http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: Whatever happened to Peter the Armenian cook? en Thu, 21 May 2026 08:30:00 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20593#post-350957 Sun, 23 May 2021 20:05:52 +0000 chdot 350957@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I went once, mid 80s, probably Festival time. </p> <p>Don’t remember too much. Gloomy/atmospheric. </p> <p>Very long table - but don’t even remember if it was the only one. </p> <p>Vaguely remember the people I went with. </p> <p><em>Think</em> I was underwhelmed but not disappointed. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20593#post-350955 Sun, 23 May 2021 19:25:20 +0000 nobrakes 350955@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>My wife went once with a friend a long time ago. Said the food was very good. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20593#post-350947 Sun, 23 May 2021 16:22:19 +0000 Rosie 350947@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I went there a couple of times in big parties. The food was good, the place dark and there were pictures of Armenians from about 1900 on the walls. One time, someone in our party was friends with George and it all went pleasantly, another time the atmosphere was not friendly. I don't really like eating in places when you're dependent on the mood of the host. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20593#post-350942 Sun, 23 May 2021 15:38:36 +0000 gembo 350942@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>He had a sort of Bulls Blood wine you had to buy and he drank </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20593#post-350940 Sun, 23 May 2021 15:06:29 +0000 crowriver 350940@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I never went, but I know people who did go around 1990/91 I think. Certainly a hot topic of conversation so must have been a memorable experience. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20593#post-350939 Sun, 23 May 2021 14:28:31 +0000 gembo 350939@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Yeah he had the Armenian rug shop with the mad yuccas</p> <p>I know someone who went to the monastery restaurant and Peter had washed but not dried the tablecloths and therefore the nig was most damp. </p> <p>I do not know anyone who went to this restaurant twice? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20593#post-350938 Sun, 23 May 2021 14:00:20 +0000 crowriver 350938@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Intrigued to see this on the Beebly noos web site. I don't watch ra Nein so didn't see the feature, but presumably it is on the eyePlayur.</p> <p>---</p> <p> Whatever happened to Peter the Armenian cook?</p> <p>Just up the road from the Queen's Edinburgh residence at Holyrood Palace is a shuttered curiosity, a building that once housed a legendary eatery, known to its loyal patrons simply as "The Armenian Restaurant".</p> <p>Edinburgh is now home to four Michelin-starred restaurants and some of the most opulent dining in the UK - but this place was something completely different.<br /> Opened in 1979, the "Aghtamar Lake Van Monastery in Exile" was part exotic dining, part eccentric performance.</p> <p>In the days before social media, it had a cult following and could only be found by rumour and word of mouth. Reservations were notoriously guarded by the secretive Armenian owner and cook, who called himself Peter, and who served all-night banquets of traditional foods and dancing.</p> <p>Then suddenly, a decade ago, Peter disappeared, leaving his customers hungry for one last meal and a clue to where he went.</p> <p>(Continues with an interview with Peter at...)</p> <p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-57200613" rel="nofollow">https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-57200613</a> </p>