Royal Mile Pub

Alright, first things first. This is a Scottish pub, which is right next to an Irish pub. I was there on a Friday evening at dinner time and it was really empty. Not really sure why. There is live music here, which I appreciate.

The food I had was amazing. The stew, which I thought would be bland, was actually really well seasoned and almost a little spicy. Simply excellent, although I think they could have thrown a few more chunks of beef in there. Hard times in Edinborough?

The wings here were also excellent, super tasty. Not sure if the Guinness I ordered tasted right...I think that beer is a delicate one, and sometimes it's better than other times.

I've been going to the Royal Mile for years, and the place is definitely not what it was, but it's not all as bad as the rash of recent reviews bashing the place would make it seem to be.  This review is based on three visits since the change in ownership, over about a 6 month period.

The Hallmark of the place has always been its whiskey menu, and although I am not a whiskey drinker, those who are tell me that this, in any event, has not changed.  Apparently if you go on one of their whiskey tasting nights, the selection is even greater.  The range of beers on draft is good, although I am pretty set in my ways in this regard, and the range of bottled brews has something for everybody.

The service has always been friendly and attentive and in general this is still the case.  When the place gets busy (which it does - the place seems to be MORE full, not less, than it was before the change of ownership, at least when I was present), they can get a bit inattentive and forgetful.

Yes, the change in management has resulted in some changes to the menu - several old favorites are no longer there, which is unfortunate.  But in general the ones I and my family have tried are not bad.  I can't speak to authenticity, but they are tasty and filling.

The corned beef and cabbage is a sizable portion, nicely presented.  However, they no longer serve Colman's mustard to accompany it - or any other Celtic mustard.  What came to the table at our last visit was a generic American yellow, which was a big step down.  

The beef and Guinness stew also looked nice, and the person ordering it in my party indicated it was tasty.  

The vegetarian options used to be very well prepared, if not exactly a broad selection.  They are now an even narrower selection, and somewhat inconsistent.  The Portabello mushroom wrap was soggy because they failed to drain the mushrooms before putting them inside the tortilla, and a bit overcooked.  Tasty, though.  The Welsh rarebit was a bit dry, although again, tasty.  The safest veg bet is the pub salad, which has consistently been fresh, nicely presented, and appealing.  

Vegans will be stuck with the mushrooms.  There are no superlative choices for them on the menu.

The soups are equally inconsistent in general - the gazpacho was too sweet on my last visit, but there was an excellent broccoli and cheese on a previous visit featuring broccoli that was not overcooked (a rarity these days) and something a little tangier than standard supermarket cheddar.

Overall, this is not the kind of place I would go to drink.  The average age skews too high for me.  But the food is good for an informal family dinner, which is why it remains on our family's list of places to visit.

My wife and I live nearby and hadn't been here in a long time, so we we figured we'd give it a shot.  That was a mistake, as we would soon find out.

1) My wife asked for green beans to be substituted from her meal.  The waiter said that was fine and a second later asked if she wanted green beans.  No, my wife said, she wanted something else instead of green beans.  Of course, she got green beans with her food (they didn't seem fully cooked, either).
2) While the French Onion soup was good, everything else was not.  The fried chicken wasn't fully fried; some of it was still pink.
3) After our waiter took our food away and we said we didn't want dessert he stood around for a while and then brought over some water.  Frankly, we just wanted to get the heck out of there.

I wish there were more good restaurants in Wheaton, but this isn't it.