Candy Bar

Fun bar set in a basement off George Street with creative and original cocktails, and tasty-looking&smelling food.

A decent wee place to have a cocktail or two. We found ourselves in here after the dungeons and as we walked in it was still in the interim from going of a place of eating to a place of drinking. The décor is pretty funky with many old style candy jars with the likes of humbugs in them. Sat down and perused the cocktail menu and they had a decent wee selection going from around 7 quid up to ridiculous. Most are around the £9 mark. We all ordered our cocktails and they were made pretty quickly. I found that they had a zombie on the menu which is rum with more rum with very strong rum and some extremely strong rum set on fire on a passion fruit. My kind of drink!
Service was pretty good, quite expensive for some of the cocktails and what you actually got, decent wee place to start the night off but nothing amazing and a bit pricey.

Popped in for lunch, the menu looked varied and caters to different tastes. I walked in at 11:50 am to be told by staff they weren’t open. Why have the doors unlocked if the premises isn’t open for business? I was allowed to sit for 10 minutes until they were «officially» open but couldn’t order anything. My friend ordered a roasted veg salad and I went for a turkey burger. On the salad arriving it had very little roasted vegetables and about three tablespoons of quinoa. It had to be sent back because quite frankly one piece of courgette doesn’t make it a roasted vegetable salad. My turkey burger was average, so, so average. The brioche style bun was cold as if it had been in a fridge yet it had melted cheese on it. The texture of the bun was almost like it was stale but I’m not sure if this was just because it was so cold. I’m not sure about the cold metal camping plates and these small metal buckets they serve the fries in that suck the heat from the food. Perhaps it’s an aesthetic way to serve you less food so you don’t feel ripped off? The food presentation appeared to be fairly slap — dash and didn’t entice me at all. Don’t get me started about the t-​shirts all the women were wearing (no men staff to be seen) with «eye candy» written on them at about breast height, nothing like a touch of objectification of a 20– something heavily made-​up female with your food. Pretty disappointing.

Twas a very strange bar on George Street we stumbled into one evening in Edinburgh … I say strange because for them, I’m not really the ideal clientele; I’m a tourist when in the UK and more importantly, I’m uncool everywhere on the planet.* The staff definitely gave me the «you ain’t from here, are ya?» attitude, but served us efficiently enough. The whole thing was kind of bizarre, since they have all sorts of deals with hotels and such to refer people there, and discounted food, but then seem not to want folks bothering them. And I simply have no idea what to make of the décor; is it really modern and chic, or is it just strange and brightly colored?
Cocktails were unremarkable, so we imbibed them relatively quickly and moved on to more hospitable pastures.
* I say on the planet because if you think about how many stars there are, the relative percentage of earthlike planets orbiting those stars, the likelihood of intelligent life evolving, etc., it seems likely to me there is a planet somewhere in this universe on which I could be considered trendy.

We ventured here on a Monday night, the place looks really «cool»: mirrors and shiny metals, i liked it, the music was new and not just chart nonsense so i was in my element!
Once seated we were given menus and left to browse it and their epic cocktail list. Not to sound like an alcoholic, but i LOVED their cocktail list, they’ve something for everyone, classics, twists on classics and new creations! The food menu was good and catered for everyone, they had some really good offers on with their sides/​starters (3 for £6) and main courses were reduced to £5 Monday-​Thursday so prices and selection are REALLY good!
We ordered drinks and food then sat back to enjoy our night!
Now i’m a pretty laid back guy, if i’m out for dinner the last thing i want to do is be rushed so i don’t mind a reasonable wait… This however was not reasonable, our drinks (2 pints, a spirit&mix and ONE cocktail) took some time getting to us, the food also took some time getting to us, and our second round of cocktails took a ridiculously long time!
Once everything arrived we couldn’t find fault, it was tasty and filling!
The staff were lovely and went through all the right motions when serving us, but the speed of service was just too slow!
So to recap, great venue, EPIC cocktail selection, really good food menu, just be prepared to wait a while!!!

I like this place. I’ve only ever really been in here for the food though and not the cocktails.
All the food on the menu is under a fiver and the portion sizes, which if you deduced would be equally as paltry you’d be wrong. Now the food isn’t of the blow-​your-​mind type but it’s quite tasty, a decent size and cheap! The choice on the menu isn’t extensive but enough to cater to most tastes.
It’s a great place to start a night out if you ask me. I went out with two other friends and for the three of us with a main meal and drinks the bill came to £23…bargain!
I would always book here as I never find they have any walk-​in tables.

Whenever I’m on a night out on George Street, we always pay Candy Bar a visit. They do pretty cheap cocktails so that’s reason enough for me! So when I was invited to my friend’s hen do (with 13 girls from England) and I was told we’d be heading to Candy for a cocktail class and food I thought this would be the perfect venue. It wasn’t.
The girl who organised it had gone into Candy a couple weeks previously and booked the cocktail class. When we walked in last Saturday evening it was soon made apparent that they never actually wrote down the booking. They knew about it but hadn’t got anything prepared. After much discussion they finally agreed to squeeze us in for the class but asked if we would eat our food first. They cleared some space for us to sit down and eat and in the mean time offered us drinks, but didn’t offer them on the house even though they had clearly really messed up. We suggested that they maybe should be on the house and they agreed.
When we sat down for food we ordered wine, this was clearly a very difficult order as they came back multiple times asking what we’d ordered, then they brought us the wrong order, this kept happening.
As for the food… I know it is all very cheap (burger for around a fiver) so I didn’t expect much, but I did expect it to be edible. To start with I had potato wedges with a sour cream and chive dip. They were OK (but I was starving) but there were no chives in the sour cream. For my main course I chose the turkey burger. I was described as being served on a ‘squishy bun’. This was not the case, the bun was toasted and completed rock solid so it just crumbled apart. The slab of turkey in the bun was completely over cooked, dry and cold!
When we eventually got round to the cocktail making class, the guy who was running it (an Aussie guy) was lovely and the class was really fun. We all made three cocktails each and he was very patient with 14 excitable ladies.
So overall, the class was great but the rest was a disaster. The fact that they made little effort to compensate for their mistakes made it seem like they didn’t care. They had 14 girls there all willing to spend lots of money and they made no effort.

Gone are the days when this place was the non-Wetherspoon’s option for cheaper drinks on George Street. Deals seem to be a thing of the past and the pints are all over £4 (Peroni coming in at over £5). Our barman last night was a cheery chap but that alone’s not really an enticement to be back anytime soon.

Dear Candy Bar,
You are a bar… NOT a restaurant!
As a bar I like it, reasonable prices, good selections of gins and shots, and plenty of jaeger.
As a restaurant… no no no no no no no! The food is awful, the cheap prices deliver what you would expect frozen to deep friend rubbish! Bleh!
Was out there on Friday night as bar spot and I was happy! Nice seating, good customer expereince.
As a restaurant — never ever ever! Go to browns/​gusto get a decent much then go there for a fun night out!

Candy Bar is one of my favourite places on George St to go for a drink. The cocktails are lovely, the staff are friendly, and on the few occassions when I’ve gone here for food I’ve been very impressed with hot fresh and tasty bar snacks. There’s also a nice outdoor area for smokers, with potted plants.

Came here today for a quick bite to eat, and had to update the review, because the burger I had was absolutely de-​lic-​ous. I had the Swiss beefburger with bacon and cheese, which came with chunky chips and salad, and it was sooooo gooooood! All for the usual amazing price of £4.95! The burger was cooked to perfection and the cheese oozed out from the bun. The bacon had absolutely no fat on it, and was really crispy, exactly the way I like it to be. It really hit the spot for me today, and my friend’s chicken, bacon and rocket American burger had her drooling too. All round win for Candy Bar again!

Bearing in mind the slating I’ve given George Street in general, I’ll put myself down for a «pleasantly surprised» vote with regards to the Candybar. It wasn’t particularly great or memorable, but I did quite enjoy my time here.
The décor is equal parts trendy and tacky, if a bit less over the top than other George street joints, making it feel a bit more relaxed than some of it’s neighbours. It’s still very much in pursuit of the beautiful people, though the fact that they had «all food under a fiver» menus and a laughably easy pub quiz going, suggests that a less fabulous crowd is also welcome, at least during the week.
The cocktail menu was fairly rudimentary and full of the cosmos and French Martinis that more serious cocktail bars tend not to do anymore. I got the impression though that that’s what they’re trying for here, and the general lack of pretence in the atmosphere was quite refreshing. Even the staff were quite courteous and friendly, a trait practically unheard of round here.
I’d probably steer away from the food, the low prices and fairly unappetising selection told me pretty much everything I needed. A goats cheese and red pepper wrap would have to be seriously cheap for me to even consider nibbling at it, and everything else was similarly mediocre looking.
It has it’s faults, and they’re fairly numerous, but to be fair I did find this quite a nice and relaxing bar to while away an hour or so. Due to it’s location I expected to hate it, but it’s not bad at all. Not sure If I’d feel the same on a Saturday night though.

If you’re looking for some after work drinks and some reasonably priced food to fill a gap then the Candy Bar should tick all your boxes. Although not exactly gourmet dining the food here is pretty tasty and everything on the menu is under £5. I was very tempted to try one of their fondues, which you can get to share between two people at £3.50 per person. They have a cheese fondue and even though I love cheese I just can’t bring myself to eat it in fondue form. My old flatmates used to eat it all the time and the whole flat smelled like old feet for days afterwards. The chocolate one was much more appealing to me and you got banana, marshmallows, strawberries and mini cookies for dipping… yum!
As far as drinks go they have a well stocked bar with a good selection of premium spirits, they also have a range of chocolate shooters and if it hadn’t been 6 o’clock when I ventured in I would have probably gone for one. They have a reasonable cocktail menu with all the classics plus a few extras, I opted for a White Lady and it was refreshingly tangy, the cocktails start from £6.95 and upwards which I think is a little bit pricey given that it’s quite a standard bar.
We popped in on a Wednesday which is pub quiz night, we missed the start of the pub quiz but after hearing some of the questions you’d have to be pretty thick to not get full marks. I’m useless at pub quizzes but the questions here were ridiculous a few that spring to mind are; Where is Cologne? and How often is the World Cup held? Now, I have no clue about football but even I know the answer to that and the questions didn’t get much harder.
Despite the awful pub quiz it’s a nice place to sit and have a chat, it was quite stuffy inside so we sat outside on rather comfy little leather booths with a candle on each table which I thought was a nice touch. I’m torn whether or not to award three or four stars, I enjoyed my evening here but I’m not particularly in a rush to go back so I’ll stick with three just now it seemed to be missing something that I can’t quite put my finger on…

I love going here at Christmas time — not because they do an especially good job at decorating the place, but there always seems to be a Christmas-​jumper party when I’m there. It’s the sort of place you would go on your staff night out — it’s really nice! I was put off at first as it doesn’t look like much from the outside; you have to go down some stairs and under a canopy to get in, but I was very impressed with the interior. It’s your typical Edinburgh trendy bar/​restaurant, cool wallpaper and nice furniture. As a result all the people are ridiculously cool and the place is heaving with MILFs and DILFs. It is the sort of place to take your mum out for a (liquid) lunch and spend the afternoon people-​watching.

With the exception of their christmas lunch menu last december, I’ve only ever drunk here.
It’s a great place to go for the kind of drinking occasion where a lot of nattering and catching up with friends is involved, as it’s quieter and more chilled than a lot of other places, at least during the day.
That said, make sure your wallet is well-​stocked before you go. Yes, its on George Street and yes, it’s part of the Montpeliers chain and so a certain price range is always to be expected, however I’d say this place lacks some of the style and elegance of its sister venues like Tigerlily or Ricks, and so I am slightly more reluctant to fork out the same amount for my vodka martini.
Speaking of which, when I ordered my second it came not with an olive in it but a curl of lemon rind… apparently there had only been one single olive on the premises, and let me tell you that lemon rind does not make a tasty alternative!
You may be wondering why I gave it 3 stars when seemingly all i’ve done is complain? Two reasons: first, the staff are extremely friendly and well-​trained, and so ingredients-​permitting serve up some goregous drinks (I was instantly jealous of my friend’s Passionfruit Daiquiri). Secondly, as is the case in all the other Montpeliers places at the moment, selected drinks are half price such as glasses of house wine.
It’s still worth a visit, especially if nearby Tigerlily is too full.

Candy Bar is one of those place you instantly feel cooler when you enter. Its one of these trendy, swish bars that attempts to be über cool and chic. However, I feel there is a bit of a contradiction going on.
Candy Bar advertises all their food as under a fiver. So riddle me this, how can you be so chic and fancy by serving food so cheap? Its a ploy to attract people in off the usually expensive George Street, and it works. I was there for lunch and the place was packed with 20-​something woman having a gossip.
The menu consists of nachos, sandwiches, lite bites, salads etc. We had the nachos to share– nothing special here quite a measly portion if you ask me. We both went for Caesar Salad for our main course and it was below average. Far too much mayo (not really what I would call Caesar dressing) and chewy croutons. I haven’t had a chewy croûton before, but it isn’t very pleasant I tell you. We both had tap water which came with cucumber in it. The only place I have had that before is the Ritz in Paris, so this must be the new trendy chic thing to do with water.
Overall, there is nothing outstanding about Candy Bar. They do have a varied cocktail list, but we didn’t try. Its basically a fancy looking bar with mediocre food. And if your selling food for under a fiver what do you expect?

Wow, talk about over-​hyped by reviewers. An OK bar with decent drinks but definitely nothing out of the ordinary. Actually it’s quite average. Is the standard so low in Edinburgh that this place gets so raved about? Anyway, prices were fair and we liked the outside area when you come down the stairs. Otherwise, that’s about it. Very average crowd with a bunch of out-​of-​town chicks on hen nights and middle-​aged men trying deperately to score with them.

The Candy Bar is pretty special in comparison to its George Street neighbours, great clientele, appropriately priced drinks and loads more character than you expect from what is, essentially, a style bar.
Can get VERY busy on a Friday /​Saturday night so get down early to bag the best spot!
Ess

The Candy Bar is a basement bar located on Edinburgh’s George Street. Whenever I’m out in Edinburgh, I tend to visit Candy Bar at some point during the night. The décor is nice and the prices are reasonable for George Street standards. I also like the outside area at the bottom of the stairs to the entrance there is normally some good banter going on there. There are sometimes pretty good drinks promotions going on and the food is always pretty good too. The music is also great. This place is definitely worth a visit, especially on a weekend night.

To enter Candy you descend some stairs and once at the bottom you are met with a lovely little sheltered, outside seated area. Once inside, the décor is lovely, very modern and plush. As with most of George Street, it can be on the pricey side, however they often have 2 for 1 on selected drinks and food. During the week, Candy usually attracts a lot of suits from nearby offices in the evenings. At the weekend, it’s a great place to have lunch in between shopping or to start the night off in.