaurant and apparently it is very authentic. It’s located on the second floor near Lothian Road.
My partner and I shared ‘fanagalo’ which was such a large portion. It included:
— meatballs
— a half rack of spare ribs
— homemade boerewors sausage
— pork belly and beef sosaties’
OMG the ribs were AMAZING! I want to come back already for the ribs alone. The pork belly was really good too. Actually, everything in this sharing platter was so tasty — everything was very well seasoned.
For mains, I had the ‘cheetah size’ sirloin while my partner had the ‘lion size’ rib-​eye. My boyfriend’s steak was the size of a chopping board! So unbelievable that I started laughing uncontrollably when the server brought it over. My steak was also quite large but manageable (mind you I did not finish it). The steaks were great. They weren’t perhaps the best steak I have had but the price, we both agreed it was good value.
My boyfriend brought half of his uneaten steak home in a doggy bag.
I thought the service was good but there were some hiccups when our bill came — a beer that we hadn’t ordered and the wrong wine was charged.
Overall, if you fancy some meat sweats venture over to this establishment. You’ll definitely have a giggle when your steak arrives!

What’s this that has popped up on Morrison Street out of nowhere? Another Shebeen! For those of you who don’t know, the original Shebeen is located next to Mithas down at the Shore, Leith. So this new addition was a very welcome surprise.
We decided to pop in for a drink at the weekend to see what it’s all about. I think it is easiest if I just split my experience into pros and cons.
The pros:
— Great central location.
— Fun South African themed interior.
— We didn’t eat this time but we saw food being served and the the traditional South African menu looks amazing.
— Friendly staff.
The cons:
— I had to change my drink order 3 times before they actually had the drink in stock.
— It is pretty small and chilly inside.
— The staff seemed a little nervous and unsure of what they were doing.
I shall forgive the cons. They are very newly opened and it is only natural to have teething problems, as long as they get them ironed out. For now, I wouldn’t return for a drink (as it is just a small restaurant area) but i will go to their Leith bar for a drink, and I will return to Morrison Street to sample their exciting menu. After that I will update my review with the outcome :)