The other side of Edinburgh nightlife

I don’t know about you, but I prefer sitting in a bar and listening to music rather than going to club and dancing to it. There are many pubs in Edinburgh which offer live music, some better than others, but having been round the block, I can say with some degree of confidence that I have found two which are worth your time as lovers of alcohol, a cosy atmosphere and drunken sings-alongs to ‘Galway Girl’.

John Leslie’s Bar (45 Ratcliffe Terrace) is a little far afield if you are based in Bruntsfield or Marchmont, but the anticipation (and thirst) built up is rewarded by an impossibly large ale and whisky selection. Every week they feature ales from one part of Scotland at lower the normal price. Educating yourself about others ales is both fun and cost-effective. John Leslie’s, like your mother, knows best. They also have a whisky menu, which should in itself tell you that John Leslie’s is pretty damn serious about whisky and the consumption thereof. Instead of the standard 25ml dram, the good folk at John Leslie’s increase it by a cheeky further ten.

Enough about the booze, you protest. What about the music? Adam and Ewan are there every Friday night, playing an assortment of Scottish, Irish and Canadian folk music, and welcome the participation of other instruments and voices. John Leslie’s is the perfect pub to sit back with a dram and listen quietly.

The polar opposite of John Leslie’s is the White Hart Inn (34 Grassmarket), and is an unabashed favorite among of the cognoscenti of drunk and disorderly. Friday and Saturday nights are the best if you like singing along with the crowd, and trust me, there will be a lot of singing. Expect a hoarse voice the next day. Week nights are pleasant, though, and the White Hart can be a lovely, quiet haven in which to enjoy a good dram or pint with a small group of friends. Come Friday, the small bar is filled to the brim with Edinburgh folk with two things in mind: getting drunk and having a fine time. The live acts are superb, and take most suggestions. But their set lists never change, like the ales the White Hart serves.

The White Hart Inn has a whisky menu, but unfortunately it’s back to those 25ml measures again. Most drinks are a wee bit expensive, owing to the Inn’s location in a focal area of Edinburgh tourism, but to be surrounded by around a hundred people, all bellowing ‘Country Roads’ by John Denver, is a feeling second to none.

Fact: live music pubs are everywhere in Edinburgh. However, just because they are everywhere it does not mean that they are all good. Any pub can put up a mic and anyone can get up and play the guitar, but the feelings of camaraderie and shared experience generated in John Leslie’s and the White Hart Inn cannot be easily or faithfully replicated.