The Oxford Bar, Edinburgh

Obviously made famous by Ian Rankin and his Rebus novels although it’s a few years since the telly adaptation was on so trading on that is probably a diminishing game. I suspect that won’t matter due to its local following, I nearly knocked one local over opening the door and I couldn’t get anywhere near the clips to see what was on, fortunately I just spotted a Jarl clip. The front bar was rammed early Friday evening and the rear room was fairly full too, the back room by the way makes a very poor use of space and furnishings. I think the historic interior is just the front bar, the rear bar hosts photo exhibitions which are rather good. Anyway the beer quality was well up to standard.

I often pop in here for a pint when I'm in the area. It's a simple two roomed locals local and would be totally anonymous if it wasn't for the connection to the Rebus books. Ian Rankin is supposed to visit regularly, but sadly I've never seen him. There's still an old fashioned pie warmer on the bar and I have been known to have one. Two handpumps, one always has Cally 80 on it, the other is usually turned around or has Deuchars on it. It's a decent pint as you would expect and there's not as many tourists as you would have thought, especially on a midweek evening.

Well known as the regular haunt of Inspector Rebus from the popular novels, this is located down a quiet side street and unlikely to attract much in the way of random passing trade, but presumably does well enough due to it’s literary connection as well as the locals. Internally it’s divided in to two halves, with the smaller half to the left containing the bar counter and a couple of adjoining rooms to the right. The left-hand half is actually fairly small with limited seating options. Paintwork is mostly pale yellow with dark wood panelling on the lower part of the walls and there were various old black and white pictures and branded mirrors on the walls. A shelf housed a small collection of books including dictionaries, film guides and beer guides. The adjoining rooms to the right felt a little cosier with a slightly deeper shade of yellow paint and much colourful artwork which looked as though it may have been for sale. A small brick fireplace was off to one side and a tiny TV mounted on a shelf up in the corner, although fortunately this was not in use on our visit. Padded bench seating was around much of the perimeter with tables and chairs elsewhere. Unfortunately, despite four hand pumps on the bar, none were in use. Three had pump clips reversed, whilst the fourth appeared unused. I queried this with the barmaid who muttered something about a “delivery due tomorrow”. Even worse, there was no cider on tap. Overall, I was a bit disappointed with this, it felt a little shabby in places and the lack of any beer did nothing to improve my disposition towards it.