travel guide: edinburgh - must see cocktail stops and more
Earlier this summer, we finally got to go on our honeymoon! Our minimoon to New Mexico was beautiful but we honestly really needed to get the heck out of the country. We both love international travel and we haven’t been on an international trip together since 2018. Luckily, we were able to get out of town!
Best cocktail bars and more in Edinburgh, Scotland
Outside Harry Reid airport (Las Vegas) with the new bag I splurged on (which was lost in the airport ether for over a month) a few days into the trip.
We originally planned to drink toki highballs in Japan for our honeymoon, but their travel restrictions didn’t show signs of lessening (maybe soon!), so we needed to switch things up. Our secondary plan was not too shabby! We visited Edinburgh, the Scottish Highlands, Paris, and Bruges. Along the way we had some delicious cocktails, scotch, wine, and food! To see all our favorite places on this trip and others check out my TripAdvisor lists!
I can’t wait to share all of our favorite places from this trip - today we start with Edinburgh! Our first stop. This was my first time visiting the city, and I found it to be absolutely charming. Coming from a scorching Las Vegas June, Edingurgh’s stormy skies and brisk air was a extremely welcome.
Panda and Sons Cocktail Bar
What is there to say about Panda and Sons? It is a relatively discreet, unique cocktail bar with cocktails I had never seen before. The front door? A barber shop. The menu? Organized by a family of pandas and their differing personalities. The owner/head bartender? Invented a specific approach to drink making called switching that involves an impressive amount of chemistry. I don’t know that much about chemistry but I do know the two switched cocktails we tried were absolutely delicious. Also, turns out the ingredient benefactor is The Little Red Door, one of our favorite spots we visited in Paris!
My favorites were the switched negroni (Citrus Star of Bombay, Cocchi Torino, Campari) and the birdcage (Johnnie Walker Gold Label Aperol Angostura Bitters Rhubarb & Lemongrass Shrub Cinnamon & Clove Smoke). After seeing that it was a cocktail that had been on their menu since they opened, I had to order it. Plus, the birdcage is a play on a jungle bird, and I love a jungle bird riff so it is hard or me to turn one down when available, and this one came with a show! Immediately after ordering, I saw what had to be a birdcage being brought to other patrons in the bar. The presentation was pretty elaborate and awesome, with a birdcage shaped cloche encompassing smoke surrounding the Nick and Nora glass full of glistening bright red booze. suddenly I was a bit worried that it might be one of those *all show no backup* situations, but gratefully, I was quite wrong. It was one of the best cocktails I had on the entire trip.
Dishoom
I know Dishoom is technically a chain (there are 9 across the UK), and usually I don’t get excited about them, but this place is delicious. We didn’t have lunch plans, and we were craving spicy food so we grabbed lunch there twice, and the cocktails didn’t disappoint. I tried the India Gimlet (London Dry Gin, Rose’s lime, and celery bitters. Finished with a touch of dill. ) and the permit room old fashioned, a barrel-aged cocktail which came in a corked bottle (Woodford Reserve Bourbon, bay leaf reduction, green tea and so on, bottle-aged for three months).
We sat in the permit room, which was a very bar-centric room in the basement with lots of unique decor on the walls, and in a beautiful room with windows overlooking St. Andrew Square and the Melville memorial. The spaces were based on irani cafes in Bombay which were community hubs and they have a great vibe. The food was great. Perfect spot for an unplanned lunch!
Baba
This was a spontaneous find across the street from our hotel, and it was absolutely delicious! They had great cocktails - I got the Rosita, which has pisco, rosehip liqueur, lemon, and vanilla bitters. I loved it. I got it to try a new approach to a pisco cocktail outside of the pisco sour. Pisco is a peruvian brandy - I am thinking I should grab a bottle myself and start testing some pisco recipes at home.
The food was also great - a blend of middle eastern and Scottish. We were full from an afternoon tea so only got to have a few small plates but stuffed ourselves silly anyway - we couldn’t resist. Loved the falafel, cauliflower fritters, the green harissa and pea hummus, ricotta and preserved lemon. Even had it all again for lunch in the car on our way up to the Highlands the next day!
Timberyard
This place was just incredible - our big splurge dinner of the whole trip! Housed in a 19th century white brick warehouse that once housed props and costumes, Timberyard was a unique experience. We did the tasting menu which offered such unique interpretations of local ingredients. We came on a night when they partnered with Flawd wine, a natural wine bar and bottle shop in Manchester, Scotland. We have been learning a bit about natural wines at our local wine bar and it became a theme throughout the whole trip, starting with this bottle. It was really fun to put the wine in the staffs hands and let them pick from their favorites (my go-to move when I am not super sure about what I want). We had a great bottle of orange wine!
The food was a series of small to medium plates, which is my favorite. I love being able to try as much as possible. Standouts included the bread and cultured butter, raw oyster with sorrel and douglas fir, hen of the woods, and the elderflower and olive oil palate cleanser that inspired the elderflower slushie!
We ended the evening with house-made amaros and when we ordered them, the staff could tell we were enthusiastic and brought us a house made vermouth as well. They told us when COVID hit, they had a ton of fancy natural champagne that wasn’t going to last through the shutdown, so they made vermouth! It was so fun and delicious and I loved what they shared with us - also, look at that ice!!
Where we stayed in Edinburgh, Scotland
We stayed at Eden Locke and had a great experience. The room was spacious, the staff were friendly and helpful, and it is a super convenient location. It was very design oriented and cozy and they even had a death and co book as a coffee table book and a cocktail shaker and tool set!
Other places we loved in Edinburgh, Scotland
Scran and Scallie - traditional scottish food done very well. Homey pub with great fish and chips
Scottish Poetry Library - great spot to peruse the stacks and buy a few books written by local poets
Cadenhead’s - This place had tons of rare and unique whiskys and the sweetest shopkeeper. We really found everyone in Edinburgh to be so kind and really interested in chatting with you about their specialities.
Places we didn’t get to but will next time:
We didn’t do much that required a schedule in Edinburgh, so we didn’t do any tours while in town, but saw some of these around. I would definitely check these out in the future! There is so much history around the city - I would love to do this Old Town Stories tour!
Future posts to look out for in the honeymoon series
Highlands - all the distilleries we toured and cows we pet!
Bruges - beer, mussels, and chocolate
Paris - aperol spritzes all day every day
Edinburgh was so lovely - it was beautiful and walkable, the people were friendly, and full of delicious cocktails. It was the perfect place to get our trip started. Have you been to Edinburgh before? Any favorite spots?