Queen Elizabeth recently had dinner at an Edinburgh pub in a rare evening excursion to dine out, the BBC reported Wednesday, reportedly making the Sheep Heid Inn only the second restaurant in which the 90-year-old has ever dined.
“Her Majesty, who had been staying at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, popped into the Sheep Heid in Duddingston on Friday,” the BBC reported. “She is very rarely seen eating out at public restaurants, but the 650-year-old Sheep Heid Inn has been linked to the Royals since the 1500s.”
According to Yelp.com, the Sheep Heid Inn is a modestly-priced establishment of good quality, earning 4 out of 5 stars on average from Yelp users, and entrees topping out at £25 ($32.90).
When reporting on the queen’s outing for a dinner with daughter Princess Anne and cousin Princess Alexandra back in March, the Daily Telegraph said of the venue, Bellamy’s, that it was “said to be the only restaurant the Monarch … has ever dined at.”
The Franco-Belgian brasserie, according to Yelp, is a pricey establishment, with entrees topping out at £45 ($59.21).
But regardless of the prices on the menu, Queen Elizabeth tends to stick to standard fare, says a man who used to prepare the monarch’s meals.
“[T]he Queen never was a foodie. She always ate to live rather than live to eat,” Darren McGrady, a former royal household chef, told Hello! magazine in May. “[I]f we had a new recipe, she’d have to look at the whole recipe before saying, ’Yes ok let’s try it’. But for the most part she stuck to the same dishes week in week out.”
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
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