Our some time companion (and noted chunderer) Adam Johns spends some of his evenings working in licensed premises somewhere up the Bridges. Given the state of affairs last time we left you., we devised a simple plan; meet somewhere central for a pint, take in Adam’s place of work (and wind him up a bit) and then drag him out for a few pints. What could possible go wrong?
Logie Baird’s Bar (The Bank Hotel, corner of South Bridge and High Street, 3/5/7/8/14/29/30/31/33/35/37/47/49) is a funny one, particularly as far as the clientele are concerned. You get a few students watching sport whilst enjoying the use of discount cards (note: their Setanta reception was crap when last tried), a few tourists who’ve stumbled in off the Royal Mile, and a few folk who seem to just be jakes who’ve managed to find themselves on the wrong side of South Bridge from Hunter Square. Other than that, it’s got a big central bar, some nice upstairs seats and does passable grub.
We necked our pints of Best and shuffled off to annoy Adam, who had informed us that he was working until ten. There was only one problem, however – he wasn’t there. “He might be working at [other licensed premises in Tollcross] tonight, he ain’t on the rota pal”, we were informed and so we trekked off across the city. After all, it was still only quarter past nine, and we could get a couple in before he joined us. However, the staff in this other place told us that the bar wasn’t open that night. Strange.
The Stage Door (Home Street, 10/11/15/16/17/23/27/45) is, as the name would suggest, across the road from the King’s Theatre. It was fairly deserted when we went in, but it’s got what looks like a fairly decent wee function room downstairs. Inside it’s all long tables and comfortable chairs, but it was nice enough.
Just further up the road towards Bruntsfield is Bennett's (Leven Street, 11/15/16/17/23/45),a classy old style pub with maps on the tables (these provided plenty of entertainment, needless to say), and a load of good ales and malts. The pints were excellent in here, and I’d highly recommend that people pay a visit.
After this we trekked back down to the King’s Arms (Home Street, 10/11/15/16/17/23/27/45) which is most definitely a “local” boozer – somebody’s dug was wandering around the place, there was a free spread on the bar and the open fire was going in the corner. We didn’t meet too many of the locals but it seemed a pretty welcoming place. Unfortunately, there was also a smell in the air which indicated that one of the locals had soiled themselves.
By this point, Adam still hadn’t appeared, even after both Nick and myself had spent a lot of time on the phone providing a reminder as to why he should come out, irrespective of any extenuating circumstances. Regardless of his absence, we headed to Cloisters (Melville Drive, 24) around the corner. Now we’ve been to good pubs, bad pubs and painfully boring pubs, and I’m glad to say that Cloister’s falls into the first category. It gives the impression of being quite compact inside, but that may just be as a result of the fact that it is seemingly always busy with a good mix of students, professionals and locals. The atmosphere is buzzing, there’s a great choice of drinks (when we visited, they even had Black Isle Blonde on tap) and if you’re stuck for entertainment, you can sit beside the spiral staircase and watch folk fall on their way to and from the toilets. Priceless. It was time for a chippy and to head home.
Until the next time…
QUOTE OF THE NEXT MORNING: “Haha I can’t believe you guys, I had 15 voicemails all calling me gay” – Adam “Sicknote” Johns
CUMULATIVE PUB COUNT: 37
Sunday, 25 November 2007
Wednesday, 21 November 2007
An Update from Our Resident Statistician
After 10 blog entries, it is probably high time for a statistical update...
So here goes, after 32 pubs we have;
Nick’s top three drinks so far:
Belhaven Best – 11 pints
Guinness – 8 pints
Deuchars IPA – 4 pints
Rodney’s top three drinks:
Belhaven Best – 11 pints
Guinness – 7 pints
McEwan’s 70/- – 4 pints
League table of pubs scooped so far:
1=Nick – 32
1=Rodney – 32
3.Adam Johns (!!!!!!!!) – 4
4=Ali Brown – 3
4=Ian Davidson – 3
4=Greig Bingham – 3
Finally, the bus route with the most pubs drunk in so far is the Number 12, with 14 pubs visited.
It’s about time that more folk joined us out and about! You must have a local somewhere we can visit...
Until the next time...
So here goes, after 32 pubs we have;
Nick’s top three drinks so far:
Belhaven Best – 11 pints
Guinness – 8 pints
Deuchars IPA – 4 pints
Rodney’s top three drinks:
Belhaven Best – 11 pints
Guinness – 7 pints
McEwan’s 70/- – 4 pints
League table of pubs scooped so far:
1=Nick – 32
1=Rodney – 32
3.Adam Johns (!!!!!!!!) – 4
4=Ali Brown – 3
4=Ian Davidson – 3
4=Greig Bingham – 3
Finally, the bus route with the most pubs drunk in so far is the Number 12, with 14 pubs visited.
It’s about time that more folk joined us out and about! You must have a local somewhere we can visit...
Until the next time...
Tuesday, 20 November 2007
The 32nd, for a 32nd
As has been mentioned in previous editions of this blog, the West End is mostly full of poncy bars with comfy seats which are empty by mid evening. A notable exception to this rule, however, is J.P Mather’s (Queensferry Street, 13/19/36/37/41/47). It was here that we convened for our friend Neil McDonald’s 32nd birthday – many happy returns (and happy birthday).
Mather’s is a big Tartan Army pub – and with Neil being a prominent member of the TA, this was an obvious choice for his birthday night out. Anticipation was high for the Italy game, and Neil was presented with a commemorative “Mather’s Bar Tartan Army” t-shirt to mark the night.
As far as furnishing goes, Mather’s is fairly sparse – on a busy night it can get fairly crowded as everyone gathers round the whisky casks which pass for places to rest your beer. The extensive whisky collection is marked on the wall – a handy point of reference for those who are either unable to read the labels of the bottles, or those who are incapable of reading the labels of the bottles… However we just stuck to a few pints of the various ales which were available on tap. All good.
Just as we were finishing our respective last pints a message arrived from legendary lightweight - and my former flatmate - Adam Johns, announcing that he was “well up for getting involved in the Great Edinburgh Pub Challenge again during the forthcoming week”, having not put in an appearance since the opening night (see below). How would we be able to refuse this offer? Only time would tell…
Until the next time….
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: “Happy Birthday” – various.
CUMULATIVE PUB COUNT: 32
Mather’s is a big Tartan Army pub – and with Neil being a prominent member of the TA, this was an obvious choice for his birthday night out. Anticipation was high for the Italy game, and Neil was presented with a commemorative “Mather’s Bar Tartan Army” t-shirt to mark the night.
As far as furnishing goes, Mather’s is fairly sparse – on a busy night it can get fairly crowded as everyone gathers round the whisky casks which pass for places to rest your beer. The extensive whisky collection is marked on the wall – a handy point of reference for those who are either unable to read the labels of the bottles, or those who are incapable of reading the labels of the bottles… However we just stuck to a few pints of the various ales which were available on tap. All good.
Just as we were finishing our respective last pints a message arrived from legendary lightweight - and my former flatmate - Adam Johns, announcing that he was “well up for getting involved in the Great Edinburgh Pub Challenge again during the forthcoming week”, having not put in an appearance since the opening night (see below). How would we be able to refuse this offer? Only time would tell…
Until the next time….
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: “Happy Birthday” – various.
CUMULATIVE PUB COUNT: 32
The Hair of the Dog...and a Few More
Hangovers are terrible things. Especially those which leave you feeling so precariously close to the edge that the only thing on your mind is, well, getting back down to the pub for the hair of the dog. And so, after seeing The Charlatans in Glasgow the previous night, The Management headed out mid afternoon to take in some new pubs.
First up was the Athletic Arms (also known as The Diggers) (Angle Park Terrace, 1/34/35), which is a traditional Jambo pub with strong links to the former McEwan's brewery at Fountainbridge. It was derby day, so the vast majority of the punters were decked out in maroon to witness a 1-1 draw.
The pub itself is really nice – good pints, good atmosphere and lovely old style décor. Traditional in every sense, it also had the added bonus of offering carry kegs to take away – although these were only available off (sic.) barman Aitken Founts.
From there there was a short stagger along the road to McCowan’s Brewhouse (Fountainpark complex, 1/34/35). From the outside, you’d think McCowan’s was a brew pub (given the fact that there are two fermentation tanks on display). However, it isn’t. Given the fact that Fountainpark is generally full of neds going to the cinema, neds coming from the cinema, neds going to the bowling, neds coming from the bowling, neds - you get the picture – McCowan’s is alright actually. Nothing out of the ordinary, but alright. Also, amusingly, they had a Family Fortunes-esque buzzer which kept sounding every time that Nick made any assertion. (More on this later, readers.)
Ryries (Haymarket Terrace, 12/26/31/X48/100) is rubbish. However it also featured the same “wrong” buzzer as McCowan’s, which was perhaps deployed to its best effect when Nick said, “You know, in five years time, I might be married with kids.” ERRRRRRR.
The other pub around this area of town is The Haymarket (Haymarket Gyratory System, 2/3/4/12/25/26/31/33/44/X48/100), nice enough inside and fairly cheap but with very little which stands out to recommend it specifically – except for the fact that it’s usually open later than the Caley Ale House. Not that we’d ever nip across the road for another pint. Ever.
Talking of nipping across the road, the next pub on our travels was The Mercat (West Maitland Street, 2/3/4/12/25/26/31/33/44/X48/100), a split level pub which occasionally puts on live music. There was no such entertainment for our visit, however, just a bunch of lagered-up neds in the corner who were ejected after a very brief stay. Oh, and if someone could tell the barmaid how to pour pint of Best correctly that would be much appreciated.
The Grosvenor (Shandwick Place, 3/4/12/25/26/31/33/44/X48/100) is one of those pubs which has the potential (in terms of location, layout and being in an area where there aren’t too many great pubs) to be something special, but sadly it’s not. In fact, it is decidedly ordinary. Perhaps the fact that when visited for the Great Edinburgh Pub Challenge, The Management were the only punters there didn’t help things. However, it really does come across as a big, soulless room with a couple of beer taps. From past experience it’s cracking on rugby days (or any other big events at Murrayfield), but really it isn’t one you should go out of your way to visit.
Scruffy Murphy’s (Queensferry Street, 13/19/36/37/41/47) is a funny wee place. I’m not the biggest fan of Oirish pubs, but this one seemed to do things quite discretely (i.e. you didn’t have a choice of Guinness, Harp, or Beamish). We wandered up to the bar and requested two pints of Guinness. Off. Two pints of Deuchars? Sorry. Two pints of Calders? No. The barmaid, to her credit, then somehow conjured two pints of Best from a seemingly invisible tap. Happy days. Nick then decided that it would be a Great Idea for us to take a table right underneath a television, meaning that for me to be able to watch the snooker I would have to have invertebrate-like agility (I don’t, I’m afraid). It wasn’t really worth kicking up a fuss about however as we drank our pints and moved on to our final pub of the night.
Ryan’s Bar (Queensferry Street, 13/19/37/37/41/47) is a self-styled Café Bar, and is really designed for eating rather than drinking. Slightly less pretentious than many other West End pubs, it is excellent for a working or pub lunch, as there are always plenty of tables around. Even for an after work pint in the summer it is ideal, as the outside tables are south-westerly facing. However, at night in a capacity as simply a drinking hole, it isn’t anything particularly useful. The night we visited maybe wasn’t the best time to give it an appraisal, as not many bars at the end of Princes Street are packed come 11pm on a Sunday. However, the one feature which must be highlighted is the fact that the bar is equipped with Dyson (as in the hoover) handdryers, it’s like shoving your hands in a wind tunnel…
Until the next time…
CUMULATIVE PUB COUNT: 31
First up was the Athletic Arms (also known as The Diggers) (Angle Park Terrace, 1/34/35), which is a traditional Jambo pub with strong links to the former McEwan's brewery at Fountainbridge. It was derby day, so the vast majority of the punters were decked out in maroon to witness a 1-1 draw.
The pub itself is really nice – good pints, good atmosphere and lovely old style décor. Traditional in every sense, it also had the added bonus of offering carry kegs to take away – although these were only available off (sic.) barman Aitken Founts.
From there there was a short stagger along the road to McCowan’s Brewhouse (Fountainpark complex, 1/34/35). From the outside, you’d think McCowan’s was a brew pub (given the fact that there are two fermentation tanks on display). However, it isn’t. Given the fact that Fountainpark is generally full of neds going to the cinema, neds coming from the cinema, neds going to the bowling, neds coming from the bowling, neds - you get the picture – McCowan’s is alright actually. Nothing out of the ordinary, but alright. Also, amusingly, they had a Family Fortunes-esque buzzer which kept sounding every time that Nick made any assertion. (More on this later, readers.)
Ryries (Haymarket Terrace, 12/26/31/X48/100) is rubbish. However it also featured the same “wrong” buzzer as McCowan’s, which was perhaps deployed to its best effect when Nick said, “You know, in five years time, I might be married with kids.” ERRRRRRR.
The other pub around this area of town is The Haymarket (Haymarket Gyratory System, 2/3/4/12/25/26/31/33/44/X48/100), nice enough inside and fairly cheap but with very little which stands out to recommend it specifically – except for the fact that it’s usually open later than the Caley Ale House. Not that we’d ever nip across the road for another pint. Ever.
Talking of nipping across the road, the next pub on our travels was The Mercat (West Maitland Street, 2/3/4/12/25/26/31/33/44/X48/100), a split level pub which occasionally puts on live music. There was no such entertainment for our visit, however, just a bunch of lagered-up neds in the corner who were ejected after a very brief stay. Oh, and if someone could tell the barmaid how to pour pint of Best correctly that would be much appreciated.
The Grosvenor (Shandwick Place, 3/4/12/25/26/31/33/44/X48/100) is one of those pubs which has the potential (in terms of location, layout and being in an area where there aren’t too many great pubs) to be something special, but sadly it’s not. In fact, it is decidedly ordinary. Perhaps the fact that when visited for the Great Edinburgh Pub Challenge, The Management were the only punters there didn’t help things. However, it really does come across as a big, soulless room with a couple of beer taps. From past experience it’s cracking on rugby days (or any other big events at Murrayfield), but really it isn’t one you should go out of your way to visit.
Scruffy Murphy’s (Queensferry Street, 13/19/36/37/41/47) is a funny wee place. I’m not the biggest fan of Oirish pubs, but this one seemed to do things quite discretely (i.e. you didn’t have a choice of Guinness, Harp, or Beamish). We wandered up to the bar and requested two pints of Guinness. Off. Two pints of Deuchars? Sorry. Two pints of Calders? No. The barmaid, to her credit, then somehow conjured two pints of Best from a seemingly invisible tap. Happy days. Nick then decided that it would be a Great Idea for us to take a table right underneath a television, meaning that for me to be able to watch the snooker I would have to have invertebrate-like agility (I don’t, I’m afraid). It wasn’t really worth kicking up a fuss about however as we drank our pints and moved on to our final pub of the night.
Ryan’s Bar (Queensferry Street, 13/19/37/37/41/47) is a self-styled Café Bar, and is really designed for eating rather than drinking. Slightly less pretentious than many other West End pubs, it is excellent for a working or pub lunch, as there are always plenty of tables around. Even for an after work pint in the summer it is ideal, as the outside tables are south-westerly facing. However, at night in a capacity as simply a drinking hole, it isn’t anything particularly useful. The night we visited maybe wasn’t the best time to give it an appraisal, as not many bars at the end of Princes Street are packed come 11pm on a Sunday. However, the one feature which must be highlighted is the fact that the bar is equipped with Dyson (as in the hoover) handdryers, it’s like shoving your hands in a wind tunnel…
Until the next time…
CUMULATIVE PUB COUNT: 31
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
What's the Story?
Right then, where were we? A challenge to drink in (subject to conditions) every pub in Edinburgh was it? Having spent a lot of time drinking in familiar areas if not always familiar pubs, we decided it was time to head further out. So what was the fairest way to decide where to go? To wait at a bus stop, then travel for 15 minutes and go to the next boozer we saw, of course.
And so we hopped on a 16 in Princes Street and ended up in Morningside, at the Morning (side) Glory (Comiston Road-ish, 5/11/16/17/23/41). Anticipations were pretty high as it looked quite a smart wee place (as you’d expect in that end of town) from the outside. However, as is common, anticipation only led to disappointment. We ordered two pints of Deuchars. The IPA was off. I ordered a Furstenburg. It was warm. Nick ordered a Caley 80-/-. It wasn’t nice. The atmosphere was, well, a bit bland. Maybe it was just an off night but it didn’t fulfil its potential.
Onwards and outwards, and seeing as we couldn’t find anywhere for love nor money in the direction in which we were walking, we hopped on a bus. An age seemed to pass but eventually we ended up at Good Companions (Oxgangs Bank, 5). Although it looked less welcoming from the outside, it was far more enjoyable – better beer and (with due credit to whoever had just been to the jukebox) some brilliant choons being played (The Small Faces, Peter Bjorn and John, and the Klaxons’ one good song being amongst them). Whilst we just had a quiet pint, there was a darts league going on and a few games of pool and suchlike. There was a saloon bar round the front but we didn’t have time to go in.
Sadly as Nick had left some of his belongings in the Guildford Arms (ineligible but recommended) we had to return to town for a pint or three. At this stage it seemed as everywhere was beginning to shut but we eventually found ourselves in the Jekyll and Hyde (Hanover Street, 13/23/27), one of those tacky theme-pub things with ghost sounds in the bogs and eternal flames outside – it’s meant to be SCARY. However in reality it’s a pretty tame affair (like most New Town pubs) and there isn’t a lot to be said for it except that it served the lovely Finnish lager Lapin Kulta, which isn’t seen much around these parts. Oh, and if you’re looking for them, the gents is in the bookcase.
For our fourth and final (qualifying) pub of the evening, we were joined by Nick’s uncle, Calum Nicol, who was in town on business and also sporting an interesting hat. The Rutland (Rutland Place, 3/4/12/13/19/25/26/33/36/41/X48/100) is about as bland as the Morningside Glory but with higher prices. I honestly can’t think of anything interesting to say about it, but to be honest we were there for a chat rather than to review the pub. No apologies will be given.
Until the next time…
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: “Cathy Picante? Is she hot?” – Nick
CUMULATIVE PUB COUNT: 23
And so we hopped on a 16 in Princes Street and ended up in Morningside, at the Morning (side) Glory (Comiston Road-ish, 5/11/16/17/23/41). Anticipations were pretty high as it looked quite a smart wee place (as you’d expect in that end of town) from the outside. However, as is common, anticipation only led to disappointment. We ordered two pints of Deuchars. The IPA was off. I ordered a Furstenburg. It was warm. Nick ordered a Caley 80-/-. It wasn’t nice. The atmosphere was, well, a bit bland. Maybe it was just an off night but it didn’t fulfil its potential.
Onwards and outwards, and seeing as we couldn’t find anywhere for love nor money in the direction in which we were walking, we hopped on a bus. An age seemed to pass but eventually we ended up at Good Companions (Oxgangs Bank, 5). Although it looked less welcoming from the outside, it was far more enjoyable – better beer and (with due credit to whoever had just been to the jukebox) some brilliant choons being played (The Small Faces, Peter Bjorn and John, and the Klaxons’ one good song being amongst them). Whilst we just had a quiet pint, there was a darts league going on and a few games of pool and suchlike. There was a saloon bar round the front but we didn’t have time to go in.
Sadly as Nick had left some of his belongings in the Guildford Arms (ineligible but recommended) we had to return to town for a pint or three. At this stage it seemed as everywhere was beginning to shut but we eventually found ourselves in the Jekyll and Hyde (Hanover Street, 13/23/27), one of those tacky theme-pub things with ghost sounds in the bogs and eternal flames outside – it’s meant to be SCARY. However in reality it’s a pretty tame affair (like most New Town pubs) and there isn’t a lot to be said for it except that it served the lovely Finnish lager Lapin Kulta, which isn’t seen much around these parts. Oh, and if you’re looking for them, the gents is in the bookcase.
For our fourth and final (qualifying) pub of the evening, we were joined by Nick’s uncle, Calum Nicol, who was in town on business and also sporting an interesting hat. The Rutland (Rutland Place, 3/4/12/13/19/25/26/33/36/41/X48/100) is about as bland as the Morningside Glory but with higher prices. I honestly can’t think of anything interesting to say about it, but to be honest we were there for a chat rather than to review the pub. No apologies will be given.
Until the next time…
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: “Cathy Picante? Is she hot?” – Nick
CUMULATIVE PUB COUNT: 23
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