Brass Monkey Leith

It’s one of my favourite pubs when I’m down Leith Walk. I think it’s possibly the only pub in Edinburgh where everyone has beards yet none of them are hipsters. People definitely go there for a drink and a chat rather than to be seen.
Food: Had a cheeseburger and fries for the first time and was actually really surprised at how good the burger was. It did worryingly only take about five minutes to come and there was none of this fancy lettuce, pickle and onion stuff but so what? It was good. AND, AND it came on a plate and not on a chopping board, slate /​half Niddrie. BRILLIANT.

Wow. Great pub food! Had the Vegan Chili Dog and Custom Burger with Guacamole and Salsa and they were both delicious. To top it off we had the best Sticky Toffee Pudding ever. So good. Very much enjoyed the meal, which also came out very fast. Excellent Cask Beer on tap also – I realize this will change, however – very smooth with a hint of hops.

This is the second time I’ve been there this week on an Edinburgh daytrip, it’s starting to feel like an honorary ‘local’. Pub quiz with a vegan meetup group was the reason on Monday, and today was the case of an hour before my bus leaves, where is close by where service will be reasonably fast and I know I can eat? ! Also, because of the excellently labelled vegan options on the menu and I’d spied a couple of options to keep in mind for a return trip.
On Monday I had the vegan chilli dog (£9) — which I suspect is Linda McCartney sausages — which comes with skinny fries. Normally I find skinny fries a bit mediocre to wedges/​thick cut chips but these were really tasty. Service for most of us was pretty quick, though one of my friends had to wait some time (an hour?) because of an oversight somewhere leading to lack of a matching table number.
Tonight service was very fast (thankfully, we made our bus!) and I’d opted for the vegan burger. It’s a good firm patty and comes in a seeded bun with sauce on top and bottom of the patty — I think a salsa of some kind. Unless it’s unwelcome mayo and it’s vegan I’m not too fussy and I don’t always notice these things! It comes with the skinny fries, and a non-​creamy coleslaw.
I’m told by friends that many of the drinks on their menu are vegan — I opted for an Innis & Gunn beer on Monday and today I got a Williams Bros ‘Midnight Sun’; otherwise the beers aren’t labelled so if you’re bothered about alcohol being animal product-​free checking the Barnivore website is often a good bet.
Their soup is labelled vegan, and they have a vegan special (this week was tarka dal) and a dipping platter with a few things including hummus and pesto and flatbread.
The décor is made up of dark red walls featuring movie posters, and both sofa areas and tables with chairs to suit whichever seating area you feel like having. I feel quite relaxed in there and could easily sit with a pint (or two) for an hour. The TV was showing a movie with subtitles, and although maybe a little anti-​social, I was pleased to see it as so many times I have seen pubs showing TV programmes or movies with just the picture and no subtitles (or audio) — what is the point in that?!
It’s 50p charge if you want to use a credit/​debit card, but they do also offer cashback.

Met a big group of people from grad school there, great venue for a large group meeting. A friend and I showed up a bit earlier so we could get something to eat. We were both impressed with the non-​traditional pub options, there were good veggie options and fusion influenced burgers and curry dishes. Cool place good prices for food creative pub food.

Am I allowed to give a place a 5 start just because my getting a dukedom here made me baron of Leith? No? Not even if they had TopGun on when I arrived? Oh ok then Unilocal.
Even without all those potential caveats, I still really like this bar. It’s long and thin ish, so lots of of sofas and booths, and less of the table amongst a sea of other like you might get in a larger pub. The bar itself is smack bang in the middle of the pub, so handy for everyone, and kinda does a de-​facto split of the pub into drinks space and food space, although you can happily do both in any part of the bar, it just seems to settle that way.
The food i’ve had so far has all been good (aside from the singular nacho that made an attempt on my life) but isn’t spectacular to my taste buds. I think you’d be hard pressed to complain about it, just isn’t wow either.
The bar has a decent selection of beery things, and cidery things. Haven’t investigated the spirits much, and i think the wine is fairly limited.
as others have mentioned, Dr Paul does his quiz on a monday night. For people who like a slick pub quiz that doesn’t last, all. damn. night, you’d struggle to find one more suitable. I’m not his biggest fan but I can forgive a lot for him being sober and not taking my whole night up.
Films wise I think this place just has film4 on all the time. It doesn’t have a dedicated cinema room like the drummon st brass monkey and i don’t think you can book it out/​request a film.

This great pub was a short walk from our B&B on the first night of our 2 ½ week holiday in Scotland, and my two sons could not have had a better introduction to the age-​old tradition of Scottish pubs than this one.
Excellent beer selection, fine single malt selection, good hearty meals, and *great* live Scottish folk tunes, traditional and original from a lady named Cera Impala and her friends.
If I ever have the good fortune to be in Edinburgh again, I’m putting The Brass Monkey Leith on the top of my places to which I shall happily return.

All round good boozer. Great music selection, god seating areas (including a wee bit of seating outside), and good food (but a little large). And there I’d a bus stop right outside.

I was very pleasantly surprised at how nice this pub is. It’s roomy, the seating is set out nice for relaxing and chatting. Relaxed atmosphere with a mixed crowd in it. Leith prices with an uptown feel. The bar staff were excellent, polite and attentive. I would definitely go back.

This is what my brain did to me when I entered through the front door of the Brass Monkey:
*slap* WHY! *slap* Haven’t *slap* You *slap* visited the Brass Monkey before ?! *raised eyebrows + scowl* mmh?! Well? Any excuses?! *shines blinding light in face*
I am ashamed to say that I passed so many times and promised myself that I would — but I didn’t — I carry the eternal shame of being late to the party. Luckily for me this ‘party’ is still in full swing. I may be late, but I didn’t feel I missed out. (Well .ish. I wasted so many years that I could have used visiting this place)
I like the atmosphere, the comfy sofas, the leather Chesterfields that are obviously made for giants. All I wanted was to A: curl up on one of the armchairs B: have a beer close by and C: read a book. A&B accomplished I used my Playbook for C instead.
So that was me playing games whilst curled up in a massive chair. Bliss.
I’ll make a serious effort to go here more often.

The Brass Monkey on Leith Walk is probably the closest thing I have to a local, not that I’m here every night or even every week, but when friends who live locally suggest going for a drink (often a birthday) it’s here we end up. It’s also the location of many after-​work drinks for my boyfriend and his colleagues. We keep coming back, so they must be doing something right!
If I’m eating here I’ll tend to go for the chilli nachos, which they usually do pretty well, although they’ve never been served the same way twice. The chilli most recently was a little below par, but still fairly decent for the price. The various other meals always look pretty decent, the hot dogs are big and the soup serving generous, for example. Fine dining it ain’t, but it’s better than a lot of pub grub and vegetarians are well served.
There’s always a buzz, and the pub quiz (one of Edinburgh quiz master Dr Paul’s regular nights) is a lot of fun. If we walk in here, we’ll usually spot somebody that we know — for us it’s that kind of place.
But it’s still 3 stars, not 4. There’s nothing bad about the Brass Monkey, and I like it a lot, but 3 stars is ‘A-​OK’ and I think that really sums up how I feel about this place.

Great pub — could well be my new favourite local! To be honest, I’ve never been to any other pubs on Leith Walk as many of them are… how should I put it… uninviting! And I’ve only been to the Brass Monkey twice on a Monday for Dr Paul’s pub quiz. However, it’s made an impression. Cheap drinks — wine, beer, shots, cocktails; you name it. And the food is not half bad either — highly recommended nachos as well as the usual pub favourites. Then there’s the awesome Monday pub quiz — starts at the reasonable time of 7pm, easy to follow format, challenging, but not ridiculously hard and most of all Dr Paul makes it highly entertaining with a bit of banter with the punters. Music in the background was some beaut 80’s hits and Wimbledon on the big screen. What’s not to love.

5 stars for the cider alone. There was more than 2 on the menu!
The Brass Monkey Leith obviously has a fair following, especially among Unilocalers it seems! I’ve been in the odd time in the evenings and the place tends to be hopping. Young, cool folk all meeting each other and being cool with leather jackets and lighters and the like.
There’s very comfortable couches and plenty of seating, though the place is quite dark so it might be difficult to find a spot. They occassionally show movies without the sound on a big screen at the back. I like that. It gives the non-​bants among us some bants.
The staff are really nice here, they’ll let you sit at the bar with a newspaper and a pint for a long enough time without bothering you. The wifi is alright (currently what we’re using it for, until we get ourselves set up!) It’s Leith walk so there’s the odd character hanging around, as expected.
I haven’t eaten here yet but I’ll update when I do.

One of my favourite locals! Good for food, music, films, cheap booze, monday night pub quiz, meal deals, friendly clientele, fab staff and of course the amazing Monkey Marys! Brass Monkeys version of the hangover saviour, the best bloody mary I’ve ever tasted — FACT! Introduced a lot of friends to the Monkey Mary and they are now strong fans! Very reasonably priced at around £3.80 too! They have everything in there: vodka, red wine, port, tomato juice, tabasco sauce, herbs, spices… lovely! So next time your dying of the ultimate Sunday hangover, the cure is at Brass Monkey! Enjoy!
Ok, enough of the MM, the rest of the joint is cool too! Funky posters on wall, sultry red lights over the bar, films, music vids or rugby showing none stop, missed match furniture and a collection of board games to while away the night. The Monday night pub quiz is also very popular and a good laugh. We won the drinks round once! Well worth a visit to shake off the Monday blues and continue that weekend feeling!
I love the Brass Monkey in Newington and never thought the Leith pub could measure up to it, but I’m slowly coming round to liking Brass Monkey Leith that little bit more than the orginial head honcho! It’s got more space, seating, you don’t get squeezed in cues at the bar and there are better toilets! Well done BM Leith, I’m a convert!

… on Friday evening place looked like a kind of students, young professional’s pub which is nice surprise in the middle of Leithwalk.
… inside: comfy seats, lots of space, 4 screens if you fancy for movie with subtitles and good selection of drinks.
definitely Im going to visit this place soon…

I think my review here is definitely due an update. Yes, it’s still at the same top-​of-​the-​class 5 star rating. But since my first review I’ve been back many, many, many times and sampled many of what the Monkey Leith has to offer. Namely:
— Dr Paul pub quiz on a Monday night, 7pm. Awesome. He’s a legend, brilliant banter, staff are up for it, but the neighbours upstairs hate it.
— Good pub grub. Not gastropub food, pub grub. The veggie chilli (either as is, or on nachos) is amazing! Chickpeas and beans and nom. Most recently, the filled potato skins with chicken & salsa, and houmous & feta, were really tasty.
— Friendly bar staff. Friendly customers. Generally a friendly place (where everyone knows your name. Yeah, that.)
— I’m not a big ale /​beer drinker, but I know they have a lot here. Ask others who know better, but they def have a good range and lots of local stuff too.
— Movies. The Monkey pubs are known for their movie connections (not sure where that started) but they show movies all the time (admittedly with music over the top) and I think on a Sunday still properly screen a movie.
So yeah, I really, really like the Monkey Leith. It’s quite different to its older brother up on Drummond Street (the original Brass Monkey). That one is more populated my students and regulars and is a vortex where you can get lost for hours drinking, with great craic. It’s small and cosy and a squash at the bar.
Whereas this Monkey Leith is much bigger, huge in fact, with a massive bar but plenty room around it. The toilets don’t smell, and aren’t shared (referring back to the original Monkey, where they do and they are) the furnishings are new and it’s really quite swish. There’s loads of room, loads of comfy sofas, loads of tables. Just loads of space generally, so even if it’s packed you’ll still have room to yourself.
I just wish it were closer, as it’s on Leith Walk so out of the way for me, but well worth the bus ride.

I attended a very enjoyable evening at Brass Monkey Leith last night.
I like the space. It’s comfortable and the bar is very cool. I really like the fact that you can sit at the bar and not feel like you are in the way (on a week night at least!). I always feel that if you can do this it’s a bar with good atmosphere.
We didn’t have food, just a bunch of drinks, but there was a good craft beer selection which was great for me, and a decent number of wines for my drinking assistant.
The food did look excellent so I’ll have to head there again at some point for a burger.
Only complaint was that there are screens at either end of the bar and that’s pretty distracting if they’re just showing old movies. I’m find with having a «movie night» or something but just turn em off if it’s just random crap on there!

This is a little treasure. I had always walked past it and thought it didnt look up to much from
the outside but on entering you find an old fashioned, quirky pub full of eclectic seating
sofas and chairs and is a whole lot bigger than it looks from the outside
A nice comfy establishment to eat, drink and be merry! Oh and not expensive either so you can
get ultra merry… well it is nearly the season of jollyness :)

Brass Monkey Leith is awesome! I love the fact that they have so many sofas and armchairs to sink into and just relax over a pint of something or a coffee. The place is very much as a living room of a 1800 Edinburgh professor with non sticky leather sofas and arm chairs, ambient lights and great variety of music from old school to present pop and rock. The staff is great and friendly and makes one feel welcome and more at home rather then away, nice.
The food is actually very creative here. Its pub food taken to another level with fresh ideas on how to make and present a hot dog, wish I had taken a picture to show it. And the cool thing is that it is the friendly chef that brings the food out to the table and as I have nut allergy it is great to get the confidence boost confirmation from the actually chef that there is no tiny way that a peanut has actively rolled around in my hot dog baguette.
Another yeah point — they have a flight of the concord poster up on the wall!!!
And the Unilocal pub quiz is great fun! We actually came on 3ed place this time and I can smell the victory creeping on!!!

A bit overdue
Came here with other Unilocalers for the pub quiz night…
Big space, comfy chairs and friendly staff! Quite lovely.
Be warned! Don’t trust Google maps to get here, I was led to a random parking lot behind the bar.

i noticed that this bar had opened almost a year and a half ago, but although it’s literally at the top of my street i had never actually been to it before. my usual haunts are generally down at the shore or the town centre, so it wasn’t until i agreed to share my knowledge at a pub quiz last night that i ventured in.
from the outside it looks like this bar will be small and possibly the preferred dodgy old man style of many of the pubs on leith walk. however, upon entering and finding my lovely group of Unilocalers at the back my opinion was quickly changed. this place is huge! it has a lovely seating area up front, a big bar in the middle, and then more seats in the back. the seats are mixed between tables and chairs, a booth aligning the back wall, and big sofas and comfy arms chairs that give the place a nice upmarket pub feel. there was also a make shift movie screen on the back wall that played some 80s classics while we were there.
i ordered a greek salad and a cider for my meal during the pub quiz. the salad came and it was HUGE! a full plate of lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, red onions, olives, and feta cheese with a nice side of bread. however, while the salad was huge and fresh the dressing lacked a bit of flavour so i opted not to eat the whole thing. i have to say that was the only short coming of my dish as i enjoyed the fresh bread on the side and my meal came to a nice sum of £8 including a pint of cider. they also had some nice pizzas on offer and i was assured that the nachos were very good, so i’d be happy to go back to try some other menu items.
the main star of my night was the pub quiz though! i’ve only been to a handful of pub quizzes where i could hardly answer one question. however, this one was well thought out and didn’t only ask questions relevant to british knowledge. i was proud to know about half a dozen answers when others on my team didn’t. the pub master was also quite fun and kept things going at a good pace. it’s an added bonus that the pub quiz is free so you only have to turn up and join in the fun.
definitely think i will be making a return visit to take on the pub quiz again and try out some of their other menu items! all in all it was a solid pub and has the convienance of being a five minute walk from my flat.

Wir sind rein, weil wir am Eingang das Angebot gesehen hatten, Geld zu sparen, wenn man zwei Burger statt einen oder verschiedene nimmt. Also drinnen hingesetzt und als nach zehn Minuten noch immer niemand kam an die Bar, dort hieß es recht unfreundlich: Ja, aber nicht heute. Trotzdem geordert, auch Bier. Für Bier und Ale gibts eine riesige Karte, aus der wir uns wohl das falsche Bier herausgesucht haben denn gut wars nicht! Die Burger waren klein, fielen auseinander und hatten kaum Geschmack. Ambiente: Durchschnittlich. Fazit: Nicht empfehlenswert!