It's All Show!
The best thing about this 'fabulous' restaurant is the view. The food was OK, but the ladies toilets were not clean (and a complaint just met with agreement...), waiters banged into the back of my chair with no apology and any complaints didn't seem to be taken seriously. The waiters were attentive but it all felt a bit forced.
Since it opened, Oloroso has had a lot of favourable coverage, but the reality isn't quite so perfect. I won't be going back.    [14 Dec 2003 13:30:08]

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     ­Kate   

Oloroso - Doloroso more like....
We took some friends to Oloroso to soak up the sunny atmosphere and view from the rooftop last Saturday. Initially we ordered drinks from the bar inside, poured by a very genial and conversational barman, and settled in for an afternoon of good conversation in what is definitely a pretty special environment. Once the lunch waiters appeared however, the atmosphere completely changed. Each of the staff covering our area was tense, rude and giving the impression that serving anything less than the £800 bottle of red on the wine list was beneath them. We could only drink bottled beer from the outside bar at our table, not beer in a glass; we shouldn't put anything on our table that we hadn't purchased there(an offending bottle of water) and how ridiculous of me to ask our waiter to repeat the lunch order. Pretentiousness to the nth degree. I have no problem paying £60 for 4 hamburgers and a bottle of house wine as part of a lovely afternoon designed to spoil our friends. But it was thoroughly spoiled by a bad attitude, so we left immediately after lunch.
When will restauranteurs realise that it doesn't matter how beautiful the decor or how tasty the food, that with poor staffing customers won't come back.
We have at least 20 visitors coming to Edinburgh in the course of the next 6 months - that's a lot of custom lost.    [06 May 2004 09:06:48]

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     ­Lucy   

Don't complain about the food
This was out fourth visit to Oloroso on our wedding anniversary. Previously we had raved about the place. Starters were adequate, my husband's dish was very nice. Unfortunately my lemon sole arrived first with the wrong side, then on receiving the right order I found my fish was mainly bones, some ordinary chips, "slow cooked tomatoes" that someone had chucked under the grill for 2 minutes and a very ordinary salad that I could have prepared myself. When paying 23 quid for such a concoction, one feels ripped off. When asked if the meal was good, I said no. A long period ensued where no one came near us. The wannabee snooty manager said the fish was "perfectly cooked", perhaps what little bits of fish in amongst the bones was! After being told that I had eaten most of the dish (I hadn't) the bill arrived with the offending dish on it. Eventually the owner I think was called who waved the dish. By this point our anniversary had been ruined, not even so much by bland food, more the attitude of the restaurant that we had dared complain. Frankly, we were treated like "chancers" instead of customers with a genine complaint. I think this is why people in the UK don't say when they are being ripped off by clearly overpriced food. Oloroso seems to have gotten an over inflated opinion of itself. We won't be back.    [31 Dec 2004 05:10:09]

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     ­Julie   julie_ej_nixon at hotmail dot com

Stunning Location - Stunning Experience
My family and girlfriend arrived to Oloroso for a special dinner which could have been an awkward affair. We were greeted by a very pleasant you girl standing by the reception who asked if we would like to have pre-dinner drinks in the busy bar or restaurant. We opted to sit in the stunning restaurant for our drinks as the vistas are amazing. We were promptly served our cocktails and given the menus which were explained by the knowledgeable Maitre'd. All the dishes looked and tasted amazing and the service was attentive but not obtrusive. My family were impressed and my girlfriend was delighted. I will definitely be going back.    [24 Jun 2005 08:41:02]

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Recommended Dishes: Thai Fish Cakes and Chump of Lamb

     ­David Mac   

don't bother going!
The food is so-so but vastly overpriced and predictable. The reasons I will never go back here are; the staff are unbelievably rude, inattentive and sulky. One waiter even made a racist comment to us as a 'joke'! There is a huge amount of confusion over going on the balcony for a drink. We were told that we had to pay the bill before going outside to finish our wine! I hated being there and I really think that if the many staff problems are sorted out, there will be little or no repeat business.    [29 Jun 2005 07:03:08]

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     ­maria   

Awful
Could not even get past the rude "bouncer" on the door despite being a single attractive female who was meeting friends who were already inside. I was told I had "better call them and tell them I had been refused entry" that the "bar was full". When strings were "pulled" upstairs I was greeted by a half entry bar. For a restaurant already with a reputation for rude and incompetent staff - it is staggering they would place their rudest on the front door. Oloroso suffers from delusional elitism. Awful. There are so many nicer places in Edinburgh. Don't bother unless you have an extremely thick skin for rude staff.    [25 Sep 2005 18:36:18]

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Recommended Dishes: None

     ­Catherine   

Great location, but that's all
Visited Oloroso on 8/10/05 with family and friends who were visiting Edinburgh for a special occasion. Decided to visit for an evening drink. Unfortunately staff were what appears to be their usual unfriendly, and not well trained, selves. We were told off for moving two tables closer together so that the eight of us could converse easily. The reason given was health and safety. If this is an issue I wonder why with health and safety in mind staff were carrying food for the restaurant through a busy smokey bar area. In any case if the tables had to be moved perhaps this could have been done pleasantly rather than dragging them into a number of us. Taking a credit card off of us to secure payment seemed unnecessary given that we would have had to leave by lift and pass the doorman if we were trying to avoid payment. It is ironic that we were ignored for some time when we did try to pay our bill. Not a good experience.    [09 Oct 2005 14:20:10]

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     ­Nigel   

Fair Assessment
I have been to Oloroso a number of times and have found each dining experience to be worst than the last.... always willing to give an establisment the benefit of the doubt i have found all the comments to be fair and it was good to know that i was not the only person receiving bad service. When oloroso is good it is very good indeed but, to be honest, when you are paying a rather large amount of money (50 less drink for two or three courses) for posh pub grub and no service occassions you have to wonder why we keep doing it. The views are stunning from the restaurant but the rules that need to be obeyed whilst enjoying the vista are not worth the hastle. The place is filled with people who like to be seen in the "right" places and wouldnt understand quality and quanity (hence why it is a good place to impress your girlfriends parents!!!). There are a lot of better places out there and i suggest we find them - Tony Singh should retrain his staff and remind them that are waiters and servers of drinks to the people who, when you think about it, pay their wages. I have had better service at Maccy D's!    [16 Nov 2005 10:05:31]

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     ­dineen, Edinburgh   

More than happy
Service attentive with discretion.
Superb view of the city of Edinburgh.
Starters were far better than one would imagine just by looking at the menu. I had a starter of Ham Hock and my husband ate their speciality salmon.
The main course equalled the first although the desserts were overshadowered by its predecessors.
Wine list is good.
Service better than most restaurants here in France, Bravo    [19 Nov 2006 08:56:13]

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Recommended Dishes: Ham hock, smoked salmon, veal dishes and monkfish

     ­alma, Sanary Sur Mer, France   

Self-serving arrogance
What is it about this place? Great location, stylish décor but probably the worst service in Edinburgh.

Arrogant, lacking attention to detail and slow.

I will not be back.    [25 Feb 2008 14:47:44]

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     ­Anonymous