The Cafe Royal Bar, Edinburgh

Visited 05/11/25 Cask was Pentland IPA, Backing Blue session IPA and Jack Back session IPA all from Stewart Brewing, the Gloaming 80/- and the Bonnie & Blonde pale ale both from Loch Lomond brewing, the Royal Mile IPA from Broughton, the Jeely Piece double APA and the Songs of Haze hazy IPA both from MoR. The keg offering was Asahi, Stewart's Lager and Stewart's 80/- both from Stewart Brewing, the Edinburgh Pale from the Beer Factory, Thistly Cross cider, Guinness, the Pilot Blond, Paolozzi lager, the Lawless Village IPA from Bellfield, the Peach Melba Sour from Pilot, Estrella Galicia and the lager from Innis & Gunn. Another grand pub, but not as opulent as I had worked myself up to experience - here was me thinking Trump's gold laden remodelled Oval Office in an old school Edinburgh pub and Oyster restaurant! The venue is tiled with an ornate, but not opulent island bar with tall stool seating around the bar counter. High painted ceiling - OK a fair amount of gilding thereon and around the tops of the walls between the grand windows. To the left of the entrance (mind the step down immediately inside the entrance if you are looking for the opulence), a series of semi-circular booth style tables with leather seating in the windows and regular chairs the other side thereof. Nice art deco style globe lighting suspended from the ceiling and a fair quota of typical houseplants. In front of the entrance and along an ornate wooden mirrored partition screening off the formal restaurant and stretching to the rear wall the other side of the bar counter was a line of tall round tables each with two tall, backed stools occupied by elderly ladies doing lunch. The rear (from the entrance side) wall has large tile art framed works of first division inventors (think Watt, Stephenson, Faraday, Caxton etc) either side of an impressive wooden fire surround with ornate mirror above. There was a line of tall tables along this wall also. Whilst a good venue with decent beer and plenty to look at felt like it was a distance second in the race against the Guildford Arms a minute walk away.