Birdy & Girdy rocked up at Badger & Co for a long-awaited dinner, where culinary delights were sampled and noshed on – but due to time constraints, you’ll have to only take Birdy’s word for it!
It was quite a while ago that self and Girdy first stumbled upon Badger & Co. – in fact, it was August during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, when we first decided to take a pit stop here.
I remember being rather taken by the mocktail selection, and the excellent vibe of the place. The menu looked interesting, and it went onto the Edinburgh Reviews list there and then!
Admittedly, it’s taken us a while, but we made it back to this excellent place, and we were very glad we did.
Badger & Co’s vibe
The vibe starts when you approach the entrance, and see all the pretty lights and archway covered in lovely green foilage. It’s definitely a great way to get you into the mood.
I think that in winter, more than summer, I appreciate Badger & Co’s cosiness.
We got seated at a table by a window, with comfy leather armchairs, and the whole place just feels warm and homely – but also, it has great character.
As you can probably gather, it’s very Wind in the Willows.
The lights are nicely low (but not too low you can’t see your food), there are pretty lights, and lots of anthropomorphic portraits of the likes of Badger, Toad, Otter, et al. I did see a hare, too!
Badger’s been cooking, it seems. Look, there’s a massive bloody knife stuck into his apron. And what’s on the menu? Is that… surely it can’t be… it’s GAME PIE!
I’m not sure how amused Girdy was regarding my theory that Badger’s clearly lost it and gone on a murderous rampage to turn his friends into a pie. But he’s not writing this blog; I am!
Besides, everyone knows you don’t mess with badgers when you can help it.
Badger & Co’s food and drink
To drink, I had a mocktail simply called ‘citrus’ despite the many, many other fabulously named alcoholic cocktails on the menu, the likes of ‘badgers can’t swim’, ‘hot toad time machine’ and ‘it’s bananas in Kentucky’. Oh well. The mocktail was still nice! Girdy had his usual Diet Coke, so nothing groundbreaking.
Onto what we actually ate. And, it probably goes without saying, that Girdy had to order the game pie – because someone had to! We were warned on the menu that it may contain shot, but luckily Girdy’s teeth were safe on this occasion.
Along with his pie, Girdy had the soup of the day, which was called ‘Tomatillo’ and had Mexican notes, made with tomatillo, onions, garlic and a classic veg stock. I’m told both were absolutely delicious and no regrets were had!
As for me, I chose a bacon cheeseburger that came with fries and some lovely purple coleslaw on the side. I love a good fries and ‘slaw combo, so this pleased me greatly. To add to that, I also had a side of some amazing truffled mac ‘n cheese.
Were my eyes too big for my belly? Yes, yes they were. But I managed to finish my burger, and very much enjoyed my entire meal. Which… for both of us, also included dessert! Oh my.
I had a really yummy white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake concoction that included fresh berries and a lovely unexpected block of cinder toffee on top, alongside a blood orange sorbet.
Am I a sorbet fan? No. Was it needed? Probably not. Did I enjoy it anyway? Absolutely. I love blood orange and that’s what really won the day for this sorbet.
Girdy had a salted caramel parfait, which he also very much enjoyed. It looked a bit smaller than my dessert, so in his mind I’d won the dessert battle again, and told me as much. I rarely regret my dessert choices, having a keen sweet sense. VICTORIOUS!!!
Badger & Co’s staff
At Badger & Co, the staff are attentive, friendly and welcoming. We weren’t kept waiting for long, and when I arrived first, our server intuited that I might want some water to start.
Throughout the night, we were checked on and everyone done in a timely fashion, but mostly we just enjoyed a nice, relaxing dining experience we ate and talked and were left wanting for nothing. That’s just how it should be. Thanks, Badger & Co!
Did I mention the bar is well stocked, too? As I hinted at above, you can also just pop into Badger & Co for drinks and to absorb the atmosphere. It’s an atmospheric place, and we like it very much.
Things to do near Castle Street/city centre
Badger & Co is very central, and situated on Castle Street – named as such for being parallel to Edinburgh Castle! There’s Princes Street (shopping and National Galleries!) and Princes Street Gardens (relaxing walking, nature appreciation and history/graveyard appreciation) between you and that, though.
There’s also George Street the other way, and Waverley Station towards the other end of Princes Street. Badger & Co is also a great venue for during the Edinburgh Festivals, as self and Girdy managed to get in and share quite a large table to ourselves despite it being an incredibly busy time of year!
Team Edinburgh Reviews have also heard Badger & Co is a fantastic venue for celebrating a birthday, anniversary, work night out or graduation with your family, as you can book out Toad Hall (in the basement) for a private dining experience!
Overall
We really enjoyed our meal at Badger & Co, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking for somewhere a bit different that’s also central. Especially if they like Wind in the Willows!
I’m glad we came back here to sample the menu, even if some of badger’s friends may have been on it!
Badger & Co
Summary
We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this Wind in the Willows themed bar and restauarant to anyone looking for somewhere a bit different that’s also central. Fabulous!
Need a birthday gift idea? Maybe our list of gift vouchers can help. Good luck!
Food terrible roast beef dinner looked like afterbirth don’t have the roast beef dinner worst ever