The Bow Bar
Victoria Street
- Food served: Mon–Sat noon–2pm
- Bar open: Mon–Thu noon–midnight; Fri/Sat noon–midnight; Sun noon–11pm.
- Number of wines sold by the glass: 3
- Also offers: Free wi-fi
- Music on stereo: Nothing
- Capacity: 60
- Open since: 1984
Tell us more about this place.
- House wine: £14.95 per bottle
The 2012 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).
This review is taken from the current (2012) edition.
Despite the name, Bow Bar is a pub. Not a trendy bar, not a concept pub, but a traditional real ale, real whisky, real pie pub. The drinks shelves are the smartest section of what is quite a small, dark, often heavily crowded room – over 230 whiskies glow gently behind the bar, many of them single cask or from independent bottlers like Woodwinters in Newington. For real buffs, they include Port Ellen at around £40 a nip, from the now-silent distillery. A regular CAMRA winner for its real ale choice, there are eight pumps, five rotating from cask to cask, and a wide selection of imported Belgian, German and US bottled beers. Food is limited to a daily delivered pie from Findlays of Portobello, a bargain at just £2.
- High point: So friendly they’ll welcome your dog
- Low point: But they draw the line at kids
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