56 North

This little trendy bar at the back of the busy Newington area is well situated for the University and a ideal spot for a sunny day.

However after being asked for my order 3 times by 3 different members of staff, I had to stop my conversation again and explain we had ordered, the drinks would be good as it's been 15 minutes!!

The drinks arrive and YES the Kopparberg is in a Guiness glass, after working for a drinks company I am extremely dissapointed to see that this bar has no respect for "Brand Awareness" I am quite certain that either drinks company would NOT find this acceptable.

The food, well lets say there would be more taste going to a little back street cafe. There was a hair on the plate to start and the burger has an over sized bun to hide the fact that it's not cooked properly and lacks any taste. Fries are skinnier than McDonalds if thats at all possible. The crockery and cutlery are scratched with spill marks on the sauce holder.

To top my whole experience of, there is so many staff but no movement. They seem to fall over each other and too busy chatting about their night out, the girls were dressed with the smallest short and long hair just hanging around their face. Not very hygenic and presentable for serving food.

My opinion would have to be that this bar needs some kind of structure, training on Brand awareness and a dress code would be a great bonus. Also maybe keeping their personal life to a more suitable time and not while serving customers.

This cosy little bar tucked away in the Southside is a perfect venue either for a hot date, some cocktails with friends to start off a night out, or for a quiet glass of wine mid week. The booths are great for relaxing in private while the décor is tasteful and helps to create different moods within different areas of the bar. If nothing else the staff are good to look at! As a whole, the staff are very friendly and efficient, prices are reasonable, and there’s a good choice of music.

Now this is what I’m talking about- A nice, cosy cocktail bar that serves good food and isn’t hugely expensive. I’m not much of a New Town girl as my hair isn’t messy enough and I’d rather shoot myself in the face then wear Ugg boots, but this is a great spot for lunch, for a date or for a few drinks before a night out. The service is really good, and whenever I’ve eaten here the food has been good quality- try the steak, stilton flatbread, it’s really really good. The cocktail list is a great mixture of classics and in house mixes, and some where £3.50. The wine list is also really good, although I thought the wines by the glass were quite expensive. I’d definitely recommend 56 North as a chilled, comfy bar to settle down and have a few drinks in on an afternoon or in the evening.

I visited this venue last summer and unfortunatly found it to be disapointing and completely disagree with the write-up given, as compitancy in their burger cooking skills is somewhat an exageration. Both my friend and I ordered the same burger and filling, yet to find that the burgers could have came from different venues all together. It was as if one was cooked by a Chef and the other by a passer by... After sending my uncooked burger back to be cooked, I was aproached by a member of staff some 20min later with a message from the chef "thats just the colour of the meat" This was the weakest excuse I have ever heard from a so called Chef that couldn't cook 2 burgers the same, felt like showing them how to do it!!!! I have come to the conclusion never to return to this venue.