It’s been the Waldorf since 2011.
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Was at Chef Chi in Portobello last night. Heard a lot of good things about it so decided to try it. All round excellent. Having been battered by the wind and rain walking to it, received a very warm and friendly welcome.
Perusing the menu suggested nothing out of the ordinary, but when the food came it was excellent. Very reasonable prices, just over £50 for two of us, 2 courses and 4 beers - and that included the person I was with having one of the dearest mains on the menu! Does takeaways as well, so will definitely be back
It’s funny you say that and I agree it will always be the Caley to me as well. Tourists however don’t know that and they will always call it by whatever it’s called now, this causes problems in the taxi. So many hotels have changed hands recently or fairly recently. The Caley is now the Waldorf, the Royal Terrace is now the Crown plaza, the George is now the Principal, the Roxburgh is now the Kimpton having briefly also been the Crown Plaza and the Carlton is now the Hilton. It’s an absolute minefield :greengrin
The thing is locals will still use the old names.
This post blows my mind. I grew up in Edinburgh, moved away in my thirties but am regularly back. sometimes to ER and more often for a treat eat out, TBH. I knew the Caley was Waldorf/Galvins whatever but had no idea about the others.
I guess you expect restaurants to turn over on a regular basis but assume the hotels stay relatively constant.
The hotels were always pretty constant until recently. Even if they changed hands the name stayed the same, but recently so many of the big chains have moved in. They don’t necessarily change the name, but they change the branding and they then become known to tourists as whatever that chain may be. When I first started doing the taxis there was one Hilton in Edinburgh, now there’s loads, it’s the same with Marriott. Don’t start me on the budget hotels which are everywhere and they all have ridiculous names. The Premier Inn central is in Lauriston Place despite the fact that there’s two others much more central.
Hotel restaurants are a funny lot. They open to great publicity then fade into nothing eg Galvin nonsense. If I were them, I would be deeply shamefaced
to have my name on this but I guess it is not a priority for them.
Never eat in hotel restaurants I was told when younger and I think that is still true especially in a city like Edinburgh.
I understand it was quite a celebrity haunt.
In fairness, I never went there when it was the Drag. I first started going with my mates circa fifth year at high school, so we were just underage but not by much. The mum of one of my best friends at the time had worked there when it was the Drag, so we referred to it as that, though I think it might have become a Hilton by then or was something else and then became a Hilton.
Abiding memory was there were a couple of students who worked in the bar. They were in a relationship. He was a really nice guy and one time, when we had run out of money, gave us a lift up to Haymarket to go to a cash machine and come back to keep drinking. His girlfriend was gorgeous and we were just in awe of her!
They liked our music choices so they used to just open up the jukebox and give us free credits.
Glory days :greengrin
Yeah, down on the Water of Leith. Think it burned down at one point but was rebuilt. It was definitely the Dragonara and later a Hilton, but I think it might have been something else in between, which frustrates me because that’s probably when I was drinking there! It’s not a Hilton anymore, think it is Britannia.
Really enjoyed that. Delicious Sunday roast. Would highly recommend