Edinburgh has no shortage of restaurants and eateries, but when it comes to something cheap, easy and comforting, nothing beats the golden arches. Maybe it’s the nostalgia, or maybe it’s the convenience, but in my opinion, nothing beat’s a McDonald’s.
And let’s face it, there’s no shortage of them in Edinburgh either. Alas, no two McDonald’s are created equally… actually that’s not true, they all follow the exact same formula. What I’m trying to say is that some are most definitely better than others.
I am a firm believer though, that even the worst McDonald’s can’t really be that bad. To challenge my theory, I went along to the Fort Kinnaird branch to see what all the fuss was about.
With a rating of just 1.8 stars on Tripadvisor, I didn’t expect much. While I had visited before, I had always just nipped around the drive thru on my way home from a hectic day of shopping. I decided to sit in this time, and see if it really was as bad as people say.
McDonald’s Fort Kinnaird. -Credit:Edinburgh Live
The restaurant has a total of 68 reviews on the TripAdvisor website, 46 of those list it as “terrible”. One person described it as being “filthy.”
In their review they wrote: “Cold food spoiling out all over carton very and rude staff, filthy restaurant, tables and floors just disgusting, as for toilets I have no words walked in and back out.”
It doesn’t really fill you with hope. Other reviews claim the staff miss items out of meals and that their fries were cold, soggy and undercooked.
I made it my mission to test it out for myself, parked my car and readied myself for a disgusting and disappointing experience. Steeling my nerves, I stormed through the doors and was met with… a clean restaurant.
It was nice inside, it has been recently renovated, and it looked really spotless at first glance. Suddenly I could feel a glimmer of hope. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad?
I went to order next, and got myself a Grinch Meal, it came with a Big Mac, and the new pickle shaker fries. I chose a coke to drink, and judge me if you will, extra pickles for my Big Mac. I could lie and say it was for the sake of the review and that I simply wanted to see if the kitchen would get my modifications right – but I always add extra pickle to my burger.
I expected a mad rush of people, a long wait time and countless filthy tables stacked high with the rubbish from previous customers. Again, I was pleasantly surprised and was able to find a seat immediately. I sat down, noticed a scrunched up napkin on the floor next to me and got ready to wait for my food.
The only rubbish I could find on the floor was a napkin that had fallen between my seat and the wall. -Credit:Edinburgh Live
And to the credit of the staff, within five minutes, I had my tray sat down in front of me. Again, another positive. Now it was time for the real test. I like to believe you can tell what a McDonald’s is made of by the number of extra dill pickle slices added on request. The standard on a Big Mac is two, when asking for extra, you get another two added. If you’re really lucky, sometimes you get more than the standard four.
If I was going on pickle count alone, I would say this McDonald’s was fantastic. I opened my burger and found seven! Immaculate. It wasn’t the messiest of burgers either. I’ve opened up a burger before and found the slice of cheese nowhere near the actual bun. This one was nice!
It tasted great, and while it could have been slightly more hot, I really enjoyed it.
Next, the chips. I’m sorry to say, they weren’t the best. While I hadn’t tucked into them right as they were set down, in the time it took me to get my ketchup and make sure my burger was all in order, they had gone cold and stale. I’m no expert, but if I had to guess, these fries were definitely not straight from the fryer. The portion size seemed a little skimpy too.
My food was brought over in minutes. -Credit:Edinburgh Live
I tried them plain first, for authenticity and then as the shaker fries , which were lovely. Then, I washed it all down with a crispy coke. After eating, I decided to try all the facilities I could, and went to the toilets.
Were they the worst I had ever been in? No, the toilets themselves were all clean, not a blockage in sight. The only rubbish was a bit of toilet roll on the floor, and it looked like someone had torn it off and dropped it… that is to say it didn’t look used.
But the smell was horrendous. Even though it looked clean, there was a really strong smell of urine, not ideal in a restaurant really.
After I made it back to my table, I took a minute to observe the staff, who were diligently going around and clearing off tables.
All in all, was my visit perfect? Not really, but was it the worst McDonald’s I’ve ever been to? Not at all. Perhaps I got lucky with the time I went in, but for a mid week lunch time, it wasn’t half bad, and it certainly wasn’t filthy!