mussel inn

we have visited the mussel inn numerous times and have never been disappointed. inside therestaurantyou are always given a warm greeting upon approaching the bar, and therestauranthas a very rustic atmosphere and offers a warm and cosy dining experience.

we were fortunate enough to be able to sit outside (given the scottish summer weather!), and enjoyed the lunchtime specials, which include mussels, chips or salad, endless bread and a drink for £7.95 each, which is great value given the quality of the mussels and the location.

the mussels are always well prepared and come in a variety of sauces. there is also alternative dining options (except for mussels), although i have to say, why go to the mussel inn if you are not going to eat mussels.

i have eaten mussels all over the world and you simply cannot compare the quality to the mussels you get here!

not to be missed if you are in edinburgh and enjoy your seafood!

i've visited the mussel inn a couple of times now, the mussels are delicious.
to start i had the grilled queenies - grilled queen scallops with black pudding. this was a really nice starter. i went for a kilo of the blue cheese, bacon and cream mussels for my main. the mussels taste great, really fresh and the sauce is so tasty we ordered a second basket of bread to enjoy with it. a kilo of mussels was overkill slightly, along with a starter the half kilo would have been enough.
the house white wine was flavoursome and went nicely with the food.
service was good, staff were much more attentive on the second visit, service had been slow on my first time there. they have had an interesting new special on the board when i have been in. the place has a nice atmosphere however on both visits i have found therestaurantto be very cold, we sat next to a radiator but it didn't seem to be on!

a small group of us came here for some dinner before attending a performance at the clyde auditorium.

therestaurantis very handy for both queen street and central train stations. we travelled in from edinburgh and had only a 5 minute walk. therestaurantis very bright and spacious and very modern inside.

once steaded, we ordered some wine and looked through our food choices. we had seen online that there was a pre-theatre menu, but we hadn't recieved this but having asked for it we were given this also. we chose from the pre-theatre menu. the waitress was also very helpful as one of our party wanted a starter from the main menu and a main form the pre-theatre menu. we appreciated that she was able to accommodate this for us!

to start, i had the smoked salmon spring roll which came with a sweet chilli and creme fraiche dipping sauce. it was delicious! for my main i had the half kilo of mussels in shallot sauce. there were loads! one thing i will mention is that unfortunately some of the mussels had shrivveled in the shells so although the shells looked huge, the mussel inside was very small, but this didn't take away from the taste!

the waitress was also very kind in calling a taxi for us after our meal. i thoroughly enjoyed my visit and will reccommend to others and hopefully return myself one day!

i was reminded of how much i enjoy oysters when i tasted some lovely plump ones from ancuig seafoods at the scottish food show last week. so when it was suggested that we go to mussel inn for dinner friday night i knew immediately what my starter would be. the mussel inn isn’t one of the places that ancuig supplies, and i’m not going to discuss the relative values of oysters, but i will wax lyrical over a meal of molluscs. ah, a beautiful thing, the mollusc, when fresh, sea-scented and accompanied by a clean white wine.

the mussel inn is a mid-sized and from the outside a somewhat unassumingrestauranttucked away on rose street, not all that far from seadogs. it suggests sea food from the get-go: there are huge mosaic fish on the walls and there’s a fairly fishy ambiance. the menu is straightforward and fish-focussed. mussels is an unsurprising speciality and comes in half kilo or kilo pots in several different sauces. 

since my mind was set on starting my meal with a half-dozen oysters, i thought it only logical to make my main a half-kilo of mussels in a shallot sauce. service is snappy so there was not long between order and starter.

the oysters made me very happy. they had that perfect sea flavour that needs no fiddling, although i find it difficult not to squeeze a little bit of lemon on, just because i like lemons so much. these would have been perfect on their own, dressed in nothing but their delectable liquor.

i enjoy the way mussel inn serves mussels. they come in a large pot, with the sauce written on the lid. the lid is where the shells go as you empty the pot. the shallot mussels come in a white wine, shallot and cream sauce. i was tempted by the natural mussels who come in nothing but their own juices, but the shallot won me over. it had a light flavour that complemented the mussels well. not overpowering, and light despite the cream. i ate it all greedily.

my companion had the vegetarian pasta. it came with mushrooms and a few leaves of spinach. really, not something worth talking about. not like the mussels. so let’s get back to them.

mussels are finger food: i eat mine using a small shell to pick the meat out of larger shells. i use larger shells to spoon up the sauce even when spoons are supplied. i stack the empty shells inside each other to save time (and because it looks pleasing). i enjoy hands-on food and i enjoy being hands-on with it. the lemon wipe at the end of the meal is very welcome.

to finish, i had affogato. exquisitely simple and a delightful mixture of adult and childish pleasures, affogato is vanilla ice cream onto which you pour espresso and liqueur. i chose amaretto to make the perfect indulgent and silly desert to round off a perfect meal.

the bill came to £60 which really impressed me considering that we had two 3-course meals and a £20 bottle of viognier. service was friendly and prompt. mussel inn gets busy on a friday and is quite buzzy too. tables at the mussel inn are close together so you can listen in to your neighbour’s conversation if you have none yourself.

it is a really good place for mussels. straight up.

even though they were turning larger groups away if they didn't have a booking, the host managed to squeeze me in near the bar and i have to say, i was very happy with both my table and the food. even though they were clearly run off their feet, the staff were friendly and efficient and my chilli, ginger and lemongrass mussels were the best i've eaten in a long time. in fact it was arguably the best meal i ate during my short stay in edinburgh. there's a reason why thisrestaurantis do busy. it's because the food is superb!

terrible service, basic food. bad service seems to be a trend in reviews of this restaurant, i visited anyway and although i wasn't disappointed with the food, this was only because fresh fish is always tasty, not because of the restaurant's presentation or culinary expertise. this is yet another example of arestaurantbecoming a victim of their own success. the food was tasty as i said, but the wait for a table, attitude of the staff that customers are lucky to get to eat there was a complete turn off for me. portions here have become smaller and smaller, getting a table is difficult, yet once there the staff are inept yet arrogant and the food is really basic. i'd recommend the mussel and steak bar in the grassmarket- far superior! beautiful presentation, consistently friendly staff members and all this remains the same despite its popularity. the mussel inn is on the way out...

the seafood may be responsibly sourced, however the same cannot be said for the staff. genuinely rude, unhelpful and with a disgraceful attitude to customer service. i can only recommend that people give thisrestaurantthe wide berth it deserves.

fresh, fresh, fresh!. amazing fish, nice smallrestaurantin rose street. informal and the best quality fish in town. beats fishers!