We had a fantastic dinner at the Michelin-recommended Number One at the Balmoral. It was our last…read morenight in Edinburgh, and our goal was to have a truly special evening. In terms of service, atmosphere, and food, that's exactly what we got.
My wife and I both had 5-course tasting menus. As a vegetarian, I was especially pleased they were not only able to accommodate my diet, but do so in a spectacular way.
The experience was opulent and comfortable from the moment we walked in. We were seated at a very comfortable, spacious round table, next to each other with a view of the rest of the dining room. Kind of felt like royalty.
With such a nice, upscale place, it's easy for the atmosphere and staff interaction to feel overly important and stuffy. Not so here, though...all of the staff we interacted with, from the host to the sommelier to our server, as well as the person who brought our food, were all comfortable and fun. The sommelier was particularly engaging and gave us a nice sense of him as a human who cared deeply about what he was presenting to us.
The food was outasite...especially as a vegetarian, to be so thoughtfully and well taken care of was fantastic. Everything was beautiful and delicious...the courses were not too large...so the meal, despite being 5 courses (plus lovely amuse-bouche canapés), was designed to be finished...and finish it I did. (Not to mention a healthy portion of the seeded bread and butter they brought.
We added on the Balmoral honey dessert as they have bees on the roof of the hotel and the honey couldn't be any more local than that. We wished they'd brought one for us to share, but they brought us 2 separate ones, which was more than we needed after 2 five-course meals, which already came with dessert. There were also many solicitations of add-ons- macarons, after-dinner desserts, drinks, and cheeses...it did feel a tiny bit like they were looking for every opportunity to add items to our bill.
Also, tiny disappointment...we had mentioned during the reservation that it was our anniversary dinner, and when seated, they did ask us about that to confirm...but at no point during the meal after that did they acknowledge that in any way.
Besides that, the overall experience was fantastic, indulgent, and delicious. Highly recommended extremely fine dining experience in Edinburgh in an historic building.