The Booking Office (JD Wetherspoon), Edinburgh

Visited 05/11/25 Usual decent array of cask beers in this JDW by the station. On offer were the usual Doom Bar, Abbot, then Skinful from BearTown, the 80/- from Belhaven, the Black Dragon cider from Gwynt y Ddraig and the same from Thistly Cross and even the Clear Spot from Burning Sky. Keg usual suspects of Stella, Bud Light, Stowford Press, Budweiser, Tenants, Original and dark fruits SB, Corona, Carlsberg, Guinness, Angelo Poretti, BrewDog Punk IPA, Coors, Carling, K1664, Worthington CF, Leffe Blonde, the Innis & Gunn lager and Mangoes on the Run IPA, Edinburgh Gold and the Hazy IPA from Stewart's Brewing. I initially made a mess of finding this place until I spotted the JDW sign up the steep ramp taking you outside the middle of the station. Typical JDW venue, mix of carpet and bare boards, the long bar counter at the rear of the venue, sky light in the middle of the venue and loads of tightly packed tables and chairs, regular and tall, some booths and banquettes thrown in for good measure. Furiously busy on my visit, no screens and no music just the chatter of patrons enjoying the low beer prices. Felt like I had to tick but not one of the memorable ones on my trip to Edinburgh. Clear relegation material in the JDW league of Edinburgh Central pubs on ambiance but I imagine Timbo makes a packet from it!

A mid-sized spoons at the top of the ramp leading down from Waverley Bridge into the station. It’s well described before so I won’t bother. On a Saturday lunchtime visit it was rammed and the bloody idiots were queuing in a line, FFS it’s a pub not a post office.

Nice use of the building but suffers a little from being a station waiting room - lots of people coming and going and lots of luggage. Nice stop off though

I assume this victorian building was originally related to Waverley station which is just down a gentle slope to platform level ,so it's always going to be popular with arrivals and departures.Quite a modest sized interior with the bar running down the far wall,a high table seating area opposite then wings with more dining type tables.There are two exterior area for any good weather. A total of 12 handpumps but the offer on my visit was Doom Bar,GK Abbot,Belhaven 80/-,Stewart Radical Road Reverse,Jack Back,Citra Blonde and Pentland IPA together with Theakstons Old Peculier. It serves a purpose but is hardly inspiring.

The Booking Office is a Wetherspoons with bar along the rear wall that faces the entrance and high tables in in the centre of the pub. Standard seating is found to the right and to the left where there’s a conservatory. It was packed during a recent afternoon visit during the Fringe, to be expected I suppose. It was annoying to see the queue at the bar snaking around the tables towards the entrance, IT’S A BAR NOT A FECKIN CHECK OUT!!! The service was crap, no pleasantries and my drinks were left at the other end of the bar, took my money and then couldn’t be bothered to bring my drinks. I didn’t see anyone cleaning, tables sticky and piled with empty glasses. We were going to eat, but decided against it. I counted twelve handpumps in two banks of six. The only non-mainstream ale was Lymestone Brewery’s Ein Stein. Standard keg was also available alongside Blue Moon and a couple I’d not heard of, so we’ll call them craft! My Tennents had over an inch of head, I was told that it was coming out too lively to pour a full pint. Still got charged for one though. Maybe this place is better at quieter times of the year, but I thought it was crap.

Adjacent to Waverley rail station (which can be easily accessed by a less-than-obvious taxi ramp as you turn left out of the pub), I wasn’t expecting much from this Wetherspoons but was pleasantly surprised. It’s actually not too large inside, a couple of buildings smooshed into one. Décor as described below, though I personally felt it was fairly comfy and upmarket given the inevitably high footfall (being converted in 2016 from a Chinese restaurant). I enjoyed the large mosaic of the North British Railway Company on the floor. Took my seat in the conservatory area and apped-in my order, observing what looked like a rather awkward first date on the table opposite and keeping an eye on the live departure board within the pub. I must have been more squiffy than I appreciated as I forgot to note the beer I ordered (via Untappd I deduced it was Fire Island Buffalo with no comment about condition, so around an NBSS 3) and as a pièce de résistance also managed to get my return ticket out and leave it on the table upon exiting; by the time I realised 10 minutes later I zoomed back in hope rather than expectation with a few minutes before my train. However the staff had found it, passed the word around and put it aside. Now that’s good service. 7.5