Bar Boda: 229 Leith Walk, Edinburgh

This is a nice relaxed bar down Leith Walk. It’s one of the Swedish bars owned by the same company that brings you Joseph Pearce’s and Victoria. The beer selection didn’t seem extensive but the service was good. I was going to order a pint of Amstel but was advised by the barman that it cost over £4 - not really sure why as it’s not exactly a premium beer! Anyway I ordered a German sounding lager which was quite nice.

There are a couple of things to keep you amused in this bar – a selection of books in the corner and a paper model of a shark hanging from the roof.

The Third Door: 45–47 Lothian Street, Edinburgh

We interrupt this tour of New Town pubs to bring you an important announcement.

Do you like being disappointed? Do you like wasting your money? If the answer is no then do not – repeat - do not, go to the Third Door nightclub.

I rocked up there last night about 12.30-1am on a mates birthday night out. We each paid £5 to get in but the club was practically empty. As a few more people started to arrive we bought several drinks, but at 2am the manager closed the club (presumably realising the bar wasn’t taking enough money, so not worth remaining open). A hot girl complained that she had paid £5 and expected the club to be open until 3am. She got a refund. However, when we also complained we were denied a refund (presumably because we are not hot girls).

Basically don’t go to the Third Door - try the first or second door instead. The Third door will rip you off and crush your dreams!

The Wally Dug

My guidebook makes great reference to the ‘steep stairs’ at the Wally Dug, which I didn’t find that steep – maybe the writer had just had too many pints! It also tells me that apparently Wally Dug is Scots for China Dog, not dogs from China (like the Pandas from China at Edinburgh Zoo) but China models of dogs that were popular ornaments. However, wally is also defined as “a silly and inept person” so is this wally dog a bit stupid?

Anyway the Wally (or China or stupid Dug) is a great pub, there is nothing stupid about it! The pub is divided up into a few rooms, the main bar area which has seating, books and games (games seem to be a feature of New Town bars – more on that in later reviews), and serves Tsingtao beer – a nice touch and keeping the China theme going!

We went into the study area of the pub which has 2 pictures of real dugs hanging on the wall. There was a bit of music in the background, and generally a relaxed atmosphere and good banter. On the table was a menu showing the various types of Jägerbombs that they offer. One was a Haggisbomb. It costs “£3.50 per explosion”!

Overall a very nice bar that I would go back to. If you want to access the free WIFI, ask about it at the bar when you order your pint, as while the free WIFI is well advertised, the code was not.

New Town Pub Crawl

On the holiday Monday of the Diamond Jubilee weekend, I set out with a couple of mates to try some pubs I hadn’t been in before. Armed with a rather questionable pub guide, that seemed overly obsessed with each venue’s amenities and accessibility, we ventured north into the New Town and Stockbridge.

These were the venues we hit;

The Wally Dug

The Standard

The Star Bar

St Vincent Bar

The Antiquary

The Bailie

Hectors

Reviews will be appearing shortly. If you fancy doing our pub crawl I’d do it in a different order, as we made a shambles of the geography!

The Spice Lounge Kitchen: 1 Craigmount View, Edinburgh

Good news everyone! The building that used to be the Rainbow has now re-opened as the Spice Lounge Kitchen, a curry restaurant with a bar area. I haven’t actually had a curry there yet, I just popped in for a drink at the weekend. I had a nice pint of Deuchars sitting on one of their new comfy couches. It was quite relaxing. The staff seemed a bit unsure of what drinks they had available, but we’ll put this down to teething problems. There’s good potential here!