When you walk you are reminded of how quaint and small most businesses are in the UK. The menu is terrific. Many options and you soon realize how much they care. The food is amazing. We started with the soup of the day which was lentil. It was amazing. Full and rich and flavorful. Next the Haggis Wellington which on this trip I have become a fan. This was the best of the trip. Then the Venison tenderloin and wowo. What a hit. A whole lobster fresh and tasty. And before I forget a simple dinner salad with the most delicate and lovely dressing. A hit for anything you desire. Service was a team effort and perfect. read more

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It's has such an unassuming look to it when you first walk in. There's just one big round booth in the back with only a few tables to the side and back of the bar. There is an outdoor space that sits on the West Bow bend of Grassmarket, but nothing was set up for that when we were there for a late lunch. Perhaps it's a seasonal thing. All first impressions aside, it turned out to be a very good lunch. We were greeted immediately upon entering. We were fortunate to get a table without a reservation. You will definitely need one here during peak times. The service was warm & friendly. Artur was very helpful in answering all of our questions. The lunch menu is limited, but you can also order from the higher priced dinner menu as well. I was mostly amazed by the fact that you get complimentary oysters delivered to your table. My husband is not a seafood fan, so I was fortunate enough to enjoy both of them. These are large & tasty Pacific oysters grown at a farm in Loch Fyne. Delicious! It was such a great starter. I couldn't pass up the half kilo pot (lunch portion) of steamed mussels. These are Scottish rope-grown mussels. I should have ordered a kilo. They were so addicting. The white wine sauce with shallots was perfect. However, I did have a difficult time deciding which sauce to choose. The whisky with smoked bacon also sounded amazing. If I had to say anything negative, it would be to maybe add more bread to soak up the sauce. I probably could have asked for more, but I didn't. That's on me. I really wanted to return to try the Surf & Turf. We just didn't have enough time to do it all. I would go back in a heartbeat. It ended up being a great find. A great experience! read more

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Great place! Started strong with complimentary oysters as we sat down. We ordered platter of grilled scallops they were so delicious we ordered a second platter. Perfectly cooked and absolutely delicious. Ordered bucket of mussels they were good not great. More on the smaller size but generous in serving Also shared a filet mignon steak which was excellent. Also enjoyed their fish and chips which was haddock very good nice serving size. Service was great. Definitely would return and get their seafood platter. Looked amazing and would definitely serve the four of us. read more

Located on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, this is a great place to go if you want delicious food in a relaxing setting. Friendly staff, warm ambiance, and great service. Our meal started out with a free oyster for each of us (there were 3). We ended up ordering a dozen more, plus we shared orders of scallops, tomahawk steak with salad and steamed rice. For dessert, a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a wafer. So glad we decided to eat here. read more

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I've been to Edinburgh quite a few times and always avoided this restaurant because I thought it was touristy. During my recent visit my friend and I ended up here for dinner and I'm so glad we did! The food was amazing especially the scallops. The portions were really generous. The service was so friendly and attentive. I definitely recommend and look forward to dining here again. read more

Service was spot on! Recommended by my boss we went in without a reservation and only waited 20 mins. Food was great, tried a little of everything. Even got their free appetizer to test out! read more

The Mussel and Steak Bar - Oysters - Seafood Near Me - Edinburgh, EDH

This place was recommended by friend who is was with & I enjoyed it so much the first night that we returned a second night in a row. We were given two fresh oysters as a free starter, which was very nice. For drinks, I had an Aperol Spritz which came in a huge goblet & my friend had a Peroni (beer). For our first meal, we shared the order of mussels (1kg) with white wine, cream & shallot sauce. My friend had the seafood pasta & I had the fish & chips. Everything was yummy & the fish piece that was part of the fish and chip entree was huge. We shared the sticky toffee pudding cake that was recommended by our server, Rory. It was a delicious end to our meal. We decided to return for dinner the following evening before our departure via train to Glasgow. This time, we each had our own order of mussels & we shared a green salad & basket of bread. I had a pornstar martini (this drink is common in UK & made with vodka, passionfruit purée, lime juice, simple syrup & Prosecco. It's on the sweeter side which I prefer & was refreshing. We finished our meal with the sticky toffee pudding cake with vanilla ice cream again. Great friendly & warm service from everyone especially Rory! Cute interior dining room with additional seating upstairs. If you love mussels (they also have lobster & crab) you should visit this place! read more

The Mussel and Steak Bar - Garden salad - Seafood Near Me - Edinburgh, EDH

Wonderful food and service. We had a great time and made some new memories too. The hostess is the best . She keeps it moving read more

Amazing food. Probably the best oyster shot I have ever had - and I have had so many, in at least 100+ restaurants around the world. The skink soup is beyond amazing, makes anew Hampshire's clam chowder look like an "amateur" . Still waiting on my main course as we speaker but I'm not worried. read more

Wow! Phenomenal! The best mussels I've had in... ever! I had the chili garlic, and it was a delight. Not oily or fatty, perfect balance of garlic with a touch of mild heat in a delightful broth. Ordered steamed rice with the dish so I could mop up the leftover sauce after devouring the mussels. Perfect pair! Husband had filet that was cooked perfectly. He loved the peppercorn sauce and the fries were crispy and delish. Our server was also friendly and attentive. We finished with the skinny cheesecake and were not disappointed. Wish I lived next door to this spot! read more

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The best mussels we have had. Surf and Turf was a must! They brought two complementary oysters and they were also some of the best. read more

The Mussel and Steak Bar - Complementary Oysters - Seafood Near Me - Edinburgh, EDH

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When you sit down in a restaurant and the first thing they do is give you free oysters, you know you're in the right place. Especially, if you're an otter like me and could live your whole life just eating oysters (and clams and mussels and shrimp and crab, etc., etc., etc.) We had reservations so we sat right away but we were sitting right by the host stand/POS and many people walked up without reservations. I was shocked at the amount of people they made room for. I was quite impressed that they didn't turn away one person (at least that I saw.) The seating was spacious and the décor was beautiful. The place feels very upscale in a cute way, not pretentious. I will say I'm happy we had a reservation for the seating. We had ample room but some of the walk in had a tiny space, but shoot, I'd eat here in a small space. It was good. The bar is a tiny little space but the bartender is a beast and she was pumping out those cocktails and drinks like her life depended on it. They were also delicious and strong. The food was incredible. Of course, the oysters (which we ordered more of) were delicious but the cullen skink was the best version I had while on this trip. I had the mussels in white wine and my mans had a ribeye. Both were incredible. The only thing I wish I had ordered was some bread to sop up the white wine sauce but honestly, I wouldn't have been able to fit it in. read more

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We dined here one night out of desperation to get away from pub food and it turned out to be the best meal we ate on our trip to Edinburgh. The waitress brought us 2 complementary oysters with our wine and at first I was worried, "why free"? But she assured me they were sourced that morning and we've heard that seafood is very fresh there. Our meals were fantastic! My husband had the rack of ribs and although he said the glaze was on the sweet side, it was surprisingly delicious. Portions wise, it was almost too much food. I had the venison and it was absolutely wonderful! Tender, medium rare, seasoned to perfection. I literally still crave it even though we're home now. Ambiance is classy but comfortable and the staff is very nice and friendly. I highly recommend you put this place on your dining options list while visiting. read more

Walked in just after 5pm and was immediately seated. They started us off with a couple complimentary fresh oysters, which were so yummy! Ordered cullen skink, grilled scallops, and mussels cooked in white wine and shallots. Seafood was so fresh, well prepared, fairly priced. We were especially surprised with the large portion size of the mussels. Good value. Everything was delicious! Staff was professional and friendly. Environment was quiet and relaxing. We didn't have the fish and chips, but the lady next to us did and it looked really good! Will definitely come back and try other items next time read more

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In the event that one encounters sunshine in Edinburgh, places like Mussels and Steak are the perfect complement. But aside from their outside seating options which provide choice people-watching fare, their actual fare is as advertised. Prior to flying in I had not really considered that Edinburgh was a port town and thus had hardly thought about seafood. Like many I'd thought more whiskey and pints, and while food was on my mind, my hopes were not exactly high. Mussels and Steak though made me realize that one can scour and find much more than pub food here. Thankfully they've just enough of a beer selection to stick around for a while. A number of places in this part of Edinburgh boast the outside seating and skate by on that. M and S does food, drinks, and outdoor seating, and may just be the best overall spot in this location. read more

I made reservations at Mussel and Steak bar on a whim, trying to scramble together last minute dinner plans. Honestly I had low expectations for this place since it's in one of the most touristy sections of Old Town. I'm happy to say my dinner was fantastic! I ordered their Scottish Brown Crab and a side of fries. The crab also came with a decently portioned salad. I absolutely LOVE crab, and this was one of the best crab dishes I've ever had! In the US, restaurants almost always de-shell them and take away the best parts (the "mustard" and roe in the middle, the meat inside the lateral portions of the shell). I appreciate the more natural, untarnished approach that non-US countries take. Here they cooked it, cut it in half, then I think they seared the ends and added some garlic butter. This was a little bit bigger than a dungeness crab, and came with a plentiful amount of the good stuff! The service here was also exceptional. The food came out very quickly. I noticed they were great about working with the other patrons (the family next to me seemed to have VERY strict dietary requirements) and each table even got a free oyster to sample. I love oysters as well, and this one tasted very fresh. I almost considered ordering a half dozen. This is another Edinburgh restaurant I would definitely revisit! read more

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During our vacation, my partner and I had the pleasure of dining at The Mussel and Steak Bar, and it turned out to be one of the best meals we've ever had. We ordered the Tomahawk steak, and it was cooked to absolute perfection--tender, flavorful, and paired with exquisite whiskey and peppercorn sauces that complemented the dish beautifully. The oysters were incredibly fresh as well. We were greeted with warmth and professionalism from the moment we walked in. Dana, in particular, went above and beyond to make us feel right at home, ensuring we had everything we needed. The entire staff was friendly and attentive and truly made the evening special. We tried another steakhouse in Edinburgh the next night, but it couldn't compare to The Mussel and Steak Bar. So, we returned for a second night to relive the incredible dining experience. It's safe to say that this restaurant has set the bar high--and now, I am sad to return home as my favorite restaurant will be more than 4,000 miles away. read more

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I absolutely enjoyed my dinner at the Mussel and Steak Bar. The staff was super friendly and the food fresh and delicious. I highly recommend getting a reservation because when I was there, they were packed and were turning folks away who didn't have reservations. It's a small place located at the end of Victoria St. across from the Grassmarket hotel (which was where I was staying). They do have an upstairs for additional seating. I ordered their surf and turf and it was delicious. I am not a mussel person but truly enjoyed these. I ended up eating all of it. I also ordered a side of butter pasta which was just as delicious and their bread pudding toffee dessert. Absolutely delicious! Highly recommend. read more

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We just stopped in to get a snack and warm up. We were so pleasantly surprised! Complimentary oysters were really fresh! I had grilled muscles with a side of fresh bread for dipping. Others had soup. Everyone was very happy. The place is very pretty inside and overall fancier on the inside than it looks from the outside. The staff was attentive and friendly. read more

The Mussel and Steak Bar - Complimentary oysters for starters. Passion fruit martini. - Seafood Near Me - Edinburgh, EDH

Amazing foods all different flavours quantities are excellent staff are great too presentation of food temperature is great , interior of business is good read more

Everything was so fresh and delightful! Loved the complimentary fresh oysters! And the mussels were outstanding. Restaurant has a fresh energetic vibe! read more

Probably good for the tourist district but we had a mixed experience. The start of our meal was lovely with a complimentary fresh oyster and the Cullen Skink soup. The Seafood Linguini was just ok. We had better mussels out in Leith the day before. But what really disappointed was the service. After we received our entrees we were pretty much ignored. The waiters seemed understaffed, having to bus their own tables. It was hard to get their attention for the bill to leave. The venue also blasted mediocre pop music. read more

Motivated by the great reviews but we were disappointed. Some of the mussels tasted off. Bar service was good but needed much better selection of draft beers. Beer and mussels go together, right? Steak pie and mash was best thing we ate. read more

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Our family birthday dinner for 5 was the best ever thanks to the amazing lobster, mussels and birthday mocktails and genuinely kindest, warmest team members ever! Thank you to the sweetest manager who made a table adjustment and treated our birthday girl like she was part of her family. She made these beautiful and scrumptious raspberry mocktails for the kids. I tried to get a number of pictures to show the lobster and mussels. They have mussels on the kids menu served with crusty bread- the sauce was delicious (we dipped everything in the sauce including the mussels!). Having grown up in New England - I have been lucky enough to have quite a bit of lobster growing up. The menu offered freshly caught lobster 3 ways- we tried two of the three- the lobsters were cooked absolutely perfectly! We picked a baileys cheesecake for dessert and one of the waiters said he would have it made "kiddo style" - It was topped with a candle and of course "Happy Birthday" singing to our sweet girl from everyone was just lovely! Thank you for making our evening a treasured memory! read more

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Came with my family for dinner and it was delicious! We had the mussels as an appetizer, my family ordered the linguini and I ordered the pork ribs. I didn't think a seafood dominant place would have such tender ribs, the meat literally slipped off my fork and the spicy sauce they used was to die for. Our server Daniel and our food runner (didn't catch his name, tall blonde fellow) were superb with strong attentiveness and great charisma. Highly recommend this place when you're visiting Edinburgh! read more

The Mussel and Steak Bar - Pork ribs - Seafood Near Me - Edinburgh, EDH

This is such a cute restaurant, it may look small but there's a seating area upstairs as well. I didn't know that Scotland farmed so much of its own seafood - oysters, mussels, clams, fish, etc., from its own rich waters. That's great because you can taste that freshness here. Friendly greeters and server. We were seated as fast as gravity would allow. While deciding, we were treated to fresh oysters - yummy and no Yelp check in required. The mashed peas were new for me (kinda like Gerber's baby food) and the seafood sampler was a bountiful cornucopia of all types of shellfish. I even had a few teaspoons of the broth - that would have been great to soak up with a baguette and bottle of red wine - although it was a wee bit too early for that. Great ambiance and definitely a reprieve from walking around The Grassmarket area. read more

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Such a wonderful experience here. Our seafood was super fresh and the service was awesome. We had a reservation for 5pm and were seated promptly by very friendly staff. We were treated to a sample of fresh oysters and that ensured we would be ordering more. We followed that up with the "world famous sharing platter," and it was fantastic! I've never enjoyed mussels or oysters until today. Such a great experience. Highly recommend! read more

The Mussel and Steak Bar - Fresh oysters - Seafood Near Me - Edinburgh, EDH

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Very nice seafood place at the bottom of Victoria street at the lively grassmarket area. Evening during the week they open at 5pm for dinner. It doesn't say on the website and no one answers your phone when they are closed which is very not helpful and I called outside of the restaurant I saw them look at the phone then ignore it. WiFi during the dining also doesn't work, reported twice but doesn't seem like they care. And they were talking to each other seems like they are annoyed by me asking to fix WiFi. Other than that service was good and fast, I was the first one and only one for dinner so all the food came fairly fast. Ordered king scallops for appetizer, it's wrapped in ham on a base of cauliflower purée; I personally think the ham and cauliflower is overpowering the sweetness of the scallops, still tasty. Order the shellfish platter, came with mixed seafood including shrimp, squid, oyster; clams, mussels and crab claws cooked in the tomato sauce. Really delicious and a must try. Please do order a side of bread for the sauce, also that will fill you up if you have big appetite like me. I also got one piece of oyster as appetizer from the owner, it's for everyone today. All the seafood taste really fresh m. Quite enjoy the food so despite the service is a bit odd but have to give them good review for the food. read more

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The Mussel and Steak Bar was very close to our VRBO. We went without reservations and they managed to find us a table. The service was good, considering how busy they were. They have a very good house white wine which is reasonably priced. We had vegetable linguine and fish and chips. Both were excellent. Table next to us had mussels, which looked delicious. The restaurant has 2 floors and an outside patio. Both spaces are very nice. Good choice in Grassmarket if you're tired of pub food. read more

The service and atmosphere were great. The Mussels, oysters, and haggis Wellington were all amazing. The steak was just okay. other than that, everything was wonderful! read more

The food was exemptionllaly good, especially the short ribs. Staff is attentive and friendly and the restaurant is quaint read more

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Had a wonderful meal here with the family last night. Whole seabass was amazing and was the star of the meal. The steaks are solid although you should know the beef isn't like in the US or Japan for that matter. It's much less "meaty" tasing. I had the ribeye and it's a flat piece 8oz. The muscles and oysters were great. The smoked salmon was quite tasty. Also the desserts were awesome. The cheesecake is very light and pretty much the opposite of NY style. The cake was super moist and two desserts were perfect for 6 people. Make reservations or expect an hour wait. Service was great! read more

We were here twice while visiting Edinburgh. The first time with a party of 11 and the staff could not have been more accommodating. The food was delicious ~ and between our large group, we ordered a variety and everyone raved. We loved it so much that we went back again ~ smaller group. The staff remembered us and once again provided outstanding food and service. The oysters are fantastic , as are the mussels. We loved the simple, fresh house salad too. We will definitely recommend this to friends headed to Edinburgh. read more

I love seafood and I love Edinburgh. This location at the end of Victoria street marries that together. Price tag is hefty but that's the UK for you. My wife didn't love her crab dish but the oysters, mussels and langoustines were excellent. Our server was fast, friendly and knowledgeable. read more

The Mussel and Steak Bar - The seafood platter 10/10 - Seafood Near Me - Edinburgh, EDH

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This place was amazing. Staff are super friendly, place is on the smaller side but neatly decorated modern and clean but still cozy with all the wood and modern accents, The food was fantastic, mostly small plates and larger shareable plates. Crab scotch eggs are the best I ever had and our party of 3 devoured them so we had to get 2 more orders. Charred octopus was excellent, even my non octopus loving wife liked it. The salmon with scotch bonnet peppers is a must. We went through three orders of that oh so good. The seafood platter looks really good as well there is a hot version and a cold version and lobster is included with both. Then there are the drinks. Bartender was spot on. I had the Pacific martini which included a super smooth gin from Japan and seaweed mist. The Old fashion was perfect as well and so were the other drinks around the table. If you like seafood you must try this place. Will probably return again before we leave Edinburg. read more

Best food & service Great Chips, crispy Best light & fluffy Cheesecake Loved the scallops & steak read more

We only stayed 2 nights in Edinburgh, Scotland, but we patronized this little restaurant twice. It was too hot to sit outside, so we had the table next to the front entrance. I had steak and french fries, it was excellent, both times. We wife ordered the bucket of mussels, she said it was incredible, for both the quantity and price. In America, you paid double for half the portion. I believe the restaurant also gave us free oysters or clams, on the house. At 1st glance, my steak looked so humongous, so I said I'll doggie-bagged it back to the hotel, but I finished it all, including the fries & bread. I didn't even need steak sauce, so tender and tasty. Our American steak & seafood houses need to learn to cook like that... simple and nice. I think they even have free wifi. The bar, actually more like a restaurant, is right in the center of GrassMarket. If we stay a 3rd night in Edinburgh, we would have gone back for a 3rd time. Bravo for Scotland! read more

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Food amazing! Started with Cullen skink - highly recommend! Got the special- whole lobster. Worth every penny! Must try when in Edinburgh!

Food was good it just took quite sometime... restaurant was understaffed and the waiting was over 45 min to get our food. The seafood linguine was tasty read more

I've never written any reviews for restaurants but just cannot help giving The Mussel and Steak Bar an 1-star. It's our last day visiting Edinburgh - decided to have dinner here to conclude our lovely trip. We ordered two starters and their acclaimed Shellfish Platter and Rib Eye as entree. The starters were fine, but after we finished them, we waited about 1 hour for the entree, whilst guests at the table next to us got their food (they came later than us, had starters and also ordered Shellfish Platter & Rib Eye). The excuse they gave for our long wait was that they didn't start preparing the entrees until we finished starters - this doesn't make sense for two reasons: 1) The server took away the starters plates as we finished them, and after that they kept us waiting for ~50 mins staring at an empty table. Can't believe it'd take so long to prepare a simple seafood platter and steak. 2) Finally when we were enough with the long wait, took our coats and headed to the door, told'em to checkout for what we had and we were about to leave, they brought our long-waited entrees shortly. The food was relatively cold, seemed to prepared in a rush. They offered us the entrees on the house - I declined and paid for everything we had, so that I can justly leave this bad (and my first) review. read more

The Mussel and Steak Bar - Seafood Near Me - Edinburgh, EDH