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Lebowskis: 18 Morrison Street, Edinburgh

 

 

This bar, just off Lothian Road, has changed considerably since the days it was called the Festival Tavern. The Festival Tavern was a bit of a radge bar, where cheap drink was in abundance and the décor was minimal.

It’s now called Lebowskis after the film the Big Lebowski, directed by the Coen brothers, who also directed the film No Country for Old Men. The film No Country for Old Men is one of my personal favourites and definitely worth a watch.

Anyway back to the pub trade. Lebowskis is a modern trendy bar with a mixed crowd and not necessarily upmarket as the pints were fairly reasonable. It looked like the place has been designed by an interior decorator a bit like the ilk of element or somewhere like that. It’s actually part of a chain and there is another venue in Glasgow.

The beer selection on tap is not extensive but they have quite a few interesting beers in bottles. Much of their trade also seems to be cocktails. If you like a cocktail you’ll enjoy it here as they have an extensive menu. If you’re just going for a beer you may have to wait longer than average to get served at the bar as service is often delayed by the staff making some elaborate cocktail. However bars serving cocktails tend to bring in attractive women, and this is also the case at Lebowskis, so it’s not all bad news!  

The Friday night I was there, it was busy, in fact we couldn’t get a seat, and there was a DJ in the corner playing funky kind of dance beats in the background (would you call that house music?). Despite this though the bar still felt fairly relaxed and was a far cry from the other rough and ready bars on Lothian Road.

However the ambience is directly related to the DJ, as I went back a week or two later and the DJ was so loud it may as well have been a night club.

Le Monde: 16 George Street, Edinburgh

French for the world, this is a sensible name for a French daily newspaper. Quite why this bar on George Street is called such a name I’m not sure, as there is nothing really worldly about it - other than the fact tourists may drink in it during the festival. To be honest I think the owners just chose the name because it sounded swanky.

This place is all about the swank! It’s attached to what their website calls a ‘boutique’ hotel – what the hell does that mean? Drinks are obviously expensive! It’s a nice place to go for one or two pints after work, but if you go at the weekend for a session you will require a small mortgage and be irritated by posers!

The problem with this bar is it is trying to be a sophisticated bar to suit the likes of Paris, London or New York. Unfortunately it is located on George Street in Edinburgh, a street where you may get posers and radges, but certainly not sophistication!
 

Swank!

 

Bannerman's Bar: 212 Cowgate, Edinburgh

 

Also known as Shanerman's (Shan a Scottish word meaning unfair or terrible) this is actually quite an entertaining place. The bar leaves a lot to be desired, the beer is average and fairly overpriced but it’s a great place to people watch and I believe they do drinks offers Sunday-Wednesday.

While I was drinking there, a group came in on a pub golf night – obvious by the way they were dressed. They were like a fish out of water and left quickly though not before one of the girls in the group managed to flash her ass. Later a couple of attractive girls dressed in 1980s sparkly gear came in selling cigarettes from a tray.  I’m sure some of the guys in the pub that bought cigarettes from these girls didn’t even smoke – quite a marketing technique!

This bar markets itself as a rock bar and for £5 I could have watched the band playing in the next room. £5 isn’t a lot of money for a gig but why not just have the gig in the bar and let the punters paying for drinks also hear the band? Instead I enjoyed watching the tennis on TV and the various characters in the bar.

Murrayfield bar: 57-59 Roseburn Terrace, Edinburgh

A very average bar, I prefer the Murrayfield Hotel. You get an ok pint here but on the Thursday night when I visited there were hardy any bar staff so it took me ages to get served.

The main toilets in the basement were out of order so everyone had to wait for the disabled on the ground floor. 

They had a poker night on while I was there and I’ve been told they do Beer Pong. There are also TVs to watch the sport and like the Murrayfield Hotel is packed on match days. Overall an average soulless bar and a poor man’s Murrayfield Hotel!

Roxys: 23 Queen Street, Blackpool

I should point out that this review may not be entirely representative of the bar as my mates and I didn’t rock up to this bar until after 1am on a Sunday morning. I found this bar a bit more chilled out than some of the other Blackpool bars, although it could have been due to the time. It’s quite a big bar with several levels; so there was plenty of space to sit down, space to do a few comedy dance moves if you wished, and an outdoor balcony to get some fresh air.

I stuck to bottled beer, of which there was a reasonable selection, though later on the boys got on the Jäger train for a couple of stops.

This must be a popular tourist bar as we met a couple of drunken girls from Paisley. Along with being a tourist bar I wondered if they did weddings, as there was lots of what looked like confetti all over the floor when we walked in. Possibly due to another stag/hen night (for which Blackpool like Edinburgh seems popular)?

After researching this bar I believe there are drag acts on so I guess the boys were lucky we went late and missed that!

Litten Tree: 8-14 Queen Street, Blackpool

An average bar with average drinks. Being a Blackpool bar the music is blaring and there are stag and hen parties aplenty.