The Cumberland Bar — Restaurant in City of Edinburgh

I love bars. I love the atmosphere, the music and the array of brightly coloured cocktails that always give me serious drink envy as they float past. But there are times when it’s not a bar I’m after it’s a pub, and that’s when I take myself off to The Cumberland.

Amongst Edinburgh’s oldest pubs The Cumberland is nestled in the New Town. A vibrant establishment with some real characters who are never short of a story to tell, it’s one of those places that everyone in Edinburgh knows about.

You’ll not find any cocktails here, but you will find a great range of beers and ales on tap, a fabulous selection of gins and some good wines. Sitting by The Cumberland’s fire in winter with a glass of red wine is one of my favourite things to do.

The food at The Cumberland is also really good. The chefs do a mean Sunday lunch, and the rest of the week it’s good old-fashioned pub fare on offer – crab canapés would look out of place here, and quite rightly so.

I have a real soft spot for The Cumberland. Maybe now I’ve told you all about the fire in the winter I’ll struggle to get my spot next to the orange glow. I guess I’ll just have to...

We visited on a family trip with high hopes based on the reviews. We had a reservation for eight, the table was ready, and the atmosphere seemed friendly enough at first.

Two of us went up to the bar to order just for ourselves, but the bartender told us to come back with the full order for the whole table — fair enough. When I returned with everyone’s order as requested, he made eye contact, rolled his eyes, and deliberately ignored me while pretending to be busy and serving others instead. Completely rude and dismissive.

Thankfully, a second bartender stepped in, took our order, and was professional and attentive throughout — we tipped him for that. The food was fine, but the attitude of the first bartender ruined what should have been a fun family night out.

There are so many warm, welcoming pubs in Edinburgh — I’d skip this one. Spend your money somewhere you’ll be treated...

I have been here once before for a drink, this was the 1st time coming along for food. Visited on a Sunday evening looking for a roast dinner. Was delighted to find they still had some roast beef left at 6pm. A lot of places can sell out by then. What can I say, the roast was just top notch! A mouth watering, hefty chunk of beef that melts in your mouth, delicious rich gravy flavoured with thyme, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, some green beans and carrot batons. Overall I was very impressed. If I had one minor criticism, it was the portion of roast potatoes was a bit tight. Being one of the cheaper components on the plate I would expect twice as much roasties. This is just nit picking though. I believe the roast cost under £13 which really is great value. We had a craving for roast, this absolutely hit the spot. We will certainly be...