Pub entertainment in Edinburgh
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Abbotsford
Dating from 1902 and named after Sir Walter Scott’s country house, the Abbotsford is one of the few pubs in Rose St that has retained its Edwardian splendour, with a grand mahogany island bar. It has long been a hang-out for writers, actors, journalists and media people and has many loyal regulars.
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Guildford Arms
Located next door to the Cafe Royal Circle Bar, the Guildford is another classic Victorian pub full of polished mahogany, brass and ornate cornices. The bar lunches are good – try to get a table in the unusual upstairs gallery, with a view over the sea of drinkers down below.
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Bow Bar
One of the city's best traditional-style pubs (it's not as old as it looks) serving a range of excellent real ales and a vast selection of malt whiskies, the Bow Bar often has standing-room only on Friday and Saturday evenings.
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Beehive Inn
The historic Beehive – a former coaching inn – is a big, buzzing party-pub, with a range of real ales, but the main attraction is sitting out the back in the Grassmarket's only beer garden, with views up to the castle.
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Last Drop
The name commemorates the gallows that used to stand nearby, but the only swingers today are the pub's partying clientele, largely students and backpackers.
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Canny Man’s
A lovably eccentric pub, the Canny Man’s is made up of a crowded warren of tiny rooms that are crammed with a bizarre collection of antiques and curiosities (a description that could also apply to some of the regulars), and where the landlord regularly refuses entry to anyone who looks scruffy, inebriated or vaguely pinko/commie/subversive. If you can get in here, you’ll find it serves excellent real ale, vintage port and Cuban cigars.
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Cafe Royal Circle Bar
Perhaps the classic Edinburgh bar, the Cafe Royal’s main claims to fame are its magnificent oval bar and the series of Doulton tile portraits of famous Victorian inventors. Check out the bottles on the gantry – staff line them up to look like there’s a mirror there, and many a drink-befuddled customer has been seen squinting and wondering why he can’t see his reflection.
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Cumberland Bar
Immortalised as the stereotypical New Town pub in Alexander McCall-Smith's serialised novel 44 Scotland Street, the Cumberland has an authentic, traditional wood-brass-and-mirrors look (despite being relatively new), and serves well-looked-after, cask-conditioned ales and a wide range of malt whiskies. There's also a pleasant little beer garden outside.
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White Hart Inn
A brass plaque outside this pub proclaims: ‘In the White Hart Inn Robert Burns stayed during his last visit to Edinburgh, 1791.’ Claiming to be the city’s oldest pub in continuous use (since 1516), it also hosted William Wordsworth in 1803. Not surprisingly, it’s a traditional, cosy, low-raftered place. It has folk/acoustic music sessions seven nights a week.
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Athletic Arms (the Diggers)
Named for the cemetery across the street (the grave-diggers used to nip in and slake their thirst after a hard day’s interring), the Diggers dates from 1897. Its heyday as a real-ale drinker’s mecca has passed, but the beer is still good, the decor has barely changed in 100 years, and it’s packed to the gills with football and rugby fans on match days.
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Auld Hoose
Promoting itself as the Southside’s only ‘alternative’ pub, the Auld Hoose certainly lives up to its reputation with unpretentious, old-fashioned decor, a range of real ales from remote Scottish microbreweries (Trashy Blonde from Brewdog on Arran, Avalanche Ale from Loch Fyne in Argyll), and a juke box that would make the late John Peel weep with joy.
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Kenilworth
A gorgeous, Edwardian drinking palace, complete with original fittings – from the tile floors, mahogany circle bar and gantry, to the ornate mirrors and gas lamps – the Kenilworth was Edinburgh's original gay bar back in the 1970s. Today it attracts a mixed crowd of all ages, and serves a good range of real ales and malt whiskies.
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Cloisters
Housed in a converted manse (minister’s house) that once belonged to the next-door church, and furnished with well-worn, mismatched wooden tables and chairs, Cloisters now ministers to a mixed congregation of students, locals and real-ale connoisseurs. It has decent grub and coffee, and a nice warm fireplace in winter.
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Clark’s Bar
A century old and still going strong, Clark’s caters to a clientele of real-ale aficionados, football fans (there are three TVs), local office workers and loyal regulars, who appreciate an old-fashioned, no-frills pub with lots of wood panelling and polished brass, and cosy little back rooms for convivial storytelling.
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Bennet’s Bar
Situated beside the King’s Theatre, Bennet’s has managed to hang on to almost all of its beautiful Victorian fittings, from the leaded stained-glass windows and ornate mirrors to the wooden gantry and the brass water taps on the bar (for your whisky – there are over 100 malts to choose from).
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Bert’s Bar
A classic re-creation of a 1930s-style pub – a welcoming womb with warm wood and leather decor, complete with a jar of pickled eggs on the bar – Bert’s is a good place to sample real ale and down-to-earth pub grub such as Scotch pies and bangers and mash. There is a branch in Stockbridge.
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Southsider
Always busy with students and regulars, the Southsider is a big, old-fashioned, slightly rough-around-the-edges pub that pulls in people from further afield with a good selection of real ales, table football, Wednesday-night pub quizzes, and live music on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
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Sheep Heid
Possibly the oldest inn in Edinburgh (with a licence dating back to 1360) the Sheep Heid feels more like a country pub than an Edinburgh bar. Set in the semirural shadow of Arthur’s Seat, it’s famous for its 19th-century skittles alley and the lovely little beer garden.
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Oxford Bar
The Oxford is that rarest of things these days, a real pub for real people, with no 'theme', no music, no frills and no pretensions. 'The Ox' has been immortalised by Ian Rankin, author of the Inspector Rebus novels, who is a regular here, as is his fictional detective.
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Regent
This is a pleasant gay local with a relaxed atmosphere (no loud music), serving coffee and croissants as well as excellent real ales, including Deuchars IPA and Caledonian 80/-. Meeting place for the Lesbian and Gay Real Ale Drinkers club (first Monday of month, 9pm).
reviewed
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Cask & Barrel
At the foot of Broughton St, the spit-and-sawdust style Cask & Barrel is a beer-drinker’s delight, with a selection of up to 10 real ales, as well as Czech and German beers, and a more than adequate array of TV screens for keeping up with the football or rugby.
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Jolly Judge
A snug little howff tucked away down a close, the Judge exudes a cosy 17th-century atmosphere (low, timber-beamed painted ceilings) and has the added attraction of a cheering open fire in cold weather. No music or gaming machines, just the buzz of conversation.
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Carriers Quarters
With a low wooden ceiling, stone walls and a fine old fireplace, the Carriers has all the historic atmosphere that its 18th-century origins would imply. It serves real ales and malt whiskies, as well as traditional Scottish bar meals such as stovies and haggis.
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Bailie Bar
Tucked down in a basement, the Bailie is an old Stockbridge stalwart; a dimly lit, warm and welcoming nook with a large circular island bar, a roaring fire in winter, and TVs screening live football. Serves good coffee as well as real ales and malt whiskies.
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Blue Blazer
With its bare wooden floors, cosy fireplace and efficient bar staff, the Blue Blazer is a down-to-earth antidote to the designer excess of modern style bars, catering to a loyal clientele of real-ale enthusiasts, pie eaters and Saturday horse-racing fans.
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