Veeno Edinburgh Rose Street, Exclusive Hire

OVERPRICED, OVER-RATED AND CARD ONLY Veeno appears to be a popular and well-established Italian wine bar and restaurant on Rose Street, so it will be popular with tourists. I visited mid-week with friends, tempted by their "20% offer off food", which on paper looked like good value. Alex came to take our drinks orders, and I asked if there were any draught beers? No, but they have 330 ml bottles of beer (about half a pint). At £7 for Peroni, £7.50 for Birra and £6 for 0% Peroni, I declined and stuck to tap water. For starters, I went with the nduja e stracchino (£6.50). What arrived was two small bruschette with a few dots of sausage and melted cheese, served on a wooden board. It was nice enough, but hardly a showstopper. For my main course, I had the lasagne (£13.50). Again, it was nice enough, but I'll be honest and say I've had better from Aldi and the Coop's finest range. Others remarked that the 20% discount appeared to be reflected in the portion sizes. Nobody was impressed with what they had. The general consensus was that it was nice enough - just average pub food dressed up as something more sophisticated. We asked for the bill - and this is where things really went downhill. They put the 20% discount at the bottom of the food and drinks bill plus a 12.5% service charge, and suggested it would be £32 each if we were splitting the bill 8 ways. Totally confusing for many of us, who couldn't decipher how the 20% discount was applied, meaning we lost about 15 mins trying to work out what we owed. The final bill including drinks and service charge came to £256.95. Eye-watering for what was essentially average pub food and a few drinks - a complete rip-off. And to top it off, they don't take cash - it's card only. There were no signs or warnings, just a blunt “we don't take cash - card only.” If I’d known in advance, I wouldn’t have bothered going. I won't be back, and I suggest you don't waste your money either.