Hauf & Howff, New Town, Edinburgh

Blackthorn _ left this review about Hauf & Howff

One of a few bars in the St James Quarter food court, this is by far the largest and most prominent of them, and offers a far better pub experience than you would normally expect to find in a shopping centre.

Décor wise it’s rather industrial with some sort of screed on the floor and exposed services on the ceiling. In actual fact, the “pub” real only consists of the bar counter, with all the seating around it being shared with the adjacent food businesses. The bar counter is therefore effectively an island, and you can order from any of the four sides. Pine wood cladding on the bar counter is illuminated by recessed LED strip lighting under the counter top, and there are also a handful of bar stools here if you’re not eating. Food from the adjacent food courts all looked pretty good, it’s all street food style and served up very quickly with a pager to alert you when it’s ready to collect.

Unfortunately I neglected to note the exact beers that were on, although I can confirm that they were all keg rather than cask, and included a couple from Stewart’s, as well as Thistly Cross cider. Overall, I quite like the set up here if I’m eating, but I’m not sure I’d make a beeline for it if I were just having a pint.

On 6^th February 2026 - rating: 6
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