Underdogs

After a Festival day out we were looking for somewhere to have a last drink before heading home. We tried to get into a few places along Thistle Street, and gave up as they were jammed packed (it was the Festival AND it was a Friday night!). So we stopped outside Underdogs to say our goodbyes and, as sure as moths are drawn to a lightbulb, these girls were drawn to the sight of an empty table with squishy sofas and an armchair.
I’m really glad we’re that easily led!
Underdogs is a spacious basement bar that also felt extremely cosy at the same time. This place is the epitome of shabby chic, with its mismatched furnishings and the feeling that I was drinking wine in a friends living room, from a set of charity shop bought, crystal cut glasses… I was extremely tempted to kick off my shoes and curl up on the old & worn (but much loved!) sofa!
Table service was delivered by very friendly staff, the drinks were tasty and they had an (extremely!) reasonably priced bar menu that looked amazing!
There was a good mix of folk in, mostly groups having a blether, but I suspect it’d be a nice place to have a mid-​week meet up with the girls, or perhaps a pre-​dinner drink on a first date (you can squish together on the sofa!).
I’ll definitely be coming back here again, but next time it’ll be the first place I’ll head… not the last!

I usually support the underdog, but in this case I am not so sure.
The sofas, big sink in seats, nice fireplace and low ceilings are all good! But there is just something missing here. I cannot quite put my finger on it yet though. The little snacks menu is a great idea (my fish slider was yummy) and the selection of drinks is good… but I just think this place would be so much better suited to being a little quirky café?! I think it is trying to be something that it’s not.
Saying that I would definitely come back on a windy Edinburgh night and cuddle up on the sofa with a nice large red wine.

Cosy couches, cosy environment. Had a couple of bottles of wine here and it was just nice and cosy.
Noticed a few Yankee beers behind bar (looks like same beer list as Dogs Amore) — Brooklyn, Sierra Nevada…
Bar staff efficient, nice place to get away from the cold… Still large enough to have a few groups in without them tripping over eachother.

Over these long, cold, dark Edinburgh winter months I’ve often times been in need of a pub. A cosy pub. With sofas and armchairs. That feels like the living room of your slightly bohemian, but hip, best friend. A pub that’s comfy but not old and worn and, well, old-​man-​ish. That does cocktails, hot toddies, beer snacks, mini meals (like slider burgers and £1 portions of peanut butterjelly cheesecake). And a bar that’s in walking distance from town /​the Christmas Market.
So what have we here? Underdogs. Frequented many a-​times over the festive season. It is all of the above, as well as quite delicious.
It’s not necessarily a good ‘local’ bar to have. It’s quite popular, and not necessarily trendy but the staff whilst friendly aren’t looking to make best friends. But if you’re in town and aren’t sure where to get a drink, or rest your weary feet, and need somewhere that does equal measures beer and cocktails, or comfy seats and nibbles — with a restaurant attached via the stairs should you so wish to extend those nibbles (to Amore Dogs) — then Underdogs ticks all those boxes.
I’ve been coming since it first opened this time last year and back then it looked the same but had a much smaller selection of drinks. As Emily V pointed out in her review there were no cocktails at that time. Now there are many more spirits, the aforementioned food, and it feels like a wee corner of home.

We stopped in here as we were thinking of eating there (having eaten several times in the rest of the Dogs and this being the one I’d not tried yet). The kitchen is closed between 4 and 5pm. The girl who served us was a bitvague. Yep, I think that’s a good word. The service wasn’t great at all which was a shame. The ambience of the place is wonderful, lots of mismatched saggy sofas and spindly tables, and if I ran a place like this I’d make sure the coffee was good which, unfortunately, it wasn’t. The modern cups on old-​fashioned saucers were a let down, as were the contents which tasted like cheap cafetiere coffee rather than fresh ground espresso. Good coffee isn’t hard to make and if that changed I’d consider going back there.

Our last stop on our tour of the Dogs restaurants was the small basement Underdogs — and what a great finish! It’s really nice and cozy, with nice couches and squashy armchairs strewn about, not a hard cold bar chair in sight. There’s table service (cue gasps of amazement) and the bartender was friendly and funny. Decent wine list at decent prices, it’s quiet and comfortable and you can linger over your bottle or cocktails for hours.
I also ordered a half BLT to nibble on, and it was delicious. Crusty bread, salty bacon, juicy tomato — not big, but big flavors for only £2. Underdogs, I’m a fan.

I like pubs. I like good beer, on tap.
But, I also like nice bars. I like perusing a cocktail list and picking out something which I’ve never heard of before.
Unfortunately, Underdogs fulfils neither of those things.
It looks pretty cool inside, but despite the fact that it’s kitted out like the living room you’ve always wanted but can’t afford, it doesn’t feel comfortable to me.
First of all, you’re not allowed to stand. You will be wondering «WTF» right about now, but it’s true. The first time I went here I was with a large group of Unilocalers who had to be strewn all over the room because they weren’t allowed to stand and have a chat with friends.
Secondly, there are no beers on tap. Beer is sold here, in bottles, for some exorbitant price. There are also no cocktails. This would be the perfect place for a shwank cocktail bar, but nah. No cocktails. I also got the impression that there is a limited number of spirits behind the bar as well, when I ordered a Hendricks and tonic and was told they didn’t carry Hendricks. There isn’t even an impressive wine list. I mean seriously, it’s like going to a friend’s fancy house for drinks, and having them charge you a lot of money for the privilege.
The final straw was the food. The Man and I were hungry so ordered a bite which came from Amore Dogs upstairs. I love Italian food but was served this poor excuse for an antipasti which some meat on it that had the consistency of something which came out of a can.
It really comes down to the fact that we’re not exactly short on great bars and pubs in Edinburgh, and as such I have pretty high expectations.
I have enough standby favourites and places I would like to try to keep me from having the urge to return to Underdogs.

Found myself here for a pre-​dinner drink. This basement level bar (or is it a pub? You’ll have to check this one out for yourself) with quirky mis-​matched furniture is a great spot for a pint/​dram/​glass of wino. It was quiet when we were here with only a few tables occupied however the atmosphere was very relaxing. It was the sort of place you’d feel very comfortable sitting with a newspaper. I’ll be back fo sho!