The Winter Garden at The Raeburn, Edinburgh

Last night I was invited to check out the new Winter Garden at The Raeburn in Stockbridge. I was slightly sceptical as it takes a lot to convince people to stay outside during the winter months in Scotland, I was pleasantly surprised.

We were greeted with delicious mulled spiced plum Rekorderlig cider, which was what I can only describe as A.W.E.S.O.M.E. It was the perfect winter drink as it warmed you from the inside out and it wasn’t too sweet so it was very easy to have another one, and another one, and another one, and you get the picture.

We were also treated to a cold one to try the difference, which everyone agreed tasted less sweet than the mulled, and they all decided this was their favourite. I disagreed, I really liked the hot one, each to their own and all that jazz.

This cider is limited edition however Fiona from Rekorderlig said that it has been pretty popular this year so there is a possibility it could continue on. *Fingers Crossed*

I actually might go as far as saying that this is my favourite tasting Rekorderlig, my second would be the strawberry and lime ( a firm summer favourite) and Fiona also mentioned a passion fruit one so I would love to taste that one too. The wild berries however you can keep away from me as it is far too sweet.

Once we had tried our drinks we were treated to a wee ‘background information’ chat from Jenny (Molson Coors), Nicola, (The Raeburn) and Fiona (Rekorderlig).

They were discussing the launch of the winter garden as well as the new flavour of Rekorderlig. Molson Coors created the bar that we were being served at outside of The Raeburn. It was a classy Christmas creation, how you can make anything classy with that amount of fairy lights is way over my head but they managed it.

We were treated to some BBQ food, Lewis ordered the venison burger and I went for the brie and cranberry. I stupidly thought it was an actual beef burger with brie and cranberry on the top, but this was not the case. It was a veggie burger with brie and cranberry inside of it.

Thankfully, everyone else who ordered it had no idea it was veggie either, so this made me feel better. Regardless it tasted good, I’m not sure where the brie and cranberry came in as I couldn’t quite taste them however the only way I can describe it is a stuffing burger? Try it, see what you think. Lewis preferred this burger to his venison one, and I think next time I’ll go for one of the sausages as they looked good.

The Raeburn’s Winter Garden will be open over the Christmas months and I suggest you check it out. Sometime’s it’s nice to avoid the HOARDS OF ANNOYINGLY RUDE people that appear in town over the Christmas season, so it’s good to know there’s a space of Christmas tranquillity sitting in Stockbridge. Serving food straight from the BBQ with decorations for the season, lights and baubles a plenty and there are seats for everyone.

Yes, they also have heaters AT EVERY TABLE.

When does that ever happen? Normally you end up looking at the people with the heater in envy until they leave and you have to rush over and steal it before someone else does. Oh, and they also provide blankets if you ask kindly.

At the end of the evening we all treated ourselves with a salted caramel rum hot chocolate, and it was as good as it sounds. You could taste the rum, caramel and chocolate what more could you want? Nothing, that’s the answer in case you were wondering.

If you are a visual person watch my experience below, and subscribe to my YouTube channel. Not only am I doing #Blogmas I am also doing #Vlogmas and will probably be going insane by the end of the month. Where I think I have the time to do this is beyond me, but that’s my problem not yours.

Let me know if you end up checking out The Raeburn’s Winter Garden or trying the Spiced Plum cider. It would be good to hear someone else’s thoughts on the hot or cold debate!

Food: 3/5

Decor: 5/5 The Raeburn is a beautiful building and the Christmas decorations where the icing on the cake.

Service: 5/5

Price: 4/5 (I received this for free, however a mulled spiced plum cider would be £4.00 which I assume is the going rate.)

Overall: 17/20

Recommend: if you would like to avoid the chaos that is town and enjoy a Christmas luxury with family or friends in a beautiful area. It would be very easy to stay all night here.

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