The Cuddie Brae

Handy location if you are driving to the Queen Margaret University campus from the south and are looking for lunch. Good food, menu more adventurous than typical pub grub. Let down by sluggish service. We sat for ages with table littered with finished plates, waiting staff were oblivious (it was a quiet Sunday), hence the average rating. If the service was a little snappier it would be four stars.

Friendly staff, didn’t have to wait long for a table (busy Saturday evening) although later arrivals were having to wait up to 20 minutes.
Drinks order taken as soon as we sat down, prompt service… but not rushed to order quickly.
Both had the 7oz Balmoral Sirloin steak, perfectly cooked to order (rare). Slightly too much haggis for the size of steak but otherwise good portion sizes.
The trio of desserts on a wooden board is a nice touch, a choice of six to choose from.

I have been going and recommending the Cuddie Brae for near on 9 years. On entering and being shown to our table, the waiters only greeting was to give us the menu while saying ‘here is the menu, you should know the script by now!’ squinting at him I replied ‘coulld you possible remind me what the SCRIP is please’!!!
The food used to be great and value for money, but now it is a disgrace. It is seriously over priced and the dish that I had, (Lasagne) had obviously been re-​heated via microwave numerous times. The cheese was solid from overcooking and fused to the plate; the pasta was ‘mush’ at best.
i.e. Horrid
The Cuddie Brae also had the cunning move of serving my food on a large looking plate, giving the appearance of value for money. I could not of been so wrong, it was no more than a centimetre deep and was finished within 3 spoonfuls (I had to go to the McDonalds up the road straight after, as I was still hungry) this is such a shame as it had such potential.
I would recomend people to avoid it at all cost. I, after 9 years will certainly NEVER go back. I feel sorry for the visitors to Edinburgh that will be staying at the Premier Inn next door, as the next available decent bar/​restaurant is miles away.
I am actually writing this review because I was arranging a night out with friends this afternoon. Without knowing my prior experience, two of my friends insisted that we did not consider the Cuddie Brae as an option for the meal portion of the night.

Sadly we chose the Cuddie Brae for a family Sunday lunch and we really wish we hadn’t. We were there for 12.00 because the baby of the family needed to eat at 12.30 and we should have been wary when we found the front door still locked. We found our way in through the side door but no-​one greeted us and we found our own table there were 5 of us and the baby. The food when it came was just awful, cauliflower and Cheddar cheese soup which was thin and tasted of neither cauliflower nor cheese, a burnt cheese tart, garlic prawns with burnt bread, then the main courses of chewy chunks of sinewy roast beef, not sliced but hacked, with frozen Yorkshire pudding, watery gravy, instant mash, yesterdays potatoes stuck in a deep fat fryer and called roast potatoes and veg which seemed frozen and lacking any flavour. Our daughter’s steak pie was made up of undercooked, pale and chewy pastry and oversalted beef and our son-​in-​laws haloumi salad seemed to have been made with yesterdays salad leaves, many of them brown and wilting. Desserts were a microwaved sticky toffee pudding, a curdled crème brûlée and a fruit crumble so soggy it was mostly liquid. The ice cream was ok.
We started using this restaurant when it first opened and the food was good, never first rate but good, fresh food made by chefs who seemed to care about what they served. Whoever has taken over this establishment has obviously decided to cater to the masses, the pile it high and never mind the taste brigade, it was busy and it’s obviously child friendly which was one of the reasons we chose it. We won’t be back, neither will our daughter and son-​in-​law and neither will our other daughter so the Cuddie Brae has lost 3 lots of customers. We didn’t complain as the wee one was getting fractious and we wanted to get him home for his nap, but had we had the time we would certainly have made our views known to the management.
I hope this review helps others to make their minds up before going. JF

Nice, modern out-​of-​town gastro-​pub.
Menu is pretty much standard fare, although it is well cooked and very enjoyable.
I would definitely recommend coming here as it is one of the very few restaurants in the area which feels like a ‘little treat’.

The Cuddie Brae is a chain restaurant/​bar attached to a travel lodge/​premier inn type place outside Musselburgh. I realise this sounds like the start of a bad review but don’t let these things put you off — it’s great.
The bar and restaurant always have a lovely intimate feel no matter how busy they are. The food is a good mix between pub grub and a gastro type menu and I always think their specials are impressive. I’ve spent hours here eating a meal and then having coffee and chatting for way too long. We are always made to feel welcome and you never feel hurried out the door. As it is a little out of town there is good parking. Plus it is a stones through from the Kinnaird Park shopping centre so perfect for a feed after shopping. Food is good quality too and reasonably priced.