Edinburgh:
There’s a theme here: a historic interior again, and along with The Abbotsford a member of a small chain. We’d left the Cafe Royal, and knew it was close, just not how close (next door). Lovely interior, great staff and beer, very, very close to Waverley Station.
Edinburgh:
Glorious Edwardian pub in one of Edinburgh’s busy streets. Fantastic heritage interior, great beer selection, and really good, different food at a reasonable price. Very friendly staff too, surprisingly chilled as the Fringe was still on.
Hawick:
A ‘spoons. But a nice spoons. In what was a Conservative club, so it has to be an improvement. The interior is impressive, with wood paneling and a grand staircase. Very friendly staff, and quite a civilised atmosphere for a ‘spoons; trackie bottoms not required.
Hawick:
Corner-sited Victorian pub. No longer owned by anyone called Dalton, but the name stuck. It’s a drinker’s pub: no children allowed. One ale on when we visited; there’s sometimes 2. Friendly staff and locals and a lovely historic interior. No food beyond crisps/snacks.
Selkirk:
A typical drinker’s pub right in the middle of town, with a heritage interior, with lovely cornice and mirrors. No food, no real ale, but very friendly staff and locals and a proper pub atmosphere.
Annan, Dumfries & Galloway:
OK, it’s a hotel, but this has to be stretched in Scotland: generally the local hotel is also the pub. There’s several pubs in town in this case, but this isn’t always the case, and the bar felt pubby.
No cask ale, but tolerable lager (Staropramen). Barman friendly enough, atmosphere OK (but marked down for TV showing some third-rate channel), nothing exceptional though.
South Queensferry:
Almost in the shadow of both the road and rail Firth of Forth crossings, South Queensferry is a peasant little place. Sadly, we were in the car, but found parking nearby and stopped for lunch. Food was a bit mixed; my burger was fine, but stymistress’s baguette was a bit below par. Real ale on offer, but not tried (due to presence of car), and a large slection of whisky. Pleasant, helpful staff, and nice, traditional interior only marred by the large TV (thankfully muted).
Linlithgow:
At one end of the main street. It’s a hotel, but the bar feels pub-like. It is a little modern and stripped out, but there’s a real fire and while there is food there’s a good area for just drinking. Good choice of beer including real ale, and pleasant staff. We returned another day for food, which was fine too.
Edinburgh:
This was a real surprise: it was on our list because of its literary connections (being the favourite bar of Ian Rankin and his well known character Inspector John Rebus).
It’s lovely. Positively lovely. It’s a bit of a timewarp, still subdivided up, and the back room we were in had a real fire. No food, no music, no TV, just a quiet, relaxing bar with some superb ale and a lovely quiet bolthole from the city. The staff and locals have a reputation for surliness, but we found them friendly- and we were very obviously tourists.
Edinburgh:
One of many pubs/restaurants in Rose St, we chose this as the menu looked more our thing, and we’d arrived in the city at lunctime. Inside, it’s standard modern slightly (but only slightly) la-di-dah bar, and pretty pleasant. Some cracking beer on offer, and the food was good. As you’d expect, prices a bit steep (£4 a pint) though.