Harden's survey result
Summary
With its incredible wood-paneled interior (candle-lit, with antique furnishings and tapestries) and an alternative ‘Secret Garden’ space, James Thomson’s restored old house near the castle (dating from 1595) provides a supremely romantic destination (there are also rooms), and has been one of the city’s landmark destinations for decades. It has long been accused of “resting on its reputation” foodwise and this year those fears were to the fore, with concerns about the “pretty uninspiring food and eye-watering prices for such unexciting choices”. Still, there’s always compensation in the vast wine list. And its most upbeat fans have different concerns: “It’s always nice to eat here, but it can be too dark to read the menu and you have to use the torch on your mobile phone to see it properly!”
Summary
“Definitely an experience” – James Thomson’s “glorious” 40-year restoration of a 1595 merchant’s house next to the castle makes a “totally unique and intimate location” for a candle-lit meal, either in the wood-panelled dining room, filled with leather furnishings and hung with tapestries, or in the ‘Secret Garden’. The “atmospheric setting” is “perfect for a romantic dinner” so long as you “don’t expect too much gastronomically” from the traditional menu – and there is a “killer wine list – sorry, Wine Bible”.
Summary
James Thomson’s more than 40-year restoration of a sixteenth-century merchant’s house near Edinburgh Castle has yielded one of the most “atmospheric” dining venues in the country – a gorgeous Gothic extravaganza where even lunch and afternoon tea are candle-lit. The cuisine is appropriately old-school – very “tasty”, too – and is backed up by an “amazing wine list” and whisky selection. You can eat amid the leather, wood panelling and tapestries of the dining room or in the ‘Secret Garden’, and if you want the illusion to last a few hours longer you can stay in one of the individually decorated bedrooms.
Summary
“Stupidly expensive but bags of fun” – James Thomson opened his “warm, quirky, and brilliant” (if somewhat touristy) sixteenth-century merchant’s house very near Edinburgh Castle 40 years ago, and it’s undoubtedly “very atmospheric” both in its Gothic oak-panelled dining room or beautiful ‘Secret Garden’. The traditional Scottish cuisine is OK, but its main distinguishing culinary feature is “a heavyweight wine list backed up by a strong selection of malt whiskies and other digestifs”. Plan on over-indulging? Book one of its glam bedrooms.
For 33 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at The Witchery by the Castle?
Castlehill, The Royal Mile, Edinburgh, EH1 2NF
Restaurant details
Prices
| Availability | 2 courses | 3 courses |  |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lunch | £34.50 |  |
|
|
Traditional European menu
| Starter | Main | Pudding |
|---|---|---|
| £19.00 | £28.00 | £11.50 |
| Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £35.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £3.00 |
| Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Bread | £0.00 |
| Service | 10.00% |
Castlehill, The Royal Mile, Edinburgh, EH1 2NF
Opening hours
| Monday | 12 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Tuesday | 12 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Wednesday | 12 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Thursday | 12 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Friday | 12 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Saturday | 12 pm‑10:30 pm |
| Sunday | 12 pm‑10:30 pm |
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