][1]Edinburgh’s bar scene is buzzing at the moment with a fistful of new places either just opened or on the cusp of serving their first customers.
The one most likely to make the biggest splash is the Ghillie Dhu. A new Scottish themed bar and entertainment venue from the G1 Group, it opens next week on Rutland Place. It is already a 5pm member and promises a menu of decent bar food with a strong Scottish identity. I’ll be poking my nose around the door shortly and then I’ll report back then with more details.
Perhaps the most intrguing new opening on the horizon is the Radical Road which is coming together out in the ‘burbs of Willowbrae. It aims to be a 150 cover contemporary pub dining room with a separate real ale pub. The plan is for it to open this month. More here soon.
To these, we can add Koko which has taken over the former Native State site on Potterrow and Malone’s Irish bar which is finding its feet in the old Fat Cow premises on Forrest Road.
We can also look forward to Below Stairs. Scheduled to open next weekend, it’s the nightclub wing of the stylish 5pm member Hawke and Hunter. As a nightclub, it’s a little out of this blog’s remit but I was tickled to hear that they will be serving their cocktails in hip flasks and teapots. Apparently, they will also offer shisha pipes in their Secret Garden.