Oh, my heart hath such conflict! When my hubs and I, both long-time vegetarians, happened to amble past Henderson's I leapt at the chance to finally scope this vegetarian restaurant out. From the exterior Henderson's looked cute enough, and anything claiming to serve veggie foodstuffs warrants a snoop in my book. However, Henderson's was not exactly what I had been expecting.
I'll admit from the get-go that a lot of my confusion comes from not knowing what exactly Henderson's was. First of all, when we ventured inside we walked past a sign that offered table service during a certain window of time. When we got inside to see that there was a buffet-style ordering line just inside, we were unsure what to do: wait to be seated, or order first, or what? As there didn't seem to be any table service happening, and no one guiding folk to seats, we decided on snagging a table first. No problems there--there was plenty of tables to chose from, although some were a bit big for just the two of us. We grabbed one and then approached the ordering line. As there's not much room to stand, we had only perused the menu a few seconds before the girl behind the counter chirped, "Ready to order?" That along with the people waiting behind us lead us to clumsily choosing something on the spot, being given a small wooden spoon to mark our table (cute), then moving on down the line to what we assumed was the checkout. The drinks at the end of the line were displayed, but we didn't have much time to dawdle there either before another (somewhat brusque) girl accepted our payment. I ended up coming back to snag drinks moments later. Again, maybe I can chalk feeling rushed up to my not knowing what the heck I was doing in Henderson's, but there it is.
By the time I'd returned to my table with drinks (two for over 5 pounds--a bit dear!), the food had magically arrived--surprisingly quickly! And happy I was to see it, as I was starving! We'd ordered two "nut burger" options with potato wedges and garlic mayo. What arrived was a nut loaf with three gigantic potato spears and said mayo. Although I was taken aback by what was not to me a burger at all, I was gratified to find my food was delicious, if dense. Talk about a filling meal! Still, when I found out my husband and I had paid just under 30 pounds for one soup, veggie-nut-not-quite-burgers, and two canned drinks, I was a bit dismayed. You could easily pay just that much for a nicer dining experience than no table service, buffet-style ordering, and veggie food. I'll admit the novelty of finding a yummy veggie restaurant is awesome, but ouch. That one hit the wallet a bit below the belt!
I wasn't left feeling overwhelmingly impressed with Henderson's decor, either. Although the interior is lined with artwork of Edinburgh's skylines and cityscapes (nice), the rest is a bit ramshackle in feel. Sometimes mismatched chairs and tables feels quirky and charming, and other times it feels, well, a little messy. Henderson's felt a bit on that end of the spectrum to me, although it was clean and had plenty of seating available.
I'm definitely glad to have finally experienced a undoubtedly tasty meal at Henderson's. However, if you're looking for a slightly more personal, welcoming atmosphere, I'm not entirely sure that this is the place to get it. I think I should visit Henderson's again to scope out the smaller portions and see how that fits my wallet and tastebuds before making a final assessment, especially when knowing how to properly place an order, but as of right now, I feel disappointingly "meh" about the whole experience. read more