Until Edinburgh finally catches up with New York and gets itself a table tennis bar, I will continue to make do with pool. Sadly, these days I am out of practice. Since Mai Thai down at Holyrood shut down, I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I’ve troubled a baize. The odd visit to Diane’s Pool Hall was as much as I’d done until a visit to the recently re-opened Marco’s on Grove Street.
Bert’s Bar. What a great name for a pub. What would make it even better is if the next door pub, The Melville, was called Ernie’s Bar. And William Street was called Sesame Street. Sadly, this is unlikely to happen any time soon. So, educational puppets aside, does Bert’s have what it takes to warrant a visit when there is so much competition in the immediate area?
Gone are the days when many pubs were solely the domain of the male. However, despite the success of the likes of All Bar One and the general softening of many drinking holes, there are some pubs that are and probably always will be hugely male dominated. Thomson’s Bar on Morrison Street has always struck me as such a place. Its stark exterior that only allows a limited glimpse of what lies inside and then its general no-nonsense interior where sawdust would not look out of place on the floor screams men-only to me. And, quite frankly, if you’re there after work on a Friday, you’d probably agree.
Edinburgh is traditionally packed at various times of the year: in August for the various festivals; Hogmanay for the legendary (and overrated) street party; and the odd Saturday or Sunday in February and March as the Six Nations comes to town. With the latter soon upon us, I’ve been to one pub that wears its Six Nations heart on its sleeve, despite Scotland’s limited success in recent years. Situated at the West End, Teuchters will be one of many pubs that will be trying hard to convert customers in the next few weeks.
Positioned around a mile and a half from Murrayfield, Scotland’s national rugby stadium, the exterior of Teuchters (pronounced “choochters”) is a vexillologist’s dream, with the flags of the sport’s six nations proudly flying year-round. There are also numerous signs and menus as the downstairs part of the building is A Room in the West End, one of several pubs and Scottish bistros that are run by owners John Tindal and Peter Knight across the city. However, I’m only interested in the pub and I have to admit I find the exterior a bit of an unattractive mish-mash – a little untidy for this part of town. However, I generally do my drinking on the inside so in we go.