Iris

Decent little restaurant with 2 course lunch £14.95 3 course £17.95. Eclectic menu with halloumi salad, sweet and sour pork, salmon and aubergine kebab meaning no obvious single geographic influence. Friendly enough, attentive staff.

Went here with a large group of friends on a Friday evening. The staff were very helpful, when we originally booked we didn’t know how many there would be, we started off at 5 and ended up with 18. They let us have a semi private room which was fab for us and the other guests as we were a bit noisy. They phoned us to confirm a few details and were just great.
I had the duck breast and sweet potato side which were just delicious. Every single person in our party really loved their food.
Actually I can find no fault in their restaurant hence the first 5 star review I have ever given!

Visited here as a party of 6 for my Mum’s 70^th Birthday & we weren’t disappointed. From the minute we walked in, the service was first class with pleasant décor, subdued lighting allowing the menu to do the talking. Our table had Mussels (what a plateful!), Pig Cheek, Scallops and the Chorizo with Morcilla for starters. All were superb. For mains we had Steak, Sea Bass, Chicken with Langoustine, Lamb & Haggis Parcels and the Lamb from the «specials». As the mains do not come with any veg, we ordered 3 fries & 2 potatoes with veg (green beans with baby carrots) to share. All were delicious resulting in clean plates. Finally, with just enough room for dessert we enjoyed Sticky Toffee Pudding, Pistachio Meringue, Chocolate Mousse (from the «specials»), Orange & Almond Cake (from the «specials»), Lime Sorbet & Passionfruit Sorbet. All finished off the meal perfectly. Although the restaurant was full with a turnover of tables, the service at all times was slick. Including a bottle of house white (crisp Italian £15.99) & 4 soft drinks the bill came to £190 with a further 10% service charge which was excellent value for money. An absolute gem of a restaurant.

As a regular visitor to Thistle St, I had perused the menu at Iris once or twice on the way to the Bön Vivant. After reading JD’s blog and seeing the picture of the duck dish, I booked for a friend’s visit to Edinburgh.
Our food was excellent. Having already had mini bites and wine late afternoon at the BV, we went for a main and pud. The duck was beautiful — cooked pink, decent sized portion and the raspberry sauce added a lovely sweetness to the duck which didn’t over power. You do have to order sides separately, so we went for winter vegetables and sweet potato wedges with chili and coriander mayo. Winter veggies were lovely and cooked to perfection but the sweet potato wedges and mayo was divine! Seriously, we both loved this dish and I would even go back to have this side on its own as a drinking munchy snack.
Pud’s were good — I’m GF so the cakes were off limit but I had a (warm) plum compote which was normally served as part of the crumble with vanilla ice cream. It was decent enough but not wow, though this can be tricky with puds which are GF. My friend loved her key lime pie.
We were around £60ish for two courses each (main and puds+2 sides which you order separate to your main), 2 soft drinks, a bottle of red (lovely). Probably not the cheapest meal but it was very good quality and would be good for a treat or if they do set menu’s which other reviews have suggested (just not when we were in).
Staff were friendly and service was good. Atmosphere wise, we probably weren’t in the best place — we sat at the side near the door, so you would get a bit of a draught and it was a bit of a tighter space, so if you book in advance, it is probably worth asking for a table in the main part of the restaurant.
So, well worth a visit

We just ate here on a whim, sure that all these great reviews could not lead us astray. Two hours later, we have our answer: Unilocal has failed us. Our starter was given away to the table behind us (with no apology, though we could clearly hear the servers discussing the mistake), my husband did not get the menu item he ordered, and my dish (lamb rack) was hardly tasty enough to make up for the tiny portion and eternal wait. When we got our bill, the server left us with the credit card machine for so long that we finished the process ourselves and had to leave the machine on the table. I think most of these issues could be solved with more employees. I’d steer clear of Iris until they get more and/​or better staff.

I was blown away by Iris, when we visited. Thistle Street is one of my favourite eating and drinking districts in Edinburgh, and this place only served to increase my adoration.
Overall, we said: «Iris offers extremely high quality food, in swish surroundings, with excellent, friendly, knowledgeable service. The only other person I’ve heard extolling its virtues is ardent Unilocaler Jurgen, who is a great fan of the place. I’d like to confirm that I will be joining Jurgen’s chorus of appreciation, as the place is something really very special. It shines bright in a street of precious Edinburgh jewels. I’d suggest you pay it a visit soon. You will be richly rewarded.»

Nice restaurant in the cozy street, thistle street.
Modern and clean place, with a lot of guests at a wednesday.
Food was great, modern, simple with a good flavors.

Was happy my boyfriend and I stumbled into this unassuming restaurant, which from the exterior appears to be a teeny-​tiny hole in the wall place. I was happily surprised to see the trendy and elegant décor inside, without it being overly pretentious.
The thing that shocked me (in a good way!) was how delicious and elegant the food was, without having to mortgage the house to pay for the meal. As an American, I am already pissy when having to spend pounds v. dollars, so the fact that I was able to have a delicious meal, with starters, mains, dessert, and 2 glasses of wine for a reasonable price shocked me. Not to say the a-​la-​carte menu was cheap by any means, but for the tasty food, nice décor and good service I was very happy to pay what they asked!
The garlic fries that we ordered as a side to our black pepper steak was the best garlic fries I’ve ever tasted in my life. The steak was tender and was like butter in our mouths! The wine list was fantastic and the dessert menu was innovative.
Would definitely recommend this spot and can’t wait to try it again!

Went to iris last night for dinner. The food is amazing! We felt welcomed from the moment we stepped in. Bread and butter was served as soon as we sat. The décor was modern and minimal. Tables were close to each other but then the one beside us was empty at that time so it was ok. I would recommend the duck — it just melts in your mouth. I have never tasted anything like it. Beautifully decorated, too. You have to order sides. I did order the potatoes and asparagus and it was divine! Make a reservation before you go. The place tend to fill up fast. Service was great. The wait staff were great. They made sure we liked the food and that everything is ok and as expected. I would definitely come back!

Iris is the latest addition to the Thistle Street restaurant scene.
Situated on Thistle Street, Iris is right in the centre of the New Town area of Edinburgh and it is just around the corner from the main shopping street, Princes Street, and so it is a convenient place to reach.
Iris is really small from the outside, and walking past it I didn’t think it was a restaurant at all. I came here a few weeks ago with my parents for lunch and we had a wonderful time. Iris’s menu offers a decent choice of authentic British dishes such as steak, lamb and roast duck. I had the scallops for a starter which were really beautifully cooked and served with ham which tasted amazing. I then had salmon with anchovies and tomatoes which was gorgeous — I didn’t think I liked anchovies, but they tasted amazing with the salmon — yummy! The portion sizes are really decent and the prices are super reasonable too, with two courses costing about £11, and a three course meal costing £15 — what a bargain!
Iris is a great place to go for a wonderful tasting meals at amazing prices.

It’s true that Edinburgh has more than its fair share of ‘modern european’ eateries. And there’s no denying that this is yet another one to add to the list. But the plus side of this is that the competition among them means that the good ones are usually extremely good.
Iris is the newest addition to this collection on Thistle Street. Although their Á La Carte is a little too expensive for what it’s worth (hence only 4 stars and not 5), their set lunch menu offers great value for money. I’d highly recommend their Mussel starter — it comes with toaste pine nuts, bacon and fresh basil cream. It’ll have you racking up the hours in the gym in the days that follow, but it’s so worth it!

As soon as you walk into Iris, you can tell it’s a brand spanking new place.
The interior reminds me of something you would find in a hotel, with fancy, patterned wallpaper, plush seats and clean lines, giving off a very modern and cosmopolitan feel. The waiter who took us to our seats couldn’t have been nicer, and pulled my seat out and everything. Chivalry is not dead, it would seem!
The menu is European, which makes for a nice choice if you and your dining partner can’t agree on a cuisine. It does a particularly lovely line in seafood, which suits me down to the ground, yet repulses my partner. Luckily for him, the menu is rich in red meats too, which is ideal for his tastes. Everyone’s happy!
I had he scallops with Iberian ham for a starter, which were tender, juicy and most importantly perfectly cooked. I can count the amount of times I have had perfectly cooked scallops on one hand, but I continuously get them just incase they happen to be done right, and when they are, they are the best things ever! These were probably the best I have tasted.
I decided to stick to fish for my main, and had the panfried fish with sweet and sour dressing. I don’t usually go for sweet and sour but this was really outstanding. It was fresh, tasty and zingy, it really packed a punch. It came with a salad but I ordered sweet potato fries to go with it, which were so tasty. My boyfriend pinched a few too, and couldn’t rave about them enough.
We stuck to the two courses, which came to £11.95 each excluding drinks and sides, so the menu came to around £30 for two courses each, a side and a couple of drinks, which I thought was great value. Next time, I am definitely trying the lamb though… the table next to us had it and the smell nearly had me sitting on the guys knee! Fantastic.

When it opened I was hard pushed to go anywhere else for dinner. The food was great and fresh. I was in love with the scallops and fried prawns and everything on the menu was so tempting it was hard to chose. We used to go from loads of big ground nights out because of the layout tables could be pushed together easily.
A modern wine list is present and staff are friendly but I grew out of love very fast when it the newness became a bit boring and when we walked in off the street and stood at the foyer/​till waiting to be seated, not only were there no customers, there was no staff. after 10 minutes and trying to find someone who worked there we gave up and went elsewhere and I haven’t been back. It seems to have lost all it’s appeal and I hope that it’ll bring it back because the chef’s really were fantastic.

Superb, always consistent great food!
I recommend the duck and the calamari! One of my favourite places in the city!

Nice ambience and friendly staff make this a welcome addition to the New Town restaurant scene.
A good quality, well priced wine list (including two rose when many places mysteriously only manage one) sets off well the food menu (half a dozen reasonably priced starters, 8 or so main courses leaning strongly towards the top of the £9 — £15 bracket, 3 cheaply priced salads, half a dozen medium priced side-​orders and a handful of mid-​price desserts (cheese £5.90)).
My duck was melt-​in-​the-​mouth tender and the ginger infused sauce a delight whilst the side order of green beans were cooked to perfection. Desiring more than one type of veg with your main dish could though start making thigs quite pricey so sharing is a good idea. The lemon tart with blackcurrant coulis was a pleasant dessert and the Spanish rose washed it all down well.

My 100^th review!!! WOOT WOOT. I remember when writing 100 reviews seemed like an impossibility but here I am. Just finishing my 100^th and I feel on TOP OF THE WORLD. wwwhoooo hoooo. Ok enough of that on to reviewing this restaurant.
I went to Iris with my parents after it came highly recommended from some Scottish friends of mine. At first when we walked in the restaurant was completely empty and I got a little worried (I mean after all it was 7:30… not an unusual time for most people to be eating dinner…) but needless to say that by the time we left the restaurant was full of people. It was nice though because for the 20 minutes we had the place all to ourselves.
We ordered the lamb loin to start and it was SCRUMPTIOUS… we all inhaled in in like 10 sec. and the roasted tomatoes were done on the vine which I thought made them even better and sweeter… Would totally order it again though the portion of the lamb was a bit skimpy… but then again that’s one of my large critiques for the whole restaurant — that the portions were really small and that there wasn’t much meat for cost… which is a no no in my book and thus –1 *.
For dinner I ordered the Monkfish which I would have to say though beautifully cooked had an extremely disappointing sauce. The sauce almost tasted like mulled wine and while I applaud the chef for thinking outside the box… any sauce that tastes like mulled wine just does not fly. Also, the monkfish just sat there on the plate with nothing under it or no vegetable of any kind which I though was extremely embarrassing and that it goes against one of the fundamental rules of plating when it comes to food.
Despite this shortcoming the sweet potato fries that I ordered where absolutely AMAZING and I loved them and in fact I could make a meal out of them. Thus solidifying the 4 star rating.
For desert I had sticky toffee pudding and it was absolutely AMAZING too.
Needless to say I would totally go back. The wine we had was good and our server was nice. The atmosphere was cozy and modern and the street it was on was cute and quite. I would totally go back and if Iris was in St. Andrews I would be going there for my birthday.
— What great resturant to make my 100^th review on!!!—