This is a good place to go to in Portobello, the menu is fairly standard fair but what you got is good quality and you know you are going to get a good meal, well every time we have went we have.
Comfortable surroundings, its like a old bar but a bit smarter, again the staff are on it, you dont ever have to look for anyone, they are alway just there.
Good night out ill be back.
It's decorations are nice and the staff are friendly And helpful If I'm in this area again I would come here 😀your also allowed pets and a beach is right beside it
The espy great ambience great food and beer location is right next to the beach
Prices are fair
The food is so good i had the fish and chips
Id reccomend this joint blindly
We had gone for a family meal by Edinburgh's seaside and it was as usual a pleasure eating out. I had a flat bread and dips, which created a bit of discussion as to what the flavours were. For the first time in a while I had the Espy Burger. It noticed that the prices had not gone up for a few years, but the portion seems to have shrunk a little, still tasty though! We had a seat by the window with a nice view over Portobello Beach. Nice to see the place still really busy. #Foodie #Edinburgh
Post surfing meal is a must when there is a best restaurant present right on the bay of sea. I was competing with my friends and after beating them I won a meal at this restaurant. The vegan menu looked good and we tried a salad from it. Though it wasn’t disappointing but main course (steak and pasta) and beer from the bar was just perfect. Taste was very good and food was cooked by professionals.
Beer and summer are best friends but when you are with your friends on beach, the happiness increases significantly. The Espy offers this happiness from early morning to night. They have a combination of a pub and family dine in both separated by horseshoe bar. Breakfast and vegetarian part of menu is a must try. Recommended place for both kids and adults.
Such a wonderful restaurant/cafe to visit. Great staff, service and food. Also dog friendly so after a walk along the beach with the two pups, popped in for a brilliant meal and homemade lemonade! 🐶💛🍴
If you ever find yourself wanting shelter from the bracing sea breeze at Portobello Beach, it might be worthwhile popping into the Esplanade bar, or “The Espy” as its more widely known, for a soft warm seat and a pint or snack. This establishment is one of the most popular in Portobello, going down well with families, couples and dog walkers alike.
It is fabulous quality of food. Love the atmosphere close by the sea. It does not stink like traditional English pub, it is certainly lovely "more posh" place to have a nice dinner or lunch. If you ever visit the beach, you MUST eat there!
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Edinburgh Restaurant Review – Hanging out (and on) at The Espy
In terms of Portobello’s eateries, you really can’t get more “on the coast” than The Espy (its name being an abbreviation for “the esplanade”). Situated on the ground floor of a grand Victorian tenement located on the corner of Bath Street and the Promenade, it’s almost possible to order a pint at the horseshoe bar whilst dangling one’s feet in the waters of the Forth. During the summer months the pub has tables set up on the prom, yet as the day was bright but a little too breezy we decided to try and secure a space in the ample dining room, but still with great views to the beach.
Even though we were relatively late for lunch – arriving at 2pm – the pub was packed and we were only able to bag our spot on condition that we vacated within an hour and a half. JML and I were ravenous, so this would not a problem, well at least I thought not…
Waiting for our beers to arrive, I reacquainted myself with The Espy’s interior. The place has that shabby chic vibe that now seems to be common to a number of Edinburgh’s more popular boozers, such as Boda and The Roseleaf, except that The Espy compliments this with surfing paraphernalia and Australian iconography. Altogether, the place has a welcoming, family-friendly feel.
Two chilled pints of San Miguel promptly arrived, together with a jug of iced water – a nice touch to get the latter both free and without request – and the waiter took our food order. Now we have dined at The Espy a few times before, and the place’s regular menu provides a very decent range of burgers and less standard pub-grub, such as plates of mezze to share. Yet on this occasion we both chose from the comprehensive menu of daily specials; JML combining a trio of Mediterranean dips and warm flatbread, together with another, intriguing, starter of pork and prawn cakes; and yours truly deciding upon the slow-roast pork loin, black pudding, apple and leek mash, with a cider gravy.
Our order duly dispatched to the kitchen, we quaffed our drinks, perused the papers, and waited for our food to appear. Then oddly, five minutes later, another member of waiting staff appeared to take our order, only to be informed this had already been done. Further sipping of drinks, reading of newspapers and waiting followed. Then even more waiting, until after some 30 minutes it became apparent that tables seated after ours were now being served their food. When I tried to attract someone’s attention to question this there was a mysterious dearth of front-of-house staff in our section of the dining area, resulting in my having to get up and accost the Maître d’ to find out if our order had indeed reached the kitchen.
Thankfully, our grub landed on our table a few minutes later, accompanied by apologies for its tardiness. And as to the food itself, well this ranged from “very good” to “not bad”. JML’s pork and prawn cakes were delicious, with the meat and seafood flavours running in harmony with those of lemongrass, chili, coriander and a smidgeon of peanut. The salad that accompanied these Asian-inspired morsels was decently put together and well dressed. The Mediterranean dips were also very tasty, with a creamy harissa being a particular stand out, and the mountain of flatbread that came with these was warm, fresh and moist. My slow roast pork and black pudding was succulent and tasty, and was well balanced by the cider sauce and chunks of caramelised apple. The bed of mash on which this lay was a wee bit of a let-down, however, as it could have done with fewer lumps and a bit more butter through it.
See full review at: http://www.scrumptiousscran.com/2013/09/review-hanging-out-and-on-at-espy.html
Randomly discovered The Espy while walking down Portbello. The service is painstakingly slow, and made us postpone our movie plans for the evening. The food more than made up for this, I had the ‘MacEspy’, the restaurant’s flagship burger. The high point of this meal was the fantastic view from the waterfront; a great place to take the family or go on a date.
We've been twice now, once for lunch and once for dinner. This is a great place to bring kids with the most hilarious kids menu and the staff are awesome with little people.
The food is fantastic, the atmosphere is really energetic and the staff are welcoming and really friendly.
Highly recommended 👌
Really delighted with my experience here. After a very disappointing experience with allergens at another place, they were brilliant for Gluten Free options. They looked after us so well, went the extra mile and explained everything beautifully. Really recommend if you want gluten free options (though I'm not sure about it for coeliacs) as they have so many things. My pulled pork was a little salty but otherwise really enjoyed the experience and will definitely be back!
The freshest salsa I have ever tasted! I got the taco taco, which was fish tacos wth salsa and salad, which was just fab. The other half got the burger with dirty fries, which he said were great.
Lots of gluten-free options The kids at the table next to us had hot chocolate, which they loved. The staff are friendly and look like they like their job and interacting with the punters.
I'm definitely going back and also plan to go in the summer for food and cocktails!!
Very welcoming and dog friendly. Great decor and background music was good. Food was lovely. Staff were great and Flossy our dalmatian loved the liver cake.
Will visit again when in the area
THE absolute best restaurant/bar in Portobello! The staff is outstanding! The service is top-notch. The food is delicious and the serving sizes are very generous. I highly recommend!!
We had a great breafast Espy Benny & Seaside Egg sitting outside in the bank holiday sun. Highly recommended.
Oh and Hot Ginger is awesome.
This is the first time of visiting this lovely place. Came across it when walking along the promenade at portobello beach. Nice friendly staff, clean and tidy place. There are seats outside beside the beach if you would prefer to sit outside. We sat inside. It's nice and spacious. We got a table just inside the door. I had the chips topped with chicken strips and cheese sauce which was lovely it comes with jalapeño but I asked for without, I had tea which comes with a teapot of hot water, the other 2 people in the company had the steak burgers and the both enjoyed them, it does come with side salad but you can ask for it without. You can also get a large cup of coffee. Would go back again.
Good range of gluten free, little disappointed on last visit wasn't up to usual but taking that as a one off. Don't go looking for health food or vegetables but it you want loaded fries or a burger and gluten free non cross contaminated chips ! It comfort food for the win and right in the beach
Just been two nights in a row whilst on holiday. Food was really nice, atmosphere really lively and the staff are all really friendly and catering. Big shout out to Berta who served us both nights, she's really friendly, polite and considerate. Would certainly go back
Staff is incredibly friendly. Food is very reasonably priced. LOADS of gluten free options which is a huge plus as someone with celiac. Never thought about putting Brie on a burger, and it was amazing. Overall a great experience!
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