The Cafe Royal Bar, Edinburgh

A good sized bar and restaurant tucked a little out the way but nonetheless only a very short stroll from the main Princes Street thoroughfare, it is quite elegant in style and clearly has an upmarket focus with various notices promoting champagne, lobsters and oysters. Internally, the main part of the pub is one large, open plan room with a central island bar counter. There is a further “Oyster Bar” off to one side which I assume was more of a restaurant. This was separated from the main part of the pub with some elaborate carved wood partitioning, etched mirrors and stained glass. The flooring was some sort of marble style tiling and there was a high ceiling with elaborate cornice work and gold paint. Large windows on two sides were draped with dark curtains and let in plenty of light. Seating at the front of the pub was curved booths with brown padded cushions whilst there were high stools around the bar counter and at the rear. A number of large tiled drawings of scientific discoveries such as Michael Faraday’s work on electro-magnetism were an unusual and interesting feature along the rear wall. Pineapples seem to be something of a theme here and appeared in various places, including lamp shades on the bar counter and in the windows. Beers on tap were Wild Side IPA, Greene King IPA, Stewart’s 80/-, Murray’s Pale Ale, Stewart’s Radical Road Reverse and Stewart’s Pentland IPA. Ciders though were slightly disappointing with just Aspall’s Suffolk and Old Mout Cherry & Berry. Whilst not a pub in the traditional sense, I thought this was a worthwhile pit stop, and it certainly worth a look for the architecture alone.

Very ornate old style bar as described below.8 real ales and food served.Makes a good double header with the Guildford Arms(10 real ales) next door.