Au Bar

This place is nice enough, £21.20 for a large glass of wine, a diet coke, lamb koftas and a small/​starter portion of haggis, neeps and tatties. The lamb koftas were simply OK, not inedible, not delicious, and the whole place is a bit like that — its «A-​OK»!

Probably my favorite place in when we went to Edinburgh. I loved the atmosphere, vibe, staff, food, everything about it. It was a cute café mixed with a hip bar. Loved it!

This is a very pleasant bar to spend an evening in when it’s very cold outside. Staff are friendly and helpful, there’s a good range of beverages on offer, and the food is good. I had tomato and vegetable soup, which was full of flavour, followed by chicken burrito — the sort of thing I normally avoid in non-​specialist venues. I am glad I didn’t on this occasion. True, an actual Tex-​Mex place would probably have done better, but not by much. The meat was succulent and there was genuine fire from chillies in there. The meal was delicious and filling; the only real negative point was that, being Sunday, the kitchen closed at 8pm — there was nothing in the way of signs or notes on the menu to warn of this. There was no problem, though, with getting coffee to round off the meal; and the coffee was strong, good quality, better than some cafés and coffee chains offer. I stumbled on this place and went in after checking it out on Unilocal,and I am glad I did. (Visited 18/​12/​2011)

I’ve always quite liked the look of Au Bar but had never been as I’m rarely in that part of town. However, last night I went out with a large group (12) of people who had chosen Au for a meal. I like the green exterior and the leathery/​wooden/​plants-​all-​over-​the-​place interior. The staff were friendly when we arrived — so far so good.
The menu looked nice and is very reasonably priced. Several things tempted me but in the end I opted for a burger as I was pretty hungry. Unfortunately, the service was not brilliant. The waitress taking our drinks order managed to miss out a couple of people and the food took almost an hour to arrive. When it did arrive my burger was pretty dry and unimpressive. The chips tasted exactly like the ones you get in Burger King which I found a little bit strange… Other people’s food looked fine but no one seemed particularly overwhelmed. As the last dish was brought the waitor asked if anyone wanted sauce, one woman asked for mustard and he immediately ran off to get it without so much as glancing around to see if anyone else wanted anything. I would have liked some mayonnaise to moisten my burger a bit but it was very difficult to get anyone’s attention to ask for it so I gave up. (I realised on the way out that the sauces were on a counter opposite the bar so I could have just helped myself. If only I’d noticed that earlier…)
All in all, not a great experience. Perhaps Au just isn’t very good at catering for large groups — many’s the time I’ve been somewhere and thought it was great and then been again in a big group and thought the exact opposite.
I think it would be a lovely place to go for a drink, the atmosphere was friendly and relaxed. I won’t be rushing back but I won’t avoid the place either. Given how cheap it is, I would be happy to give the food another go when with fewer people.

For me, Au Bar serves the best coffee in Edinburgh.
The staff are extremely friendly, without being overbearing & the atmosphere is simply lovely.
The menu is varied, with French daily specials worth a try (though sometimes I’d like a bit more!) & the breakfasts filling & delicious.
I tend to go there, to read & relax with a good coffee, before the busy lunchtime crowd comes in & enjoy what so many other café/​bars fail to offer, on so many levels.

First Husband and I staggered into Au Bar last night after some late night shopping in town, frozen to the marrow. Nice and warm in there and, although it was busy, we got a nice table. Service was nice and quick and the nachos we munched while we decided what to have were good. We both decided on macaroni cheese and chips. Had it there before and it was lovely. What a disappointment this time though. When it came it looked like instant packet cheesy pasta and, when I dug into mine it was floating in what looked like dirty dishwater. Nevertheless, undaunted, I had a wee taste… of nothing! No flavour, no texture, nothing. First Husband’s was different in that it had absolutely no sauce whatsoever but, again, tasted of nothing. Have to say, though, that when we complained, the waitress was really lovely and took it away pronto. We ordered something else which was very nice, although by that time we can lost the urge a bit. Food, generally, was a bit mediocre but the service was first class, the staff were excellent.

Until not long ago, this was my work local… so on occasion I did find myself in here after 6pm (and on rare occasions before 4pm).
It’s a good pub.
Friendly (if not always rotating staff) on the taps and a great selection of stock beer and real ale… and a great turnover of guest ales too.
I haven’t eaten here so cannot comment, but I do like the place for it’s consistency and welcoming ambience… if only there was something like this out at the lifeless and soul-​sucking ‘The Gyle’…where I’m working now.

I like the tongue-​in-​cheek name, the cutsey art-​deco feel, and the ample room inside. I like the convenient location, near Haymarket station, and the corner spot. I like the menu, and the food I chose (beef salad). And I also like the staff, who were friendly, helpful and attentive.
Overall, I like Au Bar. (In case you couldn’t already tell.) It’s fairly big inside, has a lunch and evening menu which is slightly different to the standard pub grub fare, and works along a french theme. My salad was over-​flowing with fresh rocket, parmesan shavings, and hot beef strips — sometimes hard to find in a gastropub!
I’ve only stopped by once, and it was last summer. I do want to try it again before I make up my mind on that fourth star, but if you’re in the area and want a nice place to get some food or a drink, Go to Au.

I was enticed into Au Bar by its stylish art nouveau font on the outside. I’m aware it’s a rip off from a beautiful period in art and architecture, but since everywhere is commercialised these days, I figured you could do a lot worse than to take inspiration from that kind of ornate beauty!
I thought Au Bar was grand inside, without being high brow. I guess that kind of makes it harder to slot it into a category. It’s not one of the trendy, glossy bars of Edinburgh, nor is it an old man boozer. But it’s nice to find somehwere that settles into a happy medium.
It’s calm inside, even when it’s busier. It seems clientele have a common shared interest for wanting to enjoy a quiet drink without too much noise. Their bar menu is nice, with some fancy offerings on the table, but it seems surplus to what the bar is actually about. They sell a good stock of booze, including cheap pints as some of the other reviewers have said. It’s hard to come by a pint that’s cheap and also tasty these days, but Au Bar manages to come up with the goods.
I’m not sure what market Au Bar is gearing itself towards, but that’s not a bad thing at all. It’s a very serene place to go that will appeal to people looking for a quiet and intimate night out. It’s nice enough to deter a rowdy bunch, and calm enough to steer away from cocktail bar wankery (sorry, it has to be said). So Au Bar, with its soothing atmosphere and darker interior, is my kind of place these days.

I came to Au Bar with my friends after the rugby at Murrayfield in our first year. Being early on a Saturday evening it was pretty busy, but the staff coped well with the queues and the place had a really friendly and bustling atmosphere. The décor is comfortable and stylish with plenty of cushioned seating and contemporary art on the walls.
The drinks are fairly well priced with most pints costing less than £3. Further, they have a great range of real ales and beers as well as high quality malt whiskeys.
It attracts a fairly lively crowd of mixed ages which is always a good sign. I didn’t try the food, but apparantly their burger and pint looked pretty tempting!

Au Bar is just, absolutely, fine. If you’re parched, you’re at the west end, and Au Bar is in your sights, then this bar will do the trick, given that it serves alcoholic beverages, although actually, alcohol dehydrates you, so if you’re exceptionally thirsty, maybe buying a soft drink would be wiser. What it is about being in a bar that makes you feel wrong if you don’t order a proper alcoholic drink? Again, that might just be me.
The thing with Au Bar, is that despite the fact there’s nothing particularly wrong with it, compared to other bars in Edinburgh, it’s not massively inspiring. But it all depends on the reason you go to bars in the first place. If you go to bars to dress up, and you like to sit in a highly stylised and trendy environment, where everything is super plush, then Au Bar might not be your establishment of choice. If your preferred imbibing quarters are somewhere unpretentious, where you can get a drink with no fuss, then Au Bar will suit you fine. The staff are nice, it isn’t too expensive, and there’s a fair amount of table space.

This place is ok, just ok like the others pointed out.
I got a cheeseburger in here once and remember feeling completely underwhelmed. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad or anything but it’s certainly not worth telling you about it. The staff are ok too, a little too keen to take your empty glasses away strangely.
Drinking in Aubar is like drinking in purgatory.

Au Bar is quite a stylish bar near to Princes Street. It doesn’t have that pretentious feel to it which most city centre bars do, making it a bit better than the rest.
Prices are fairly average for drinks and there is a good selection. I went for lunch with my Dad as I heard the food was quite good and we were both quite happy with the result. It’s typical pub food of sandwiches, some Mexican type foods, burgers and haggis but they do it quite well. I had a steak which I don’t usually do in pubs as they generally make a mess of it, but it was surprisingly nice and tender. Cooked the way I like it which is a bonus.
Good for a pub lunch as the staff are super friendly also. However it gets very busy with people having after works drinks so maybe avoid at that time of day.

A nice enough pub on the fringes of the city centre, Au Bar isn’t really anything mindblowing, but is a decent enough place to sit and have a pint or a bar lunch. It doesn’t look great from the outside, but is a good bit better once you’re in.
It always sticks in my mind though, as a friend and I once hatched a far-​fetched plot to take it over and turn it into a gastropub. Neither us can cook, and we weren’t entirely sure where the customers were going to come from, but it was a nice idea.

Went through a small phase of drinking in here recently after having not been in for a number of years.
Bar prices are average for the area and the bar is well stocked for all tastes (2 ales, a couple of heavys and 3 or 4 lagers all on draught, the usual range of spirits etc. behind). Unusually table service is on offer which makes for a pleasant change.
A good jukebox and generally relaxed atmosphere make for a pleasant establishment.

great at lunchtime and for a drink after work (thanks for the free nibbles last night). Good food, service and friendly staff. You MUST try their Chilli Enchiladas. Prices are also still fairly reasonable for food and drink.

Au bar is not only good for drinking but serve great food with friendly staff who are eager to help (my only complaint would be that sometimes they are a bit too friendly, constantly asking how you’re enjoying your food) but I’ve never had a bad meal, and I’d highly recommend their haggis, neeps and tatties. Their décor is a good mix between modern and traditional with a wide range of seating options ranging from private two customer booths to larger groups of tables, there is also the option of a small outside seating area but given the pub’s postion next to Standard Life and Rutland Square unless you want to share your lunch experience with the large number of passers-​by, you’d be better to select a seat indoors.