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The Conan Doyle

3.3 (68 reviews)
ModeratePubs
Open 12:30 pm - 12:00 am (Next day)

The Conan Doyle Photos

THE CONAN DOYLE ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Moderate noise
Good for groups

Recommended Reviews - The Conan Doyle

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Reviews With Photos

Jim W.

An amazing pub in a great location right in City Center! Went twice during our two weeks in Scotland and the Steak and Ale pie was one of the best I ate during the entire trip. The atmosphere was awesome, too, and yet the service was truly awful. Sad that with great food and the beautiful decor that a lack of hospitality could taint the place! Hope to return one day and for the food please check it out!

Beers
Connie C.

The Conan Doyle is one of the Nicholson pubs, which makes the offerings here pretty standard. What I like about the Nicholson pubs family is that you know what you're getting when you walk in. Cold draft beers and your typical pub food. What's not to like?

Enjoying my first dinner in Edinburgh
Liz D.

When I arrived in Edinburgh, I asked the hotel for a recommendation on a restaurant where I could get a traditional Scottish dinner. He recommended The Conan Doyle, and it was a quick walk down the block. I really enjoyed it! It's a cozy pub atmosphere and the bartenders were friendly. I told the bartender this was my first dinner in Scotland, and he claimed they have great haggis. So I tried the Balmoral Chicken - which is chicken breast stuffed with haggis and wrapped with bacon - and I thought the haggis was tasty. But I can't back up his claim on it being the best since this was my first haggis :) It was served with a mound of yummy mashed potatoes, gravy and some sort of green vegetable. The chicken dish and mashed potatoes were good, the vegetables were mysterious to me and a little bland. I also really enjoyed the Scottish cider they offer - I am sitting here sipping my second bottle as I type this review. Overall, worth a stop if you're in town.

Jon L.

If you are Sherlock Holmes fan, this place is a must. The author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle grew up near by. If he had been a better doctor; we might not have Mr Holmes. The food and beverage selection is great. They have an authentic haggis as well. I had the Balmoral chicken which was a nice portion & very filling. James had one of the pies. A terrific ambience throughout and a friendly and professional staff.

Kristen H.

I really enjoyed the food and ambience of Conan Doyle, and it was definitely my fave place to get food while in Edinburgh. When you walk in, the bar is on the right and the seating area is to the left down some steps. It's good a library/sitting room type vibe with books on shelves and small tables near windows. We got seated fast, the waiter was friendly, and the food was tasty. What more can you ask for? We first stopped in upon arrival and wanted traditional Scottish fare. We ordered the haggis, neeps and tatties as an appetizer (8.95), salmon fillet (12.50), and beef rib pie (10.50). Let me tell ya, it was delish! I highly recommend the beef rib pie, which comes with mashed potatoes. I'd come back in a heartbeat.

Bianca W.

Good pub! Close to Doyle's birthplace and nicely decorated. It was very busy, but the staff were professional and service was quick. Food could have been better, pretty average pub fare, bit decent for the price.

Ciara S.

It's probably been over a year since I visited the Conan Doyle pub and it's either improved greatly or else I just dropped-in at the wrong time when I was last in Edinburgh. My recent visit on Tuesday 8 November 2016 was very enjoyable. A sizeable crowd of people were present thus it had more vibrancy and atmosphere than previously. Everything was clean and cosy plus the tartan armchairs were extremely comfy. We ordered a bottle of Prosecco to share which was good and reasonably priced. Although I only had a drink a lot of people around me were ordering food which looked and smelled delicious. All in all a very pleasant visit after a tiring day spent sightseeing and shopping. Conan Doyle is a traditional-style pub worth seeing for the Sherlock Holmes themed interior. Deserving of a solid 3.5 stars.

Amy H.

Yum! Everything we ordered was delicious! The steak pie was my favorite. The Mac & cheese was so good & the dessert platter to share was almost too much, but a fun way to end a great dinner.

Fish n chips and lentil pie

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The place has a great location, but the service was slow and the beer selection was modest.

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The Conan Doyle Reviews in Other Languages

Review Highlights - The Conan Doyle

If you are Sherlock Holmes fan, this place is a must.

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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

The Conan Doyle - pubs - Updated May 2026

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