The Blue Blazer — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

Part of a tour of a few Edinburgh pubs with friends, and this one has been on my wish list for a while. Just beer for us, so no comments on food.

Entering from the street, you are immediately in a well lit area with the bar on your left and a seating area on your right. Further in there is more seating. The first thing that strikes a visitor to this establishment is the sheer number of (mostly) whisky boxes that line almost every surface (they do boast on their website they have more whisky than shelf space!) Coupled with the traditional decor, this is an impressive looking destination.

As we entered, there were already a few patrons who had obviously taken the same early doors approach we had. The lady behind the bar was helpful and friendly and didn't grumble when I went for my usual 'split pint' approach so I could try more of the ales on offer. There were four ales on with another two pumps that perhaps come into play during busier weekend times. The variety was spot on for a good ale house, with the obligatory Scottish 80/. and a lovely hazy IPA. The management are obviously familiar with obscure pump clips, so cards which clearly provide the basic information of the beers are on display.

For those of you that like a little more comfort in pub seating, do not fear; there is comfort enough in even the stools and chairs.

As we neared the end of our second pint and prepared to take our leave, the place was starting to fill with people leaving their workplaces, and I'm sure of an evening this is a fun and lively local.

I'll definitely be back.

I like to take a moment in my reviews to consider suitability in the zombie apocalypse, and I think this place is likely to score highly in my 'Winchester' rating, if I ever figure out how the scoring would work. The windows, whilst sizable, are quite high, which means that they shouldn't be a major hazard, but there appeared to be tables enough that you should be able to defend it well. The door location isn't a bottleneck, which means if you have a party of several people you can work together, although it could pose a challenge if working alone. Whilst it would be sacrilegious and rather risky, the volume of spirits here could provide a source of defence material, although I'd be more amenable to locking myself in and consuming them if at...

Convenient to our accommodation, The Blue Blazer felt like stumbling into someone’s charmingly eccentric lounge room. Untouched in the best way, with a real sense of character. We dropped in after a morning walk and explore, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed ourselves here.

We asked some questions on some of the local ales, and ordered some of their crisps and beer nuts to share. They had a stack of board games, so we grabbed a couple to play.

Enjoying our little break, I went back to the bar and asked if we could put a few of the whiskeys together into a couple of ‘build your own’ whiskey flights, for an informal tasting. I looked up the tasting notes and we had fun trying them and rating them amongst ourselves. It was a lovely way to pass some time in the afternoon.

The bar staff deserve a wrap: friendly, relaxed, and they knew enough about what they were selling: both with their beers and the whiskeys. They made sure we were comfortable and well looked after in a good-humoured way. I’d definitely pop back in next time I...

If you're a foreigner they give you the popes collar no matter how many pints you order.

Edit: don't try and write me off pal. I'm a young blonde American woman traveling alone and you didn't pour anyone else's pints at the bar like you poured mine. On the third beer the Irish bloke next to me called you out for how bad mine were. I'm grateful to know there's a polite term for it. I knew what you were doing but was too embarrassed to tell you because you were training a new employee at the time and the whole thing was awkward. So: deal with the consequences of your behavior and don't try to pretend something else happened or pretend I don't know what I'm talking about.

Since you responded (thank you) and because your glasses and your taps were clean, I will change it to 3/5 now.

And, if you apologize for the two other pours you didn't fix and for the way you tried to write me off in this response, I will change it to 5 stars and we can call...