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Location: 81-85 Broughton St, Edinburgh EH1 3RJ
Year of Inscription: 2024
Venue Type: Historic Tavern
Map
Description
Gallery
| EBG Rating: | 7.7/10 |
| Choice/ Quality of Drinks | ❤️❤️❤️❤️ A decent but familiar selection of cask ales from small independent brewers with good whisky range. Keg options are not so great. |
| Style/ Décor | ❤️❤️❤️❤️ As with many heritage pubs in Scotland, the venue began life as a wine and liquor merchants in the 19th century before a 1950s conversion to a pub. Inheriting fine Victorian features including an oak panelled bar, magnificent tiling and large mirrors with etched advertising, and this is before you get to the grand layered vaulted ceiling which continually draws the eye. |
| Atmosphere/ Character | ❤️❤️❤️❤️ An L-shaped pub with a busier feel to the bar and loungier feel to the rear, without losing its coherence, this versatility is to its credit. It is somewhere you could take all kinds of friends for an afternoon natter. |
| Amenities/ Events | ❤️❤️❤️❤️ Food, snacks, fireplace, pub quiz, live music at weekends |
| Value For Money | ❤️❤️ Edinburgh city centre prices, particularly steep for food. |
| Description | A grand venue with an informal café style feel, the blend coming from its change of use from a wine and liquor merchants in the 19th century to a public house in the 1950s. The inherited fixtures and fittings give what is otherwise a compact space on a street leading out of town an eye-catching level of finesse and heritage, while the current operation keeps the place feeling casual and democratic. Particularly to its credit is its ability to blend the busier bar area with a loungier backroom behind the ‘L’, producing an organic atmosphere and sense of permanence. Drinks options are decent, if familiar, but do the job adequately, and it maintains a community feel with music on weekends, a pub quiz and food available. This sets it apart from the likes of the slightly more exclusive feeling Café Royal. One to keep in your pocket as an answer to “where next?” or just a good selection to meet with a friend for an afternoon natter and a pint. |
