FESTIVAL _
food/EATING
__t Second French Empire. with a curvacious. richly-modelled facade and a steep Mansard roof. it was the
O
o W -=—--"- t haebee myth E unremittin-
three sections of the building are now separately owned. but a strict conservation order ensures that not so much as the colour of the walls can be tampered with.
The Crown Bar on the first floor is all elaborate cornice work. Regency t pastels. and sumptuous drapes. The walls are embossed with gilt crowns. On the way to the Ladies is a window which has some extraordinary. florid graffiti inscribed in the 1870s. Messages include such insights as ‘1 own a diamond. my father owns an ass‘! The toilet itself is rather spectacular, with marble mosaic tiling on the walls and floor. and brass and mahogany fittings. In its heyday. when the place was visited by royalty. a special carpet would be fitted over the floor. and a mother-of-pearl seat installed to u” receive the royal bottom.
Ill" ' / The ground floor Circle Bar and _
verh‘lllllll’lllfl
fir
- Q‘ model for the subsequent Cafe /_7 fl :3 Royals in London and Paris. The
decorated with superb Doulton tile wall paintings and stained glass T windows depicting distinguished Victorian inventors and gentlemen‘s sporting pursuits. These were
I . . Stevenson. but tons of empty shells its ‘plain and wholesome dish‘ of obtained from the Emplre I s o r y were discovered in the cellars‘. boiled sheep‘s head. So much of this Exhibition 500“ atter1862-
3133)! HAVO
suggestingthat the premises were stomach-tummg potagc was lfallthls splendour has whetted used for the preparation of the consumed that the ‘well-pykit' skulls your appetite. or If you lust want to 0Y5tet$ that were consumed 80 were used as stepping-stones across Sale thto ahOthet bevelled mttmt' o n a rapaciously; in the latter part of the the pools of the rough roadway _ other lnterlors that will make you 18th century an average tavern puddingsttm hccamc known as the gasp are Bennet 3 Bar in Bruntsfleld. would get through over 10.000 great City with a huntith hone the Gulldlord Arms next door to the oysters a week. bridges'. Cafe Royal. the Barony Bar ln catherine Fellows seeks Since then. it has housed various [n equany pastoral surroundings. Broughton Street. The George Hotel. out Edinburgh’s ancient craftspeople and wr)rkshopS- visible from the Duddingston road. GeoigeHStrerftti 2‘8 Al’slitltsgfffeagats h l d l- Latterly it was a bleach factory. and prestonflem House hotel prestmts a The on we . ose rrde "I. ’ B r water. 0 es an Ines up a warehouse for Nathan’s Rag Store more elegant manifestation Of Bar. Ratcllffe Terrace. a er s at. hIStoncal PUb cran- founded opposite in 1903. It took ancient Edinburgh. The original Queensfetrry Street and The Centre Julian Bannerman three years to house was hunted down in 1681 by Bar on Lelth Walk. restore the building and incorporate student revolutionaries from the _ The experience of Edinburgh's past the wonderful old wooden bar and University and Sir William Bruce. brought to you 0" a plan“ can be gantry that he salvaged from a fresh from Holyrood Palace. l Bannerman's Bar 212 Cowgate. 556 much more vivid than an exhausting demolition site in Leith. designed the present building. 3254. Momsat ttam_zam‘ Sun ttatpse through any 0t its museums- One way to escape the Steheh 0f the Distinguished guests have included 12_30—2,30pm, 6.30—1 1pm. Meals For the pttee Of a eup 0f cottee 0’ a City WOUld have been to head Ottt Bonnie Prince Charlie. Benjamin noon—7pm, Sunday breakfast glass Of Wihe' you can can enjoy PaSt Arthur‘s seat to the ttlUStttOUS Franklin. Boswell and Johnson. It is 11am—2pm, some 0f the ettY’S mOSt evoeattve Sheep's Held- DUddthStOh Village kept in beautiful condition. with not I sneap’s Held Inn 43 The interiors. But you do have to be still feels surprisingly rural. and its a reinforced the door in Sight. Causewaystde, Buddingston‘ 661 selective. Many Old pubs in the city pub is as popular as ever, Although The Old Bar. which welcomes 1020' Mon_sat ttam_11_30pm;sun have been SO smothered with layers the original interior was ripped out nomdiners when it can noon_2.30pm, 6.3040me Meals 0t floek~ dtayle’h and Chipboard ahd latet rePlaeed thh a 19805 accommodate them. is rather like a noon—2,30pm, 6.30—9pm. all day repro that the only way to transport reproduction. it claims ancestry back cosy study Choose your pre-mea| Sunday, yourself into the pm is to Close your to the 14th century Mary swam drink from the range on the I Prestontleld House Priestfield eyes- 1“ ContraStt the {Chowthg four James VI and Bonnie Prince Charlie converted Sheraton bookcase, settle Road, 668 3346. Mon-Sat establishments might nourish your have all caroused beneath its roof. on one of the drawthgtoom Chairs 113m_2.30pm, 5.11pm; Sun illusions. and successive cavalries have formed and admire the set of 18th centmy 12.30_2.30pm,6_30_11pmt Probably the place most suggestive their horses into a semi-circle at the prints which adom thtS Stately Restaurant noomzpm, of universal porter-Swillng is inn door while tankards of ale were apartment. You will be treated like 6.30.10.30pm. mm'mns i" the cowga‘e‘ Opened handed “P ‘0 them Coaches wou'd royalty: and you won’t be stopped I cm Royal 17 West Register in“ ten years 330' Here you WOUId halt hetev and some 0f the town’s from wandering through the other Street. Blstro Bar 557 4792. Mon—Sat have tOUhd lttdges and Pedlats elbow Oldest SOCtetteS gathered at the In“ graceful reception rooms to look at 10am—1am; Sun 10am—5pm. to elbow in p°kyt “hadomed thetUdthg the GOOdlY company Of the tapestries. embossed 6.30—11pm. Bar snacks all day. drinking-houses hidden from the Skittlers. The ancient alley is still in icathetwork. and paintings“ cm“ a" 556 1884. Mon_wed dlsaPPTOVthg eyes Of the use- The Cafe Royal is seventh heaven 11am-11pm;ThUYS-Sat PteSbyteriahs' The bUtldthg dates Apart from the traditional for anyone with a hunger for Ham—midnight, Sun 12.30—3pm. from 1723- “5 Present Owner is POWSOWdlet salt beet atld greens that opulence. or a thirst for nostalgia. 7-11pm. Bar snacks from midday. eeeptle‘t‘l abet" Claims that it was 3“ W35 served UP With Porter and The present building dates from The Oyster Bar Restaurant 556 4124. in" frequented by Rebe" LOUtS WhtSkyt the hOStettY Was famous for 1863. Designed in the style of the Mon-Sun noon—2pm, 7—10.15pm.
The List 24 — 30 August 1990 61