The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh

A fairly unassuming entranceway in a side street off St Andrew’s Square is the only visible sign of this pub from outside, and that together with the unusual name really doesn’t make it sound very appealing. I was expecting some sort of overly trendy bar with nothing in the way of any decent drinks. As it happens, I was only correct on one of those counts. The pub itself is entirely upstairs, hence only the entrance doorway being visible from street level which leads to a set of stairs. Décor wise, it’s very elegant and really quite spectacular with a very ornate ceiling with white and gold cornicework. Walls were mostly covered in a very dark paint, with similarly elaborate archways leading to adjacent rooms. A few gilded mirrors and pictures were dotted around, as well as some large pot plants. A padded bar counter was off to one side with an ornate gold mirror at one end. Table service seems to be the order of the day here and we were shown to a table before waiting for some time to get a menu and place an order. Unfortunately, there were no real ales on tap, just Caesar’s Augustus and Best along with Joker IPA on keg. Even worse, there were no ciders on tap. Overall, as a pub this is really a non-starter, but it is perhaps worth popping in just for the stunning interior.

Official site of The Voodoo Rooms - www.thevoodoorooms.com