The Broadsheet Bistro

Overall an extremely poor eating experience that we will never repeat. Ever.
We bought a groupon voucher for ‘Scottish’ tapas and a glass of wine, and arrived at 4pm to eat.
We were served with our glasses of wine about five minutes after our arrival and ordered immediately.
Well after 5pm, when our food still hadn’t arrived, I asked the (very pleasant) waitress, how much longer our food would be. To suddenly have it served within the next minute. I suspect it had sat in the serving hatch until we asked where it was.
What arrived was admittedly very nicely presented, but in every other regard was extremely poor. Firstly, nothing was hotter than ‘Luke warm’, and some of the dishes downright cold.
The chicken skewers were quite unlike anything I’d ever expect to see served in a restaurant, and were like a twice cooked home barbeque dish out of a packet. It was rubbery, cold, tough and almost inedible. But this was not the worst.
We had ordered a chicken Caesar salad as part of our tapas, and the chicken in this was dry, cooked to death, and appeared to have freezer burn! I have never seen anything like it served in a restaurant in my entire life. Myself and my partner were of the opinion this was pre-​cooked chicken bought from a freezer centre. Absolutely terrible.
We informed the waitress of all these concerns, who apologised and told us the manager would speak to the kitchen, but for some strange reason he did not see fit to come and speak to us, despite the next table complaining of exactly the same things.
We were then charged £4.20 for an extra glass of wine which we had during our 1 hour plus wait for food.
Complaint made to groupon, it was that bad.
Do not use this ‘restaurant’ ever.

I feel the 2 stars a little harsh but i can see their point.
the cosmopolitian was a tasty but I’m thinking now where was the alcohol?!! As stated the tart was nice but on the cheap end of any tart. The donuts were tasty but are there tradiotional for afternoon tea or a quick/​cheap substitute for the voucher.
Now. It’s not all negatives before you switch off.
The tea/​coffee is on tap so we could drink as much as we could. The sandwiches were nice. Tasty but could do with more filling considering we asked for NO EGG may0 or an extra sandwich of the other one. I think the scone was highlight as it was nice and fluffy and oh yeah WARM! Although the cream was not proper clotted cream but squeezy cream.
Ok ok. I’m not to sure what to expect when you buy a voucher but, If you want good word of mouth you need to provide a little more dazzle! Of the recent Unilocal reviews this is clearly not the case.
I’ve been dazzled with afternoon teas else where, so wouldn’t rush back here.

afternoon tea is a bit of a british insitution and a lovely wee treat for a girls get together at the weekend. a group of six of us had bought an itison deal for a cocktail and the traditional afternoon tea delights. so we made a book and a windy saturday afternoon in january we went along.
on first entering the restaurant, it all looks very nice. Broadsheet Bistro is part of the fraser suites just off the royal mile. the décor is a chic townhouse sort of look but very luxurious. the staff were pleasant and once we were all seated set about making our cocktails after taking our order for tea.
however after that it all went a bit downhill. cocktails arrived and i think they were supposed to be a cosmopolitan, but it mainly just tasted like cranberry juice. in fact i’m not actually convinced that there was alcohol in the drink at all. next the afternoon tea began to arrive. there was a plate with skewers of little triangle sandwiches and the traditional three tier stand with cakes and scones. the sandwiches were ok but the bread was a bit stale so not great. and the cakes… store bought doughnuts and a poorly made strawberry tart which was really just a tart base with some whipped cream messily spooned in and topped with a strawberry. the scones were warmed but clearly not homemade either.
if i’d paid for this afternoon tea i would have been sorely disappointed. thankfully my friend and i got the deal for free since three other people bought it off her link. it’s a real shame as the staff were lovely and the restaurant itself quite nice. but the food was a serious let down and maybe something they should look at resolving before offering any further deals!

My sister and myself came here for an afternoon tea which she had kindly bought for me through a Groupon deal. The venue itself looks lovely, and we had a great time catching up; had i not been gifted the experience though, i don’t think I would be back…
The staff in here are, to their credit, lovely. Very attentive and friendly, and offering us free refills throughout. Its a shame the quality of what they offer lets them down… Cosmopolitans that tasted like straight cranberry juice, and were a deep blood red color. (Be horrified, cocktail purists!) Similarly, the cakes and morsels on offer were… meh. Shop bought mini donuts, shop bought strawberry tarts and scones which could easily have been from Greggs (but at least came toasted, and with cream!)
All in all, not a horrifying experience by any means. Just not mind blowing, or even that great… they could do so much more with their lovely space!

Four of us dined on a Sunday evening and left satisfied on the whole. We started with a fish sharing board, which included mackerel, salmon, and I believe trout, along with eggplant slices and other vegetables. Very good starter. My date has this thing about haggis — he has toured all around the UK and tries it wherever it’s offered. The verdict was a decent haggis, which I tasted (off the bucket list). I had the chicken wrapped in Parma ham — «dry» was my overall impression. Salads were good.
The alcohol solution was pretty positive. Innis and Gunn in the bottle, a nice brew indeed. Also very nice scotch. Glenkinchie was the special — loved it.
The service was polite but a little disorganized.
I was surprised that two reviews were one star. It was not a total disaster like the other reviewers wrote (perhaps they’ve upped their game in the meantime?) — there was something good for everyone.

We were staying at the Fraser Suites Hotel which is great so we thought this restaurant would be great too. We came about 30 minutes before their breakfast ends. We decided to do their breakfast buffet. When we got to the food table, there were hardly any food left. We started with what they have at the moment thinking they would replenish the almost empty containers on the table. We waited but they did not. We asked and the only answer we got is ‘sorry, no”. We ended up scavenging the food containers for whatever food we can get which is just horrible after we paid about 12 pounds each. And whatever food we got, they were not great. They should have not offered us the breakfast buffet if they knew they willnot replenish the food. We would have just ordered food from the menu.
The interior is nice though… but you can’t eat it. You’d rather go to places like World’s End, Rabbie Burn’s and many other places that serves breakfast than eat here. You’ll get your money’s worth elsewhere.