Kays Bar, Edinburgh

A popular tiny bar located behind and between some rather posh houses. A small rectangular room with the right hand third taken up with the counter, banquette seating at Britannia tables opposite and the lavs and a couple of tables at the far end. WhatPub says there’s another small room at the back, it’s near the ladies at the rear right but I didn’t visit it. Seven pulls of four Scottish beers, a couple of Yorkshire interlopers from Taylors and Theakston plus a Thistley Cross cider, a few keg solos of UK nationals, a little hard to tell what due to bar blockers. Fairly traditional in decor with old casks, stoneware jugs and brewery mirrors. The interior is fairly original and red. I wasn’t keen on the atmosphere, seemed a little cliquey but if you’re in a group it’s probably ok or I may have been unduly influenced by some miserable locals blocking the bar and giving me the evil eye.

Quinno's review says it all,this is an absolute must visit in the New Town,a very posh district with few pubs.It's small , very friendly and offers free newspapers to read on my lunchtime visit.The pub has also been awarded a Timothy Taylor cellarman award so TT Landlord is a regular.The other options on my trip were Loch Leven King Slayer (terrific,NBSS 4.5),Fyne Jarl,Harviestoun Schiehallion,Theakstons Bitter and Oakham JHB together with a Thirsty Cross real cider on handpump. Cobs to eat,a real fire plus a cosy back lounge you have to visit this charming pub.

Tucked away down some residential side streets, this is not somewhere you’re likely to stumble across by accident but is well worth taking the effort to track down. It’s rather unusual in appearance being a freestanding structure surrounded by terraced houses, and looks as though it may perhaps have been a garage or something similar in a former life. Internally it’s one fairly compact room, although there did also look to be a much smaller room at the rear which was described as a library. The predominant colour in the pub was red, with deep red paint on the ceiling, padded red banquet seating around the perimeter and red padded bar stools elsewhere. Rough, black wood panelling was on the wall at the rear and there was also a small fireplace here. The left hand wall was entirely taken up with racks of old barrels in various sizes, although these looked to be decorative rather than functional. Food choice looked to be limited to the odd cling filmed roll that was lurking around. Beers on tap were Fyne Ales Jarl, Timothy Taylor Landlord, London Pride, Deuchars IPA, Theakston’s Best, The Norseman and Jarsa Session Ale. After that lot, the solitary cider was Strongbow, unfortunately. Overall, despite the poor cider choice, I thought this was a cracking little pub with friendly service and a cosy atmosphere.