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    Biblos

    3.0 (60 reviews)
    ModeratePubs, Gastropubs
    Open 10:00 am - 1:00 AM (Next day)

    Biblos Photos

    BIBLOS ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Classy
    Moderate noise
    Good for kids
    Good for groups

    Recommended Reviews - Biblos

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    Reviews With Photos

    Jon L.

    Me, James, Sadie & Barby stopped in here for some late night beverages and some musical entertainment. There was a singer/songwriter type who was doing a great job with Beatles tunes. It's a self service type bar which I thought was unusual.

    Giulia S.

    To be honest, we just stumbled upon this spot and saw they had a meal with a drink for £8 so we decided to give it a shot. We were all very happy with our meals. If you're looking for something quick come and cheap, I would definitely give it a try!

    It's quite big
    Cressida F.

    Biblos, as Ian A so rightly points out, is the kind of place you walk past a bajillion times before you actually realise you should probably check it out. I walked past it on a twice daily basis for the best part of a year (I was going somewhere, I should add - I wasn't just walking past to gaze in longingly) and now, long after I stopped walking past it, the opportunity arose as we hunted a post-show drink. Watching ice-dancing is enthralling but also you leave the performance feeling like you've been holding your breath for two hours straight and now seriously need to relax. So we sauntered to the nearby Biblos. What to say, what to say. There was a sign on the wall saying that the upstairs space was reserved, but on asking it apparently wasn't, so we went up. It has a nice interior and I was very comfortable, and I even actually took my actual coat off. Yes, the Lizard Woman was warm enough! But on the down side, it took a long time for anyone to come and take our order (oh he came around to gather up and whisk away the food menus, and when we said "we would like to order some drinks" he just waved the menus at us as though to say "Not my division. I'm on gathering duty right now." When we did order, it took a fair while to come. Now then, there were really not that many of us - seven if I recall correctly - and most of the upstairs was empty, so why it should take so long to concoct our round (which included a lime and soda and a diet Coke; not the most challenging) is a mystery. The arrival itself was also slightly confused and flustered. Nevertheless, it's well located and comfortable, so it's far from being a write off. Ditch the TV (look, I love the IT Crowd, but seriously, what is the point of showing a sitcom with no sound? Football, yes, snooker, fine, but something that relies on dialogue?), whip up the service a bit, and they could have a real winner here. I worry that the good location excuses a little laziness; not for me it doesn't.

    Tanja R.

    The bar is centrally located and near the Festival Theater. We decided to go there for a quick drink at around 9.30 in the evening and found spare seats on their first floor mezzanine. Apparently there is table service, but it took the waiters some time to ask us for our choices. Even then, it took them longer than expected to bring the drinks to us. Seriously, it is not that I am normally complaining, but considering that this place was pretty much empty it just astonishes me how long it took to get drinks. I believe that the kitchen finishes at 22.00. They do student frink and food discounts, which are good offers indeed. The interior itself is quite modern with TVs on the walls and a bar being the centre piece. The cocktail prices are feasible and the menu offers the main cocktails like you normally get (eg Manhattan or Mojito). Still, I think that the soft drink prices are a bit dear. Sadly, this place is lacking on atmosphere for me, but for students it definitely should have a certain appeal.

    Banoffee pie my foot. What a disappointment, masked by cheap cream.
    Claire C.

    In a word? Grim. I used to visit Biblos a lot when I was a student based on Chambers Street, but my latest visit as a fully fledged worker drone has coloured my experience differently. I came for my dinner before a visit to the museum, and boy was I disappointed. I ordered the fish and chips first of all. It arrived and the fish was in a soggy batter (urgh) and the chips were a soggy-fest too. Determined to cheer myself up after a less than average fish and chips, I ordered a banoffee pie for dessert. Worst pudding ever. The plate arrived with a cheeky squirt of cheap skooshy cream covering the "banoffee pie" (see image). By all accounts, it should have been billed as "cheap digestive square base with tinned toffee sauce and three slices of banana on top". It was so bad. Do not eat here. Even though the place knocked 30% off the bill due to an offer, it was still a tenner wasted. As for drinks, couldn't comment. But the food? Like I said earlier... Grim.

    Amy G.

    Biblos is a stylish, comfortable bar, with a great location. Its great for an afternoon catch up with friends where you can have a few nibbles and some drinks. It serves your typical pub food of Nachos, Caesar Salad, Burgers, Fish and Chips etc. I have a friend who insists on going to Biblos for the Nachos whenever she comes to Edinburgh. I'm not sure they are the best in Edinburgh, but they are pretty good. I usually go for a Caesar Salad, which is as good as a Caesar Salad should be. I have often admired companions burgers too. If your heading for a night in the Grassmarket or Cowgate, Biblos is an ideal starting point for something to line your stomach with and have a drink or two.

    Anna F.

    With comfortable armchairs, reasonably priced big quantities of food and lovely atmosphere, this feels more like an upgraded pub/ bar. Located right across from Old College, I come here for lunch mainly for their Cesar Salad, in which when they say with chicken they mean with chicken (and not just a sample of it I have had in other places). You may think that a salad would hardly be filling - it really is! However, they also offer a large selection of burgers,nachos and other favourite pub mains to choose from and their glasses of wine are more like half a bottle of wine in a wine glass. It's got a small balcony on the top which you book for an event as well. I would say its more like a place to start your night from, rather than focus your night on. It's in close proximity to the touristy Grassmarket (which has a few clubs) and next door to the Jazz Bar and Brass Monkey.

    Mark W.

    Judging by some of the previous reviews, opinions of Biblos are mixed to say the least. So, here's my ten pence worth... In my first years of uni here, Biblos rapidly rose to being one of my favourite places to eat. This was no doubt helped by the two for one deal on main courses - on one occasion, I ordered two main courses for myself! The food has been great each time I've been, and I wasn't aware of these apparent health issues there. It's something I'll bear in mind if I go there again. The one thing that does annoy me each time is the poor service. This has prevented Biblos from scoring any higher than 2 stars in my reckoning. Each time I have been, the waiting staff have not been to the standard I would expect. They have either been too busy behind the bar, or overstretched by the amount of orders to take and food to serve. It was quite often the case that food would take an hour to arrive, or longer on occasion. This was repeatedly frustrating to me, and means that my desire to go back there again is now tempered. On the flip side, the decoration inside is very nice, and so if you are content to look at the surroundings whilst waiting for your food, you may be able to cope.

    Rezzi I.

    You really can't miss Biblos if you've ever walked down Nicolson street! This restaurant isn't at all intimidating, but a little respect is required as some effort has definitely been put into the decor and menu! With plush leather chairs in the display windows and nicely polished wood in the interior, Biblos looks quite fancy, but one would be equally comfortable grabbing lunch here or having a fancy dinner instead. One door, which I believe has remained unfixed for the last year, doesn't work, so watch out for that! As you walk in, there's the bar area which is followed by the seating area. I sadly haven't had a main meal at Biblos yet, but spent a really nice evening there with a friend drinking wine and munching on some starters. With a £10 offer for two main meals, I'll definitely be back here!

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    Page 1 of 2

    Review Highlights - Biblos

    We finished up our afternoon at the National museum and on our way back we stopped here since it was so close.

    Mentioned in 2 reviews

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    The Devil's Advocate - Smoked fish plate

    The Devil's Advocate

    (629 reviews)

    ££

    Old Town, Royal Mile

    Just an awesome, rockin' final meal in Edinburgh - fantastic food, good service and energized local…read morevibe! Absolute must to get reservations! We tried on our first week in Edinburgh and failed, but were able to make reservations 3 weeks out for our last night in Scotland, and we are glad we did. Pork cracklins were a bit hard and crunchy, but everything else was perfect. We had fresh bread and langostinis for starters, along with a smokey whiskey cocktail, the Smoked Indiscretion! For mains we enjoyed the poached Cod, and the Pork with Barley. Service was very good, and wine selection was extensive. Atmosphere was loud with music and locals' chatter in the bar below, but dark tables and heavy wood panels made it a perfect place for a couple celebrating 3 weeks of travel. Highly recommend a visit to the Devil's Advocate, if you can book a table in advance.

    The Devil's Advocate is undoubtedly a treasure to find in Old Town Edinburgh, especially if you…read moreaccidentally take the News Steps to get there, only to realize you should have simply taken the steps up Advocate's Close from Cockburn Street. But they call these lessons, "character building," apparently. No matter, the Devil's Advocate is worth the search. Located in an old Victorian pump house halfway up (or down) Advocate's Close, the Devil's Advocate is known for a killer whisky shelf of more than 300 different bottles from various distilleries across the Highlands, Lowlands, Speyside, Campbelltown, the Islands, and Islay. I finally sipped on a 15-year Tamdu that has convinced me to keep a bottle at home. Then there's the Clydeside 2024 Limited Edition Cask Strength that was wicked impressive. The bartenders are class at making and serving seasonal and regular cocktails that have their spin and character. My wife enjoyed gin-based cocktails such as the Clean Slate (with St-Germain, citrus, and sugar), Rose Garden (with Yellow Chartreuse, Cocchi Rosa, apple, lemon, and mint), and Bee's Knees (honey and lemon). I went full speed ahead with the scotch cocktails, which are essentially classics with a scotch-substituted twist. The Double Shot is an Espresso Martini with Dalmore 12 in addition to Kahlua, espresso, and demerara -- quite smooth without being too sweet. The Scotzia is a Negroni with Fettercairn 12, while the Boxcar is a Sidecar only with Aberfeldy 12. We enjoyed the bar for a few hours, watching the bartenders make magic while sipping on cocktails, while listening to 80s pop tunes. A great evening indeed.

    The White Hart Inn

    The White Hart Inn

    (113 reviews)

    ££

    Grassmarket, Old Town

    Our first day in Edinburgh and as usual our first order of business is to ride the hop-on-hop-off…read morebus. Today when the Red route took us to old town and I saw The White Hart Inn I said to Jan let's do an early dinner there and she agreed. We continued the route and stayed on back to the stop in old town. We love Alfresco dining but it was too cold and windy today. We went inside and the restrauant was packed. It's open seating. No hostess, no sign in. We were lucky and just happened to be standing next to a table that opened. We had been there about 5 minutes. The restaurant/ pub is rich in history, established in 1516. It's small with limited bar seating and prehaps 8 to 10 tables. It is noisy from conversation, tosting and music, but we didn't have a hard time communicating. It has a great vibe. It's a fun venue and popular with the locals. The menu is not large and has several Scottish offerings. To start, Jan was cold and wanted an Irish coffee. I ordered an Innis and Gunn larger. Innis & Gunn is an acclaimed Scottish brewery founded in 2003 in Edinburgh. It had a slightly citrus flavor. Jan ordered muscles and I ordered the steak and ale pie, served with a charred Hispi cabbage wedge, buttered mash and Merlot beef dripping gravy. It was very tasty, very robust flavor. I loved the cabbage; great flavor. I had to look up hispi cabbage and it is a variety of green cabbage. The muscles were good and the broth very nice. We had a lovely time and a good meal. Our good luck at freelancing dining venues while we explore Ireland and Scotland continues.

    We chose this place for being one of the oldest establishments in Scotland dating back to the 18th…read more Century and a place where poets like Wordsworth, Burns etc gathered for a sip. The setting still looked ancient and the overall ambiance was befitting. Small place though. The food and drinks however disappointed. They could have put more efforts to turn the place into something much more than it is. Service was efficient without being really excellent.

    Queens Arms

    Queens Arms

    (114 reviews)

    ££

    New Town

    Out of all the places I've been to in Scotland, I think Queens Arms was one of my favorites…read more We had reservations for this place recently and when I took one step inside, I was already in love. I mean who doesn't love a good pub? You get great drinks and great food at an affordable price. As I write it makes me think of think of when Zidane reunites with Freya in FF9. Sometimes we don't wanna eat at fancy Michelin restaurant that has small plates but charges a premium. Sometimes we just wanna cut all the BS and just get a nice hearty meal. And thats what we got. When we sat down we found out that they were doing a Trivia night. Normally I would have told my girl to pick another spot to eat but for some reason I was cool with it. There was even a table nearby with kids(yuck). And you know what? It was fine. That's because we had been sipping on some amazing cocktails. If you also partake, Gin and Mezcal enjoyers will love the Bramble and Hibiscus Crush. What color are Luigi's overalls from Super Mario? That's such an easy question. Wait...what do you mean Luigi's overalls are blue? They are green. Look at this picture onli...Oh... One of the stars of our meal was the Haggis. This was the first time I had ever tried it and after trying it at multiple places Scotland, Queens Arms I feel has done it the best. I love the complexity of the flavors of the meat with the creamy and pepper flavors of the peppercorn sauce. If you've never had Haggis, you definitely have to try it here. The best part is that it comes with mashed potatoes too! Shoutouts to the Fish and Chips if you are also into that. One of my friends ordered that and I definitely had to go back in for multiple bites. Finally the roast. The Sunday Roast should just be an automatic order if you happen to come here on a Sunday. You get so much food and it's all so damn tasty. They'll cook a roast to whatever doneness your heart desires. We went with Medium Rare and it came out perfectly. If you didn't have enough flavors with all the extra sides it comes with, they also give you gravy to pour on anything you want. Thanksgiving basically came early this night. But as I looked around and admired all the bookshelf's and all the families have a nice dinner with their loved ones, I just thought about how happy I was. I was finally here! This was the start of my trip. Queens Arms has set a high ceiling on great experiences in Scotland. We even went back there a couple of days ago just because we knew we would be able to end the night on a good drink. But in the end I think if you are Edinburgh, you have to come to this place. It is one of my favorite experiences I've had in Scotland so far and I dream about when I can come back again.

    We got 3 reservations to split up our group of 8 adults and 2 kids, so we were all able to make…read moresure to get a table and have the Sunday roast. We shared the ultimate sharing roast and everything was delicious and so filling. It was also nice to be able to sit and watch a match while enjoying the food. The coffee was pretty good too. This is definitely a good option if you're looking for a Sunday roast in the area

    Biblos - pubs - Updated May 2026

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