Pulcinella, Italiano

The restaurant had a very small wine list, which was disappointing as Italian Restaurants typically offer a wider variety of choices. Our dinner consisted of pizza, which unfortunately was not very tasty - it was bland and slightly burnt. However, the delicious olive oil they provided helped to improve the flavor. The service was average.

Was in the UK in July 2013 and after travelling non stop from Barcelona to Edinburgh, found Pulcinella next door to my hotel. The staff were brilliant, and the food was to die for, I had the best mushroom risotto with Truffles!!! in my life!!! And entrée and desert were excellent. A week later I was in London and met friends from Aus at Jamies Itialian. As I had had the risotto in Edinburgh, I thought I would spoil myself again with the 'same ' dish. I was very much disappointed. I had great expectations from the name of the Restaurant, and while I know it wasn 't actually Jamie out the back cooking, the staff did him no favours. If there was Truffles, I didn 't taste them, and the bowl was only 1/2 full (coincidentally, it was the same bowl as used in Edinburgh . Photos show the difference. Well don Plcinella, when I get back to Edinburgh, and I will, I will bring my family to enjoy your amazing food. Thanks :

I visited this restaurant on the Friday before Christmas, which is typically a busy night. However, the restaurant was nearly empty, which was concerning. Despite this, we decided to dine here since we had already made reservations. Unfortunately, we were disappointed with the lack of a warm welcome upon entering. The waiter simply pointed us to our table and walked away. Italian restaurants usually excel at creating a lively and welcoming atmosphere, but Pulcinella fell short in this regard. The service was efficient, but with only one other table occupied, it was to be expected. The food was mediocre, with some dishes feeling like they could be improved upon. One member of our party ordered the minestrone soup, which had large chunks of cabbage and other vegetables that seemed out of place. Overall, the food and service were average, and the atmosphere was lacking. Thankfully, we enjoyed good company during our meal.

We happened upon this small restaurant after wandering around the Royal Mile. It looked enticing from the outside and we weren't disappointed with the general ambience when inside. Unfortunately a good restaurant has to serve up palatable food and the meal we endured was far from tasty. We plumped for the salmon and lemon sole for our mains and what was done to this fish was a travesty. Both dishes were swimming in oil which then became the main flavour. There were no vegetables and none available to order as a side dish, which was quite strange. Vine tomatoes were served without a vine and I ended up with three huge, nearly raw, halves on my plate. The main courses were also served, worryingly, less than five minutes after our starters had been taken away. They had obviously not been cooked from fresh and had been sitting around and waiting for us to finish our first course. It was such a shame as the restaurant did seem to stand out from the tourist traps around the Royal Mile, but ultimately it stood out for all the wrong reasons.

After ten days spent on holidays in Scotland we were almost on our way back to London. One more lunch near Waverley Station before a short ride to the airport to catch the flight. Considering that the alternatives in the royal mile area are either fast food chains or touristic (i.e. not very cheap and not very tasty places I can remember a place nearby selling jacket potatoes starting at £7 each! we decided to go for a £10 for 2 courses lunch at Pulcinella. The place was almost empty and the look and feel was like we left Scotland in 2013 and we entered Italy in the 1900!! The usual menu was not bad and the daily options were even nicer. We ordered a marinated seafood salad (a bit too cold but very tasty! and tomatoes stuffed with butternut squash rice (really good as starters and a portion of Lasagne and a Risotto alla Milanese. Honestly, both lasagne and risotto were just good. We really enjoyed them. Adding one bottle of coke we spent £23.50 which was definitely a fantastic deal in terms of price and quality. I would recommend anyone in the royal mile to try Pulcinella for lunch, far far better than many other places in the area. And being Italian, you might want to trust me when it comes to Italian food :