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Volunteer Arms (The Canny Man's), Morningside, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
EH10 4QU
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about Volunteer Arms (The Canny Man's)
It doesn't look much from the outside and the official name of the Volunteer Arms seems to have disappeared but the joy is within.An authentic and unchanged interior with a nesting of rooms and a small snug area to the side of the bar.All kind of items hang from the ceiling.On entering the Australian landlady asked if I had booked,as the dining room was fully booked that day.I said I was just in for a beer and was warmly welcomed but told that seating was only available in the tap room ,side snug or on a bar stool.I noticed brass name tags of departed regulars all around the pews in the tap room.The very fine mirror here is marked Golden Drop. There is a no photograph sign near the fine door to the gents,while the dining rooms were all very ornate .
Three real ales on my trip Stewart 80/-,Pentland IPA and Radical Road Reverse (fine form,NBSS 4).The whisky bottled display was impressive and added to the atmosphere.Gentle ballards were playing with some sing along in Australian !
Given the focus on food,I'm not sure I would base myself here for a session but it's certainly worth the bus ride from the city centre to see the very fine ,and CAMRA listed, interior.
On 19th November 2022
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2728 recommendations about 2728 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about Volunteer Arms (The Canny Man's)
The Canny Man’s is a Victorian pub busy with all sorts of objects, from colonial soldier jackets and old musical instruments to boats and a full sized manakin hanging horizontal on the ceiling. I don’t think there is an inch of wall or ceiling space in the bar and tiny snug to the left or couple of rooms to the right that hasn’t got something nailed to it. There was some background music playing and I didn’t see any televisions. Out the back is an enclosed beer garden full of patio furniture and a separate function room with large table that looked to be decorated much the same as the pub.
The bar supports standard keg and four handpumps, one of which was unused. This left Stewarts 80/- and Edinburgh Gold alongside Deuchars. Food is served at lunch and dinner and the menu is at the gastro end of the food spectrum. I found the service to be polite and you could spend a while looking at all the tat on the walls, but it was all a bit much for me if I’m being honest.
On 4th September 2022
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5254 recommendations about 5222 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about Volunteer Arms (The Canny Man's)
Out of town in a well-heeled Victorian suburb, this is one of those rather fascinating places that is part time-warp and part bric-a-brac junk yard (CAMRA Regional Inventory as well). The brass sign outside lists a number of things that are either not allowed to enter or allowed to happen inside (NO SMOKING! NO CREDIT CARDS! NO MOBILE PHONES! NO BACKPACKERS! NO CAMERAS!), so of course I took the latter proclamation as a challenge and you can see my results in the pictures. Two main rooms via a porch with another hidden one en route to the garden (were there others??), festooned with stuff; hundreds of framed prints, musical instruments, china, parasols, swords, model planes and boats, timepieces, a stuffed moose head; you get the idea. A be-penguined barman was serving up three cask all from Stewart's; my Jack Black was slightly flabby but serviceable (NBSS 2.5) and probably the most expensive beer I had in Edinburgh over the two days. It’s crackpot enough to warrant the not inconsiderable diversion from town to sample. 7.5
On 15th November 2021
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5099 recommendations about 5082 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about Canny Mans
There are two separate bars and a warren of other rooms, each with their own character, in this popular local where eccentricity abounds. The collections of bric-a-brac must have taken decades to accumulate, and the exterior of the pub is not immune, with what appears to be an ancient dovecot in the back yard and random metal plaques and even a triptych adorning the front and side walls. None of this was suspected on my approach on Saturday night - the first sign that there is a pub here is a conventional red-lit sign saying "BAR" - but the immediate impression on entering is of overwhelming clutter, but in a good way. This includes a profusion of whiskey bottles behind the larger bar, which is to the right on entering from the Canaan St entrance. Through a doorway to the left is the other bar, which is smaller and normal in appearance, and the room here is relatively peaceful, the main room getting the benefit of some Tamla Motown hits which were played just a little too loud for comfortable conversation to also take place. Possibly the world's smallest snug is to be found by this doorway - no more than an alcove with room for a table and two chairs.
There are three real ales on the bar, though the absence of hand pumps makes this not immediately apparent. Caledonian 80/- and Deuchars IPA were available on taps that were indistinguishable from the neighbouring keg taps. Timothy Taylor Landlord was also on, but only in the main bar. We went for the heavy, which was in good condition. Later we indulged in a malt whisky too - well, it seemed rude not to - and this also went down well. The customers were mostly greeted by others as they came through the door, so this is clearly a well-used community pub. We went down the road to Bennets Bar, but soon came back to this one for another half on the way home.
On 30th November 2014
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3746 recommendations about 3483 pubs]