The Safari Lounge

The thing that instantly grabs me about the Safari Lounge is their orange radiators! A nice unique feature. Explore a bit deeper and you’ll meet the gaze of a (fake) croc’s head on the wall; or is it an alligator? It’s inconclusive, but made for conversation fodder over a pint.
And the crocogator is not alone. There are all manner of safari inhabitants. A parrot perched on the ceiling fan. a black panther lounging on a shelf. a lizard on the wall. And comfy snake-​skin benches with cow-​print stools are nicely in keeping with the dedicated theme. I’m told that even the women’s toilets have a leopard print bog seat. Something us guys can only envy. What we do have though is a soap dispenser which has now fooled me on more than one occasion into thinking it’s a hand dryer. I can’t be the only one!
Anyway, back to the nitty gritty. The beer selection is pretty good with a few interesting ales on tap. And the food is impressive too. My curry battered fish n chips went down well, and I’m told the buckfast hotdog was also very satisfactory. But the highlight had to be the squid spaghetti. One of these sharing dishes that you can’t get enough of and makes you secretly resent everyone else who’s eating it!
The atmosphere is relaxed, but if I was to find criticism it would be in the repetitive house music playing. It could be worse of course, but as I sat there I imagined how cool it would be if they ditched the music and instead, all the resident animals made jungle noises from time to time! Or would that just be weird?
The other criticism being that my friends were left disgruntled by a consistently grumpy barmaid. But all in all, a recommended watering hole which is well worth a visit.
Later crocodile.

Monday 28^th Dec. 2 – 3.30 pm
The Arabian Roasted Veg soup was outstanding. Really. Spicy for first few spoonfuls and then became the perfect heat. Not sure how but it mellowed. Beautiful taste!
My chorizo bagel with monchego was outta sight.
I was so full after the soup I really didn’t think I could eat the bagel. Brilliant.
Great lunch deal £6 soup and bagel.
Thankyou chef.

There are few places I visit as regularly as the Safari Lounge, I’m there every week for a craft night.
The environment and décor is fun, I particularly love the pith-​helmet lightshade in the ladies!
The food is great, they have a regular menu with various types of hot dogs and tacos, and then they have a specials menu, which is the best. You never know what’s going to be on it, and it’s always a bit unusual with a South African twist, but I can honestly say I’ve never been disappointed!
The staff are friendly and happy to have a chat and make you feel welcome, and the customers are wide and varied with lots of character!
Dogs are welcome, as are children (until 8pm), and there’s a large back room with a selection of toys to keep the kids entertained.
It’s a great addition to the area and has fast become one of my favourite places in Edinburgh.

The Safari Lounge is always a pretty bouncy and busy spot at the weekends. Maybe it’s all the animal print coverings, or the fine range of real beers, or maybe the excellent menu. Whatever it is, it’s certainly brought a much needed burst of life and style to this side of Abbeyhill.

Surprisingly large bar, friendly staff, relaxed about ecigarettes, and with a good range of beers. Pricey though. Two bottled beers for almost £10. Yowser!

My ‘local’ pub. I really love what the owners have done with this place. The themed safari décor might sound cheesy, but it is actually really stylish and quirky. The front bar is always bustling with a mixed crowd of locals, hipsters and families. Dogs are welcome too!
When you walk further you see the lounge area with sofas and a tv, and even further is the back room which is more suited for larger groups.
The selection of beer is great, either on tap or bottle, there is something you will love. Ask the knowledgeable bar staff for tips if you’re not sure about your choice of bev.
Then…the food! I don’t know who it is who thinks and cooks up the food the Safari Lounge offers, but you get a big thumbs up from me. The «kitchen» is so tiny (1or 2m2?) and next to the bar, which doesn’t strike me with confidence that my food will turn out ok. Please don’t let it turn you off because they food is AMAZING. Every time I’m in, the chefs have thought of new interesting menus (pumpkin and lavender soup for example). Along with the classics (f.e. their classic «safari dog»), this gives you a range of small and larger dishes in different cuisines (Asian and Middle Eastern are big favourites) that you wouldn’t normally find in a pub.
The staff is genuinely friendly and helpful and serves you quickly. All in all, if you’re in the area, this is the pub to visit.

I’m really quite keen on the Safari Lounge, and it’s ended up being a fairly regular pub for us. No doubt its proximity to our flat helps, but so does the relaxed atmosphere, the quirky décor (as the name would suggest, it’s all big game themed) and the friendly staff. Pull yourself up a cowhide stool, get a pint of an interesting European beer, and admire the animals on the wall, and you’ve got yourself a pretty solid place for a Sunday pint. I’ve heard good things about the food, but have yet to try it myself, and it’s worth noting the room at the back which, judging by the fact that it has a small bar of its own (usually unmanned), I’d assume can be hired out for private parties.
Let’s be honest too, this area of town doesn’t have much competition when it comes to interesting pubs, so Safari will continue to be a regular haunt.

Favourite lunch place — friendly and professional service, very good food, and a nice place to sit down, relax, and chat with your mates.

The Safari Lounge had great food with a wide variety of choices. Service was outstanding and I really enjoyed the atmosphere. Definitely somewhere I would go back.
Waitresses were speedy and friendly. I ordered the smoked salmon and couldn’t have been happier. If you’re looking for a light lunch or dinner and some drinks, you can’t go wrong here.

Had an appointment to pick up keys to a nearby airbnb flat at the Safari Lounge. Being quite late, about 10:30pm, but being hungry (don’t want to go hangry…) after delays getting to Edinburgh via London from Stockholm something was needed, but wasn’t expecting to find anything at this hour.
Even if the chef went home the staff fixed together a really nice meal with feta, hummus, salad, ham, bread, olives and other stuff. Really nice atmosphere, friendly hand helpful staff and good, fresh food. Got nice ale too! Win!

After a few more visits this place has actually surprised me more and more.
I did not know that they regularly changed their menu — from seasonal produce to new dishes altogether.
My last visit included vegetarian Nuri Sushi — yes SUSHI! I, who cant eat fish, was so pleased to know that I can enjoy the taste of sushi without having to worry about my allergy. A big thank you to Joseph Malik — the chef who introduced these culinary delights.
I enjoyed a main lunch of a Safari Chorizo Brunch Salad — bit heavy on the barley, but tasty. The proof was definitely in the pudding — or in this case their Passion Fruit Cheesecake with vanilla ice-​cream.
Well done and keep it up!

Can’t comment on the prices as was treated here but the cheesecake portion was a good size and well presented, service was very good and the range of alcohol also very good. Kudos too for the tangerine & black tiling in the Gents.

Came here for food as I’d heard good things about the hot dogs and I wasn’t disappointed.
First of all, I’m not an expert on hot dogs and have virtually nothing to compare this too, but having said that it tasted good.
Secondly it was a bratwurst which I’m not sure if that makes it legit in the eyes of hotdog purists but anyway.
I and my friend both went for ‘the jungle brother’ (yes that really is it’s name) which was a bratwurst with chillied beef and manchego cheese on top. We ordered a side order of fries as well. I was concerned that this might not be enough but in the event it was perfect. (I’d go for fries along with your hot dog if you’re a greedy git like me as the hot dog on it’s own probably won’t be enough, for most guys anyway)
The bun was nice and light and airy and seemed to be lightly toasted on the inside.
The bratwurst just seemed like an ordinary bratwurst but was nice and went well together with the chilli on top (though the chilli was a tad dry perhaps and I didn’t get a huge amount of flavour from it) I didn’t get much impact from the manchego either to be honest I wouldn’t have been able to tell you it was there actually and I think without the juiciness of the bratwurst the whole thing may have been a tad dry. This is nitpicking though as overall it was pretty decent. My friend who’s tried the chilli dogs in America seemed pretty impressed.
The hot dog came with a small side salad– lettuce and finely diced cucumber, which could have been a tad oily for some but I liked.
The décor of the bar is sort of jungley, retro chic with animal heads on the wall and the waitresses were friendly and service good.
So all in all I’d recommend it, not amazing but definitely competent, a tad pricey (the jungle dog was £8.95 I think, certainly £8 something) but definitely not extortionate. If I could I’d maybe only give 3.75 stars but anyway definitely worth a try. Plus they have some good bottled beers, my friend had a Weisbier I’d never seen before.
One final thing though, I saw that the menu contained momo fuku and sushi. Now, if they can do good A. hotdogs B. momo fuku and C. Sushi, I’d be very surprised. Also it’s a bit random never mind ambitious, I think they’d be better of just sticking to doing one thing really well.

Was a regular here for years when it was The Station Bar. I never thought The Safari Lounge would work. Well it does. The staff are friendly, and will go out of their way to help you. The food is top notch. The chef is a great guy. I would recommend this place to all. Give it a try, you will be surprised.

My friends and I were shopping in the Meadowbank area and at some point decided it was time for some lunch. I had heard good things about the Safari Lounge, so suggested this and as it was just round the corner we decided to go there.
Being Saturday afternoon with football on etc. the pub was very busy. However, we managed to secure a table in the back room. A really friendly waitress came to take our drinks orders and we studied the menus. I have to say the Safari Lounge menu is the most interesting and diverse I have seen for ages. I mean — mussel popcorn, anyone? Or would you rather have some sushi? Don’t worry — they’ve got it all covered.
We ordered mussel popcorn and chicken wings for starters. Both were very tasty. There was a little pot of tartar sauce to go with the mussels.
Main courses for 3 were lemon and black pepper chicken with thai slaw and salad, jungle king prawn curry and ribs and potatoes. Just like the starters, everything was well on flavour. The ribs were amazing — tender juicy meat falling off the bone. The accompanying potato slices were a tad too salty for my taste, though. Jungle curry had amazing flavours and it came with a couple of chapatis on the side.
I really enjoyed my lunch here. The atmosphere is very relaxed and they’re not trying too hard which contributes to the easy-​going vibe.

We were wandering aimlessly around the area, so the boyfriend and I stopped by this place on a whim for lunch. Inside it looks a lot like any other pub, yet it has been dressed up a bit and has a sort of a random jungle-​themed room in the back. I think the décor would have made a lot more sense it we were there later and the place was busier. Either way the place was fairly busy for lunch.
The food and service are where this place really shines. The staff is über-​friendly and helpful. As usual I asked about a dairy-​free option and they totally obliged. The boy and I both opted for the safari hotdog. HEAVEN. The boy is a VERY picky man! He loved the hotdog. His came on a brioche bun, mine came on a lovely little lettuce bed (sad face for dairy intolerance). The hot dog itself was crisp and juicy. We had ours topped with amazing beef chili, jalapeño peppers and mustard and some sort of caramelized onions. It was delicious (and HUGE)! Hot dogs came with a nice little side salad of spinach, sliced nectarines and a lux basalmic crema. Hello. Its the details. We also had a side of the skinny (American-​style) fries with white truffle mayo (winner) and some of the house-​brewed beer which was totally decent.
Aside from what we had, the rest of the menu looked great as well, including options for some steamed Asian rice buns filled with shredded pork belly (next time!). This place is a definite win for Edinburgh and we will happily return.

I agree with Arthur D — there is definitely a bit of a renaissance going on in the bar scene in Edinburgh at the mo’. Lots of dodgy boozers being transformed into something more upmarket.
I’ve yet to try the cocktail bar through the back & I haven’t eaten here yet either. Must try both — any excuse to go back (again). Each time I’ve been in, it’s been for a drink on the way home from being up town. The bar staff are friendly, there’s a good selection of beers on tap and in bottle, which is a winner with the OH, the house wine is good, which is a winner with me. It’s definitely going to be my new local and I’m looking forward to many more visits in the months to come.

Edinburgh is undergoing one of its occasional renaissance moments as suddenly a flurry of bars and restaurants open. The new focus seems to be the quality («craft») beer and food combo. The Hanging Bat, Brewdog and Vintage lead the way, with the refurbished Fountain and renovated Elm Bar now the Jeremiah Taproom. Added to the list is the brand new Safari Lounge, which was the Station Bar on Cadzow Place, Abbeyhill. Until recently a relatively untouched classic Edinburgh pub (reviewed separately on Unilocal) with the infamous Safari Lounge at the back. The new owners appear to have grabbed that concept and refurbbed to covert the whole pub to the Safari Lounge. Nice décor, still reminiscent of the original, long narrow with 3 relatively separate spaces to sit, including the original Safari Lounge at the back with its own fantastic cocktail bar.
Food now features prominently with meze style offerings, hot dogs etc. All seems to be high quality. Good range of beer both on draft and bottle. It does not appear to be aiming at the high end beer market (like Vintage) but there is some quality on offer. Actually the new high end beer places have their own niche but can miss the mark a wee bit as decent, warm, inviting pubs in the old style. I found that the Safari Lounge had this sort of genuine pub character in spades and actually probably my favourite sort of hangout (it reminded me of the Pond on Salamander St when it first reopened a few years back). Bit more relaxed but cool. Good friendly staff, decent welcome.
All in all I REALLY like this place. Just a bit out of the way so a bit more selective in terms of clientèle. Cool vibe, great food and beer.