The Royal Dick Bar

Great quirky interior and pleasant service.
Popping back to try the food is something I need to do soon as we only popped in for a Soda & Lime (or rather Elderflower as due to the Lime cordial running out) to take up to that night’s gig.

I’ve only been here once but it has become an immediate favourite! When we arrived there were not tables, however, we were luckily enough to sit in the private room in the back (not ideal if you’re looking for atmosphere — we didn’t get to experience the live music that was going on but we did get to play a board game).
The service really was excellent — the server did not forget about as even though we were tucked away and I really enjoyed the food. It’s a cool venue (a little difficult to find but why should I rate it down for that?). I’ll definitely be going back…

The Royal Dick bar is not the easiest place to find. Its on the SE corner of the Meadows — head through the main entrance to the Summerhall (Arts hub) and you will feel like you are back at school and have an urge to run in the corridors! Cross the hall, head out to the yard and right in front of you is the Royal Dick Bar.
The bar, with illustrated vet cards laid out beneath glass, crowned by mad scientist distillation equipment and old books all around you. Off in the cubbyhole rooms are a (disinfected) operating table, animal bone wall art and enormous model ship. The whole feels like a house party thrown by a mad professor. They have a great on site brewery Barneys Beer so trying a beer or two is a must.
There is both food and drink on offer here. The menu offers either full sized dinners or small tapas style bites. The bread and dips, crab, sweet potato and chilli fritters or paprika-​spiked octopus and potato, even or padron peppers are a perfect snack while enjoying a drink. Though in ambience it’s more bar than bistro, the menu and food presentation are distinctly restaurant-​ified: home-​cured organic salmon gravlax, bouncy fresh Scrabster cod with bacon and mussel chowder or shreddable braised blade of beef with barley risotto. The feather steak with Café de PAri Butter and chips is an absolute treat and really reasonable too. More bar-​style is the wide ranging and inventive list of sharing platters, offering everything from bread and dips
There is a decent, if not extensive, wine list and a really good traditional style cocktail menu.
Ive heard that on the last Thursday of the month they offer brewery tours and tastings for those who want to try more of the local tipple.
This bar is definitely worth the trip from town!

This has fast become one of my favourite bars in the city.
Really good bar staff who know how to make a proper drink and congratulate you when you make a good order. Ha, why yes I do want tanquary 10 gin and no as much as I like fever tree tonic just a splash plase I want to taste the nom nom gin!!!
Havent been able to get a table yet to have food but from what I have seen of it as I am at the bar it looks pretty damn good!
More recon work to be done! I will report back!

It’s amazing — I’m a Edinburgh girl born and bred and i haven’t been to this establishment yet — yes really, until now!
i like this. maybe partly because it’s set in the old vet school and i like animals. so the science and the animal thing is a good thing. Then there is a Pub right in the middle of it! Joy! I wished i had the brains to do vet school because this would of been great!
We mangaed to get a bench outside whilst the last bit of sun was there and then went inside to the pub as it became a bit chilly and found a seat or a few.
I had a swedish pear cider, which was nice and hubster had a barney’s, which is brewed right here on this location!
It’s nice, i’ll be back because looks like they do food and at a good price too, plus it all sounds very nice from the menu!

YES! This place is just what we (Edinburgh) needed. I definitely need to return to sample its beverage wares at a less crazy time of year, as most of my encounters with the Royal Dick so far have been during Fringe Festival time when it was run ragged with people wanting their pre-​show beers.
It’s so good to see somewhere different which isn’t scared to be slightly macabre, and
I mean that in as good a way as possible. That feeling of eerie echoes you get from the past of the surrounding arts venue Summerhall (previously the Dick Vet School) is a brilliant thing, because it’s good to feel slightly pushed outwith your normal comfort settings… it makes you want to experience something new, which is what Summerhall gives you the opportunity to do. I would highly recommend keeping up-​to-​date with any events held at the venue or just to head along to the Royal Dick bar of an eve to see what banter concoction is bubbling, as even if it’s not something that’s ideally your thing, there’s nothing conventional in any way about the Royal Dick or Summerhall, and that’s an awesome thing.

I have been here a good few times. I really enjoy it although there are a few things I’d change if I were able so perhaps I’ll discuss this.
It’s a pretty new place so I forgive most things. I love the décor too, it looks amazing. The rooms are well structured and the tables and spaces have been put together by someone that really knows what they’re doing when it comes to making the most of the space available.
Drinks wise there is a good selection of wine and spirits, and they have Barneys beer on tap which is brewed on site. It’s a decent ale — I’d be keen to see a few different ones on tap soon though as the only other option is cans of red stripe. So get a couple keg lines in there boys!
Some of it (like the loos) feels a touch like a work in progress, however I imagine they’ll get this sorted out over time as they can pay for it.
The vibe is pretty downright cool, mostly because I think lots of the people there are from start-​ups and therefore are cool by default. The menu is looking pretty good. I only tried a few bits and pieces however there are some quality morsels to be had. The pigs cheeks were amazing.
The one thing that annoyed me was… well I am not going to say. Perhaps I was just having a bad day. I will return and double check said issue and come and update this.
Head there for an enjoyable time.

A true drinking experience
So I love this bar for numerous reasons, let me list them for you
1. It’s in the Summerhall, a great new venue for fashion and modern art installations etc, this is a really cool place to hang out, especially during the Festival, they have a huge courtyard which is always enjoyable on a summer afternoon.
2. It’s a former Veterinary training building, so they have heaps of random quirky things dotted around the place, even art installations in the bar, interactive stuff — so if you are really bored of the company you can just wonder off and start playing with things
3. They have their own micro brewery — Barney’s Beer — and don’t let the boring label mislead you, it’s good stuff — my favourite is the Volcano IPA — but they normally just have the Good Ordinary Pale Ale, labelled as Summerhall Beer, its good stuff.
4. They do food, I haven’t tried it, but it smells nice!
5. Its just so cool, the random furniture and art on the walls mean it’s a true ‘experience’
6. It’s the closest bar to my flat and another great addition to the Newington bar scene
I think they are open all week now!

This funny named bar was a delightful surprise to me. As stated on their website, The Royal Dick was once the Small Animal Hospital of the Dick Vet School. A fun fact for you all right there :)
I live just down the road from Summerhall and have been here a few times, but had no idea there was a pub lurking in the middle of it all. I went here last night for #PubSummit, a networking event., so obviously it was totally rammed full of people. It was a free bar for the event so I can’t comment on prices but I had a few glasses of wine and it was pretty decent from what I remember. I was also told that they didn’t stock Jack Daniels, so I worried about Joe A for a minute, but it turns out that is because they only serve Gentleman Jack!
They also serve pub food apparently so I will have to go back to check this out.
Overall this seems quite a nice place, pretty informal and chilled out environment but with a quirky edge.