Clouds & Soil

This is a brand new cocktail bar in Edinburgh's East End, with chic, plush surroundings and cocktails that are definitely good quality. Even after the overhaul, though, I didn't find it especially welcoming, and the seating wasn't very comfortable either. Worth a look if you're nearby.

The place itself is nice, and the beer selection looked good, but all the draft beer was off when we went. It's also hard to tell from the street that it's a bar, so people might not think of it as a place to go for drinks. I've visited Clouds and Soil twice, and both times my husband or friends and I were the only table there. On a rainy Saturday, my husband and I enjoyed the cocktails but left to find somewhere with more atmosphere. A few weeks later, we went for Friday after-work drinks with friends, but the atmosphere was still missing and the service was painfully slow, despite staff outnumbering the customers.

The restaurant upstairs had good food and the place looks lovely, but the service was too slow for us twice. At our second visit, we ordered the pre-theatre menu and ended up leaving half our dessert behind and running across the road to reach the Playhouse on time. I'd already tried the bar on a Friday evening: we were the only customers in the rather draughty room, and service was ridiculously slow and not very charming. It won't get a third chance from me.

I often stop in after work since it's near our office, and it's usually quiet enough to find a seat. Drink prices are about average for this part of town. The bar menu is limited, with burgers, soups and skewers, but I highly recommend the chicken burger with its delicious, not-too-spicy coating. Upstairs there's a more fine dining À la carte menu. I had the roast duck and it was delicious. Bigger groups sometimes take over the whole place, though, and it doesn't have much space.