The White Hart Inn

It is touted as the oldest pub in Edinburgh and was rated well on Trip Advisor so we ventured here to enjoy some good pub grub.
I got to enjoy the meat pie that was full of very tender cuts of beef and there mashed potatoes had bits of cheese which made it specially scrumptous.
I tried my friend’s bangers and mash made with venison that was tasty. I also tasted the mac and cheese which was sooo good and my other friend ordered chicken stuffed with haggis and it was all delightful. It was hard to choose a favorite dish, they were all so good.
Service was a bit slow but friendly. A very comfortable atmosphere.

Absolutely wonderful little treat of a restaurant tucked away close to the castle. I had the haggis, and so should you — it really is quite delicious, despite what it’s made out of. Would definitely recommend the White Hart to others traveling to Edinburgh!

Wandered into the pub because it was getting close to dinnertime and I had spent the day walking all over Edinburgh.
Well, what I thought was going to be a simple dinner and a pint turned into a long night. The people were friendly and inviting. I didn’t know anyone in Edinburgh when I sat down to dinner and had made lots of friends by midnight when we left to get some take out chips. Excellent pub; highly recommended.

I don’t think this place is a must. The food was okay. The drinks were okay. If it’s history you’re looking for, go the the castle. This is just an old bar in a central location.

IF you are a tourist or a local, this is a must visit.
The food is great, the staff is friendly … and the décor is engaging.
BE ready to wait or be patient because everyone knows this and it was packed! We did a great whiskey tasting «The Burke and Hare» and had just … hands down a delicious meal.

Luv this place. Great music, food and location. One of the few aged pubs left in Edinbrugh. A real diverse crowd of tourist and locals with the occasional odd ball drifter. Partied here 2 nights in a row and really enjoyed every minute, especially when the music is an old Scottish ballad and the locals all sing along.

I am unsure why the average review of this place is so low, but we loved it! It was very close and cozy. Not great for a big group, but we just split up and sat at different tables. The steak and ale pie was excellent. Their sticky toffee pudding was also very good. Great house bitter on tab as well. They have Malt Whisky flights which I took advantage of and found another one that I wanted to take home with me. This pub definitely did not feel as touristy as the others I went to and saw on the Grass Market. Definitely worth a stop.

Supposedly one of the oldest pubs in Edinburgh, we had to drop by. Especially since we were staying at a hotel across the street. The White Hart Inn was super crowded on a Saturday night but when we walked in we saw a small two top and went to grab it until the waitress shut us down saying it was taken. Huh? Then she let the people standing next to us take it. We asked a waiter milling around and he was kind enough to lead us to another open table. So off to an awkward start but whatever, we were there to drink and have fun! We got right down to business trying several of the local beers. I was impressed by the fast service throughout the night. We also enjoyed their desserts menu with local options like Sticky Toffee pudding and Cranachan (whip cream, berries and honey.) Décor is rustic and eclectic, if not super comfie (it’s all wood booths and stools.) They had live music which began around 9 which was a nice touch. The band was good. I would come back.

I had such a fun time here! Live music and friendly fellow bar goers.
Great beer and whiskey selection, even though all I drank was well poured Guinness. The patio made for great people watching, both on and off said patio.
Founded in 1516? That’s pretty rad.

Historic-​looking décor and architecture.
Cask ales were refreshing.
Affable barkeep.
If these walls could talk… there have been legendary figures that have shared stories and pints in these seats.
Now it welcomes Louis R, the new legend.
Aye.

My rating for the place is purely for the food. The atmosphere was nice, and luckily it wasn’t packed when we went. I took some friends that were visiting from the States here, in hope of a decent pub dinner and a good pint. The pint delivered, but the food certainly did not. I am veggie, although not true heartedly so as I eat fish, but the only veggie friendly option that looked appealing was the vegetarian haggis. They do not have a fryer, so no fish and chips option here!
My partner got the burger, and my friends split the venison sausages. I ordered some fries to accompany my starter meal of vegetarian haggis. The service was lovely as were the staff, and the beer selection was great, but I can’t remember the last time I had such bad food. The fries were stone cold and over cooked, my partner’s burger patty was equally as cold and the burger over all looked like what you would get in a school cafeteria. My friends said the sausages tasted fine, but us being the food snobs that were are, thought they looked quite burnt. My veggie haggis, was served with neeps and mashed potatoes, all of which, (including the haggis) was all purée basically, with very little texture or taste. I was so hungry, I ate about half of it and the cold fries, before giving up.
They do have a very small kitchen, which excludes any fried food, but overall I would not recommend this place for food, just a pint and a nice atmosphere. It was a real shame the food wasn’t good, I was surprised as all the other reviews seem to have enjoyed, one even said ‘fantastic food’, which left me wondering why didn’t I have that experience? Regardless, I won’t venture back to give it another go, many more pubs to dine at, which have delivered better.

Fantastic food, good scotch selection, friendly staff and good live music. Also, 499 years old. Pretty cool place.

I ventured to the White Hart Inn for the first time on a Friday night and was expecting it to be packed, as is the wont of an Edinburgh pub on a weekend. Surprisingly, it was relatively quiet upon arrival (totally fine by me), and I was immediately charmed by the homey and rather quaint interior. Things like tiny tin tankards hanging from the ceiling – the lovely Burns quotes on the ceiling – and old newspaper clippings framed on the walls about the resident «ghost.»
The bar itself isn’t very extensive, but it’s enough coupled with the lovely interior (and live music if it’s after 9!). Not to mention… jammy donut shots? Cue my inner fat kid squealing with delight! It seriously was DELICIOUS.
This is a lovely pub if you’re looking for a quiet (ish) night out with some trustworthy brews among friends!

The oldest pub in a Edinburgh is no place for a high end meal. But the crowd is fun, music good, and whisky great.
The haggis nachos were fun and tasty. The salad and burger were adequate. Come if you want some music and some single malts.

The White Hart Inn is Edinburgh’s oldest pub (and oldest husband daycare center). It’s been in operation nearly 500 years, and was frequented by Robert Burns, Wordsworth, and Cromwell back in the day. My wife is a bit of a literary dork, so she insisted we check it out. I’m really glad she did.
As old as this pub is, they didn’t mind pumping quite a few Fleetwood Mac songs through the stereo. I thoroughly enjoy «Rhiannon,» and at least Fleetwood is a British band, so I’ll let that one slide. At 9:00, they also had some live Scottish folk music courtesy of an awesome bespectacled old Scot on acoustic guitar. What I liked most were the old wooden banners running across the ceiling, spouting quotations like «There’s some are fou o’ love devine, Tho some are fou o’ brandy.» Translation: Maybe she’s pretty and you’re a romantic, or maybe she’s ugly and you’re just drunk.
I started things off with a pint of Belhaven Black, which is a bit like Guinness, but creamier. It also had a slight mild coffee aftertaste that was enjoyable.
For dinner, I picked the Scotch Egg and Sticky Ale Sausages platter. It’s also served with crunchy gherkin pickles, a brown sauce for dipping, and wedges of crusty bread and butter. I added some Twister Fries for good measure, which come with garlic mayo (not aioli, just garlic mayo)
The sausages had a nice sweetness, like breakfast sausage. The accompanying «brown sauce» tasted a lot like Heinz 57, but they were even better with the garlic mayo. One of the last remaining foods on my to-​do list was a Scotch Egg. It was served cold, though the one I had eaten at the Renaissance Fair back in the States was served hot. I’m guessing local Scots know the correct way to serve it, but I’m not really sure. I think hot would have been better. The twisted curly fries and garlic mayo were fantastic together, maybe one of my new favorites.
To finish off the evening, we tried their special Jammy Donut shot: Chambord and double cream with some kind of crushed sugar around the rim. I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of overall flavors, but it was actually really tasty! It was also a nice palate cleanser.
The White Hart Inn was exactly what we wanted for this dinner, and I’m really happy we went.

Founded in 1516, White Hart has to be the oldest pub in Edinburgh! Although Sheep Heid Inn claims the same, ok, let’s not sweat on it…
For the history geeks, famous people like Oliver Cromwell and Robert Burns have been sighted in this pub (not recently, thankfully, so many ghosts in Edinburgh!) .
I have been here quite a few times for either food or whisky or ales: imagine a 3 – 4 pages whisky catalogue grouped by area and flavour details for each one of them!
Same idea follows the food menu too! You will find quite a selection of starters (try out the Belhaven ale Sticky sausages), hot drinks too, traditional pub dishes like Steak and Ale Pie, Chieftain Haggis, Neeps and Tatties, but also platters like Scotch Egg and Sticky ale Sausages, mushroom quiche and beetroot, honey roast ham and Orkney cheddar cheese. For the burger fans there are four options including one named William Wallace and another Rabbie Burns!
White Hart Inn is also one of the few pubs I know that serves Cranachan, a traditional sweet Scottish dish. Chef has added also the Famous White Hart Tunnocks Ice Cream Sundae — I need to try that too! Four more dessert options — sweet tooth guys rejoice!!!
Highly recommended!!!

We stopped at the White Hart Inn after hearing rave reviews about it from our tour guide, as well as some of the stories of the people that used to frequent it. We made a mental note to stop by here for a proper dinner one of the nights we were out and about.
The place was a bit small and had a little bit of trouble accomdating 7 of us at one table. They were happy to help though, and put together two smaller tables for us to make it work. We ended up blocking the door to the kitchen with this setup but they didn’t seem to mind and were very pleasant about working around us.
While in Scotland I got hooked on meat pies. We don’t have anything quite like them in the states. The closest we have is a «pot pie» which is much smaller with a much more flaky pastry type crust. The meat pies in Scotland are much bigger. The steak and ale meat pie at the White Hart Inn was amazing. Truly the best dinner I had while on vacation. The steak was tender, and the gravy was this amazing savoury ale sauce that was super delicious. It contained a good variety of vegetables and the crust was nicely done. The portions were very generous, almost super-​sized compared to other places we had been to on the royal mile.
We also had the cheesy garlic bread appetizer which was also quite nice. Crisp and full of garlic flavor. Quite good.
They had a full bar and we indulges in a few lagers. Overall, it was a very memorable meal. I’d highly recommend stopping in. The service was good and they were very accomododating of our large group, and very prompt in bringing out the food. Very well done!

Guess what I got…
We were trying to meet up with friends who had just arrived in Edinburgh. Since they were really jet-​laggy in London, we assumed that they were still a bit off when we didn’t hear back from them. Well, we’re gonna eat across from your hotel anyway. We tried to come here before, but they were full. When we got there this time, we saw a table for six with two people. Luckily they were leaving and I didn’t have to make things awkward by sitting with them. I’m just joking. I wouldn’t have done that… I didn’t even know how good the food was yet.
I was told they are the oldest pub in Edinburgh. I don’t know for sure. I guess I could google it. Hmm… I know that they are haunted. While waiting for our food, I read one of the articles on the wall saying how the place was haunted. One part said that there was a guy in the woman’s washroom. Great. I am already scared of bathrooms, now I have confirmation that this place is haunted? I don’t think I could handle that. Oh wait, it could have been a workerbee according to the article.
We ordered our food at the bar, but this time we decided to order rounds instead of by couples. I think I had a Strongbow… I say think because I never went for my turn up at the bar. We ordered nachos for the table and I had a burger with haggis. The nachos were pretty good. Since I was told not to expect much, they totally exceeded my expectations. Salsa tasted jarred, but it was good… Totally sufficient. My burger on the other hand. Oh-​my-​wonderful! I am so glad I tried haggis. It goes with everything. This one seemed moister and worked really well on the burger. I want one now. Prices were reasonable. We would have stayed longer, but we wanted to go to a pub quiz up on the Royal Mile.

Das White Hart ist klasse.
Hier kommst du schnell mit Leuten in Kontakt, ab 9 p.m. macht immer einer Musik, die Preise sind ok und die Leute hinter der Theke angesichts des meist proppenvollen Ladens erstaunlich relaxed.
Und: Hier hab ich zum ersten Mal Haggis gegessen, das schottische Nationalgericht!
Du willst nicht wissen, was da drin ist aber es war wirklich lecker.
Hingehen. This is a Must!

Sympa, bon choix de bières — dommage que le choix musical des artistes laisse parfois à désirer. Quelle idée que d’entonner ‘Ye Jacobites by name’ — chanson protestante anti-​Catholique du 18e siècle. Il est temps de passer à autre chose non?

The White Hart in is located centrally in the Grassmarket, and has a nice outdoor patio area for people watching. Inside, there are some tables/​booths and a bar with a few stools, as well as a relatively clean bathroom. They do serve pub food, as well as the statutory bags of crisps, beer, liquor, and wine. No children allowed — and they do enforce the rule (yes!). The staff were friendly and quick in their work. Prices were fine.

First meal in Edinburgh, and this is where I fell in love with haggis. Don’t know what the big deal is, because it’s absolutely delicious when covered in pepper! The steak pie is served in a great sauce, and was just what I needed after a day of travel.
The White Hart Inn is not a great place for beer, since their selection isn’t noteworthy, but the bartenders are honest and upfront with you. We had a bearded guy who clearly knew about lots of beer, and was able to point us to a few places to try when we displayed a bit of of disappointment at their offerings. There is no pretentiousness here, just people who know beer.

Mein Lieblingspub in Edinburgh, gelegen direkt am Grassmarket und genau so gemütlich und schottisch-​charming wie man sich einen Pub in Edinburgh wünscht. Eine große Auswahl an Bieren und natürlich Whisky, angenehmes Publikum und eine tolle Atmosphäre. Kleinere Sprachprobleme wurden mit Humor genommen und auch meine Tocher war begeistert von den leckeren Macaroni cheese und natürlich ihrer großen Cola.
Leider konnte ich die Livemusik am Abend noch nicht persönlich erleben, da ich mit meiner Tochter unterwegs war, und Kinder ab 20:30 den Pub verlassen müssen… Trotzdem kommen wir wieder, ich hoffe, schon bald.

bei unserem besuch in edinburgh verschlug es uns einige male in das white hart. ein wunderbares pub mit freundlicher bedienung und ebenso geselligem wie auch trinkfreudigem publikum.
als (angeblich) ältestes pub in der gegend könnte man es für eine touristenfalle halten, diesen verdacht kann ich jedoch keineswegs bestätigen. das publikum bestand definitiv zum überwiegenden teil aus schotten (gut, vielleicht waren es schottische touristen).

Der angeblich aelteste Pub am Grassmarket. Ich war einmal da. Eigentlich gefiel es mir ganz gut, es scheint jedoch ein Toursitenpub zu sein und der Altersdurchschnitt ist recht hoch. Haeufig gibt es Livemusik was den Abend schon noch runder macht!