The Phoenix had its last pint from me after going in a cpl year back after a derby at PBS new year game. Barman said he was charging an extra £1 on a pint cause it was new year. Not been back since.
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It was a dreadful but thankfully brief experience. Was a smoker back then and had run out of fags on Christmas day. It was the only pub open within walking distance so went in with the sole purpose of using the ciggie machine. Had to ask the barman where it was and this.....this.....CREATURE at the bar growls at me "when ye get back, ah'm huvvin' yin ay yer fags". I got my fags and slipped out the other door. Stopped smoking soon afterwards! :greengrin
After staying in the area for a number of years, my mate and I decided to go in for a pint to see what all the fuss was about. I went to primary school that way and knew a few names of boys that drank there and it was 4pm on a Friday. Should be OK.
Apart from a couple of old men, all there was in the place was a group of three or four Gurkhas and a group of about ten young, local lads and you could cut the atmosphere with a knife.
One Gurkha decided to play the puggy and two of the younger lads decided to leave their table and "watch", which consisted of one boy trying to tower over him and make smart comments while the other one stood behind his mate in case the Gurkha took the bait. The Gurkhas were cool as cucumbers and had arms the size of these boys thighs but you could just tell that the young lads were spoiling for a fight.
After about five minutes we had seen enough and decide it was time for a harp lager out the open fire escape we were sitting next to leaving half our pints. Never found out what happened and never bothered going back to try. :duck:
There are so many nice pubs in Edinburgh and that area in particular, so why bother?
Yeah, they did that when I worked there and it wasn't just on pints. How much extra did I get for working it? Sweet FA.
This triggered my mind on remembering the International Bar near the Meadows. Used to go there with Celtc supporting mates to watch the Old Firm games before Rangers died. It must have been what it was like watching the game in the old Parkhead "jungle" but with less breathing space and more spilled alcohol. One of the barmaids wasn't far out of the primordial soup and alternated between screeching "glayses upti' tha' bar" and "come oan Neil Lennon" at the top of her voice.
When the midday kick-offs were introduced on Sundays, they weren't allowed to sell alcohol before that time. Instead they ran a raffle where you bought a ticket for £2 at the door and had to check at the bar if you were a winner and could claim your prize of a bottled beer of your choosing. In a, some would say unbelievable, statistical improbability, every single ticket was a winner! :greengrin
Also, the mention of the Gurkhas just reminded me of being in a pub in Ayrshire somewhere (might have been Cumnock) a good few years ago. There was a group of squaddies in celebrating one of their birthdays. Almost all of them were relatively sober, except for the birthday boy who was been fed a continuous line of shots. After each shot, he began to ram the shot glass against his forehead and shout something which escapes me at this point. With no doubt the best of intentions, the bar staff stopped him using the shot glass, but replaced it with the wee disposable plastic ones. Unfortunately he continued with the routine and had sunk and smashed at least 5 or 6 into a bloodied mess on his coupon before his mates managed to restrain him.
Any pub was bars/a grill over the windows, when it's open, always has me moving along sharp-ish.
Went to a couple on Canal Street in Manchester (yes, it's the gay district) in January that were experiences to say the least. Not threatening particularly, but filled with an "eclectic mix" of people.
Rob Roy in the Inch had a bit of a reputation - long gone now but as a local I thought it was OK
Beats me. Maybe they weren't local at all because if you hang about that area you know what these guys are...and you don't bother them.
Normal squaddies in general are cool anyway and having them as regulars isn't normally a problem. They sometimes overdo it but they have to answer to their superiors so they know it will be reported back if they misbehave in their new "local".
My mates dad stays up that way and the squaddies were barred from going in to the goodies. I can't remember if the pub barred them or if it was the army that told them to stop going. This was a number of years ago but there used to be lots of fights between the locals and the squaddies.
That always used to happen in the 70s in Lothian Road on weekend nights. I always felt a bit sorry for the squaddies as they piled off the Colinton buses with new flared jackets and trousers, wide collar shirts and platform shoes but saddled with army haircuts. They started the evening at something of a disadvantage.
Changed days now of course. They're probably the ones attracting the ladies. I wouldn't know.
The Goodies is a funny pub.
I was brought up in Oxgangs and probably had my 1st pint in there at about 16. I honestly never found it that bad. The lounge was always full of pensioners and whilst the bar had a few bams most folk were just absolutely legless. The girls were worse if anything. Saw a bit bother now and then but nothing that I haven't see i supposedly classy city centre places.
It's not somewhere I venture regularly now as I live at the other end of town but if I'm up seeing my Dad we very occasionally go in and it never seems to have changed. I'd probably choose to go in there over the soulless Hunters Tryst any day of the week.
When I moved here in 92 was told to avoid Lothian Road but regularly drank in Bull & Bush and The Burnt Post and saw no trouble at all.
Think that was formerly Big Johns Hideaway in bygone days ..ran by a guy named John Ruthven who took no **** ...ironically, big John died after suffering a heart attack in his then pub (Ruthvens) the former Flying Dutchman in Porty after trying to stop a couple of drunk lassies fighting over a game of pool ..:no way:
Is the Penny Black still going? Not really rough, or scary, but was a bit unusual to say the least. Had an acquaintance years ago who used to enjoy and early start on his weekend sessions, so would go up there mid-morning and the place would be seriously packed with the sort of drinkers who couldn't wait for the regular pubs to open. They'd be steaming by 9.00 am. Was told it had odd opening hours to cater for the shift workers at the post office or something.
Long gone now.
The Brunswick on Leith Walk is another early opener. Used to be for the guys in the sorting office round the corner but it's an interesting clientele in the morning now.
I popped in on the odd occasion when I covered night shift at my old work and it was a strange mix of shift workers and people who sadly 'needed' to be there.
I believe the Scotsmans Lounge on Cockburn Street also has an early license.