Quote: Stac Polly is a Scottish restaurant in central Edinburgh, just down the hill from George St in New Town (there is also another branch in the West End on Grindlay Street). It is well regarded and considered one of the top Scottish restaurants in the city. We had a special family occasion to celebrate so booked a table for 7pm here on a Friday night in August, during festival season. Booking is usually necessary and we booked midweek a few days prior to going and there was availability for a table for 6 people.

The restaurant is a Basement restaurant with stone walls. There is an upstairs area where you can sit for a drink but the main restaurant is situated in the basement. The rooms themselves are very dark due to the fact there are no windows. Light is ambient with wall mounted soft lighting and rather than candles on the tables they have small paraffin burners. These themselves prove to be something of a safety hazzard as i proved by reaching for a glass and clumsily knocking one over. No harm was done but it tumbled very easily at the slightest of knock. The tables and chairs are well build, solid wood. The main dining room had a fire place that was disappointingly unadorned and not fuctioning (perhaps for safety?). In all the restaurant is very atmospheric and felt very Scottish.

Surprisingly for me, given it's a Scottish restaurant, most of the waiting staff appeared to be French rather than Scottish - this is an observation mind, rather than a criticism... Although that said, I did find service to be a little hit and miss. They were incredibly friendly and polite but I found that they kept bringing the wrong food out - on more than one occasion. They were also seemingly a little too eager to clear plates with them being whipped away within seconds of finishing. Perhaps it being the festival they had another reservation later in the evening but all the same, it was quite unwelcoming. We happened to be a fast eating bunch but I think part of the reason we were in and out in an hour and a half (2 courses) was also due to this.

With regards to the food itself, this was on the whole very good. For a Starter (at £8.95) i ordered haggis wrapped in filo pastry with a berry sauce. The Filo was very crispy and the haggis very soft and had a great flavour - very fresh and full bodied. For my liking however, the Berry sauce it came with was a bit too sweet and overpowering for me and detracted slightly from the flavour of the haggis itself.

For the main I had lamb on the bone (at £19.95). The meat was of excellent quality and very tender and succulent. There didn't seem to be any trace of fat or chewiness. I asked for it to be Cooked medium and it had the perfect amount of red to it. The accompanying Mashed potato was creamy and light. The veg (broccoli and green beans) was cooked well so not too soft although a little bland and lacking seasoning. It also came served with black pudding with aubergine on top that was a lovely combination of textures and flavours. The portion size was good and not over the top in size but not a messily morsel in the centre of a large plate.

Others in the party ordered mains of haggis neaps and tatties, steak and sea bass. Reports from all were excellent too with the exception of the steak that was chewy and not thought to be the best cut of meat. It was asked for cooked well done however and I find that things cooked that much tend to get chewy anyway, but not having tried it myself I can't really comment.

To accompany my meal I had a small glass of Cabernet Sayvignon which was around £6. The wine list was fairly extensive and of good quality. This glass was very drinkable but quite expensive for what I would regard as a table wine. My wife had a small glass of white chardonnay of similar price and complained it was too sweet. I didn't drink it so again can't comment personally.

In all, I would recommend this restaurant for the quality of food and atmosphere despite the fact the service was a little patchy. It is also rather expensive but the quality of the food was excellent so worth forking out for a special occasion.