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Cafe Royal - Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Midlothian

Cafe Royal - Edinburgh

4.3 (1547)
£26 to £40
Continental
19 West Register Street, Edinburgh, Midlothian EH2 2AA

Make a reservation

2 people
7:00 PM
Booked 24 times today

About this restaurant

  • Charming
  • Good for special occasions
  • Lively
Edinburgh's hidden gem! Traditional oyster bar and restaurant serving fine food and a great selection of continental lagers, beers and local ales.

We're proud of our history without being complacent and we love to see a happy customer. We've always focused on making our pub unique and we are sure you will notice. So pull up a seat, take a tour round our pub and discover what sets us apart from the rest.

** Please note all bookings are for our restaurant, we offer first come first served for drinks in our bar area.

*** Please note due to licencing restrictions under 18's are not permitted in the main bar, we can seat under 18's and over 5's in the restaurant for dining. We cannot allow under 18's in the restaurant after 10pm.

**** As we are a listed building we do not have Accessible toilets on the ground floor.

Additional information

  • Dining style
    Casual Elegant
  • Price
    £26 to £40
  • Cuisines
    Continental, Seafood, Scottish
  • Hours of operation
    Mon–Wed, Sun 11:00 am–11:00 pm Thu–Sat 11:00 am–12:00 am
  • Phone number
  • Payment options
    AMEX, Mastercard, Visa
  • Dress code
    Smart Casual
  • Neighborhood
    Edinburgh
  • Parking details
    None
  • Public transit
    St. Andrew's Square Tram/Bus stop is a short walk awayPrinces Street bus stops (Apple Store/Waverley Station)
  • Additional
    Beer, Full Bar, Gluten-free Options, Non-Smoking, Vegan, Wine

What 1,547 people are saying

Cafe Royal - Edinburgh reviews from people who’ve dined at this restaurant. Based on recent rating.

Overall ratings and reviews

Reviews can only be made by diners who have eaten at this restaurant

4.3
4.3 based on recent ratings
  • 4.3Food
  • 4.2Service
  • 4.5Ambience
  • 4.1Value

NoiseEnergetic

Review summary

AI-generated from verified diner reviews
Cafe Royal in Edinburgh offers a historic and charming dining experience with "wonderful old world ambience" and "fantastic surroundings." The seafood, especially the oysters, is highly praised as "the best seafood in Edinburgh." Despite occasional service delays, the "delicious classic food" and "great and attentive service" make it a beloved spot.
1,548 Reviews
  1. Dinnerlovers VIP

    New York City82 reviews

    5.0

    Dined 4 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Lovely historic restaurant, little hidden corners for private dinners. Delicious food - nice service.

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  2. Ian

    Edinburgh/Midlothian3 reviews

    3.0

    Dined 6 days ago

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 4
    My partner and I had the roast which wasn't good value, the yorkshire pudding overwhelmed the other food on the plate, however our friends had the haggis which they said was very good. The service was good and the waiting staff very attentive.

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  3. Joanne

    Detroit3 reviews

    5.0

    Dined 7 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Great experience. Food and service excellent . Would recommend.

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  4. Naoko

    Edinburgh/Midlothian1 review

    5.0

    Dined on May 12, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 4
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Very friendly and warm atmosphere. Thank you for the hospitality shown.

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  5. Edd

    Aberdeen2 reviews

    5.0

    Dined on May 12, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Best seafood in Edinburgh, everything about this place is great, always get here when visiting Edinburgh

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  6. OpenTable Diner

    Fort Lauderdale1 review

    5.0

    Dined on May 10, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    the food was absolutely delicious. the wait staff was so sweet and attentive. i got the mussels and the halibut and those were the best things i ate since being in scotland. 10000/10

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  7. Mark

    Minneapolis69 reviews

    2.0

    Dined on May 10, 2025

    1. Overall 2
    2. Food 4
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 4
    Staff and kitchen were overwhelmed this Saturday evening. We waited a long time for all of our food and drinks. Nice historic surroundings, but too crowded and noisy for us. The staff were working hard and gave us a nice table, but it went downhill from there. It took at least 20 minutes to get the bread which was 6.50, rather than included in a meal that was about 180 pounds. We had to ask a few times on the status of things

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  8. Michael VIP

    Raleigh18 reviews

    4.0

    Dined on May 9, 2025

    1. Overall 4
    2. Food 4
    3. Service 3
    4. Ambience 3
    Good pub food. Noisy and busy, so service can be a bit slow. The worst part of our experience was the entry. Finding the right door to enter from outside was confusing and, worse, once inside, there is no clear place to check-in and, since we had made a reservation and the place was packed, I was sure that we should not simply take any vacant table. I found my way to the bar side and asked a gentleman who appeared to be staff where we check-in. Rather than answer my question, he asked if I had a reservation. We did and I said “Yes, sir” in reply. He simply walked away (it was loud, so maybe he did tell me to follow him) toward a spot at the end of the bar and walked behind the bar. Not knowing what else to do, I followed him to the end of the bar where I saw a stack of menus and realized that must be the place to check-in! He did, in fact, check us in and show us to the one vacant table on the bar side. Very unsettling beginning to our visit.

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  9. Joyce VIP

    Greater Boston5 reviews

    5.0

    Dined on May 8, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Wonderful food and atmosphere! We had the lamb and haggis Wellington and filet and both were cooked to perfection. And the atmosphere in such a historic restaurant was amazing!

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  10. annemarie

    Orlando1 review

    3.0

    Dined on May 7, 2025

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 4
    We had booked cafe royal to celebrate a birthday, which had been noted on the reservation. When we arrived we were told that there were no oysters or steaks available. Unfortunately we had booked because of the availability of both of these items. However we decided to stay and order something else, as otherwise we would have had to find somewhere else at a moments notice and was hugely inconvenient on a birthday. Two of the party then places orders for lamb which we were then told was also not available. We did eventually all place orders that we could eat, but we were very disappointed, and did not fully enjoy the experience.

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FAQs

Cafe Royal - Edinburgh is rated 4.3 stars by 1547 OpenTable diners.

Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable.

  1. Home
  2. United Kingdom
  3. Edinburgh/Midlothian
  4. Edinburgh
  5. Edinburgh

Make a reservation

2 people
7:00 PM
Booked 24 times today
Google Map for Cafe Royal - Edinburgh

19 West Register Street, Edinburgh, Midlothian EH2 2AA

Additional information

  • Neighborhood
    Edinburgh
  • Hours of operation
    Mon–Wed, Sun 11:00 am–11:00 pm Thu–Sat 11:00 am–12:00 am
  • Price
    £26 to £40
  • Cuisines
    Continental, Seafood, Scottish
  • Dining style
    Casual Elegant
  • Dress code
    Smart Casual
  • Parking details
    None
  • Public transit
    St. Andrew's Square Tram/Bus stop is a short walk awayPrinces Street bus stops (Apple Store/Waverley Station)
  • Payment options
    AMEX, Mastercard, Visa
  • Additional
    Beer, Full Bar, Gluten-free Options, Non-Smoking, Vegan, Wine
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  • Terms of Use
  • Cookies and Interest-Based Ads
  • Cookie Preferences
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