The Sheep Heid Inn at Duddingston has been around since 1360 , which is pretty old by any standard.
Since the weather was beautiful on Friday, a visit to Arthur’s Seat was in the master plan, followed by dinner at the Sheep Heid Inn.
It’s in Duddingston Village which is a cute wee place in itself.
We arrived at 4.45pm, so beating the office crowds to get a seat in the beer garden. The place was pretty busy already, so other people obviously had the same idea.
We took our seat outside and ordered from the bar and perused the menu that was on our table, deciding what to have for dinner.
I went to the bar to order dinner, nothing complicated, just 2 burgers with chips, but was told that you’re not allowed to eat downstairs (inside or outside) on a Friday !?!
We were told we had to go upstairs, where it’s not so fresh and sunny, but there was still a table outside on the balcony. I just don’t understand on such a sunny day why they didn’t bend this rule as once people saw our burgers walk past them, surely other people were going to get the munchies after drinking outside all afternoon !?
This is half of the beer garden from the balcony, please note no-one is eating !
Because it was such a hot day, the kitchen which is beside the balcony had its’ window open and with the grill, we were soon smothered by the smell of beef burgers and all the other dishes that were being cooked, so we had to move from our lovely balcony spot so we didn’t smell like a chippy.
When the burger did come, it was nicely presented and a nice touch was the caramelised onions and lettuce etc, £7.45.
The meat was lovely, perfectly cooked (well we did smell it getting grilled 
) and the chips were good aswell.
The burger filled me up and it was a lovely afternoon / evening apart from the fact that we were moved from our lovely seat outside to eat elsewhere (and it’s not like you can leave and go anywhere else local).
Suitable for disabled ? Yes, there is a toilet on the ground floor, but not recommended if you want to eat on a Friday ! I wonder if they would have made a disabled person go up the stairs ?
2 Comments
31/05/2009 at 22:19
Hi there,
I am so glad you enjoyed your food on Friday but am sorry you were disappointed at being unable to eat downstairs and hope that it didn’t spoil your visit too much. The reason behind our policy is that there is space for 200 people downstairs and 60 upstairs. In order that we maintain the high standard of food that you enjoyed we must limit the number served at any one time and that proves very problematic in the downstairs bar. Therefore we offer food during our peak times (Fri-Sun) solely in the upstairs bar.
Knowing this, I hope you can forgive the inconvenience and will visit us again soon (we do hold barbecues in the garden on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the Simmer months).
Kind regards,
DJ Johnston-Smith
(Manager)
31/05/2009 at 22:33
My friends and I will definately visit again, I have been coming to the Sheep Heid since I was old enough, but I do feel the rules could have been bent for such a beautiful summers day (it was also early and we were the second table to order food) As I pointed out, we were moved from the fresh outside air to the balcony and then smothered in smells from the kitchen as they had their window open. We were more than happy with our meal and tipped the staff for their courteous service.
As a blog who reviews places with their disabled policy and facilities, I do wonder where would they have eaten on the weekend ?
The food was good, but because we wanted to be outside, we ended up elsewhere for dessert and further drinks.
Thank you, Alison