The Beehive Inn, Edinburgh

One of four pubs in a row down one side of tourist hotspot Grassmarket, this one is owned by Greene King like the nearby White Hart but with a different cask offering apart from the house beer which is probably Deuchars IPA as well. Instead on the four pulls were Greene King Fireside, the house beer and a beer called Strangers Brewing Co Modern Pale, a fairly ordinary slightly hazy, sweet pale from a nearby brewery. There’s a range of kegs on a dozen taps with a double being dedicated to Belhaven, the others are usual suspects. It’s multi spaced and multi level on the ground floor with the counter in the middle section. It extends over three floors but I stayed on the ground floor, there’s a beer garden with views of the backside of the castle and a whisky lounge is advertised on the first floor. It has some nice old maps and pictures as decor. You have the usual music, screens and machines if required or not in the case of the music.

One of many pubs and bars on this popular strip, it was very busy on our recent Tuesday evening visit, to the extent that the only available seating appeared to be perched up on a stool at a very small round table. Had there been a bit more room we might have tried the food, but then again going on the long and orderly queue at the bar perhaps that would not have been a good idea. The main bar is fairly traditional with very dark blue paintwork on the ceiling and much of the walls as well as some wood panelling on the lower part and wood strip on the floor along with some black and white chequered tiling around the bar counter. Plenty of pictures were dotted around the walls, many of the locale, as well as various other notices and information boards. There were also a number of TV’s showing a sports channel, but at least the volume was off so this was not too intrusive. The seating was quite tightly packed in and included a table made from an old beer barrel. A second room off to the left looked a little more elegant with wallpaper on one wall and some mustard colour paint on the others as well as some old portrait paintings and fitted, padded bench seating. Even here a large TV had been mounted up in the corner though which looked rather out of place. Beers on tap were Tiny Rebel’s Supersonic, their own Beehive Inn Best Bitter along with Lone Goose and Suntrap from Stranger’s Brewing. The solitary cider meanwhile was a rather disappointing Aspall’s.

Official site of The Beehive Inn - www.belhavenpubs.co.uk

Official site of The Beehive Inn - www.belhavenpubs.co.uk

Now under Belhaven/Greene King ownership, with their prices still in the same bracket as the previous owners, Taylor Walker. This 400 year old pub is a tourist hotspot so seating is at a premium. The ground floor has a lot to offer visually, but I found the first floor dining area to be a step up again with the fixtures and fittings. The upstairs bar counter was pale oak with a boarded oak floor, coffered ceilings finished in red, along with drapes and panelled window shutters. Four ales, Orkney Red MacGregor and Wave Breaker, Caladonian Deuchars and Beehive House Bitter.