Jolly Judge, Edinburgh

Blackthorn _ left this review about Jolly Judge

Tucked away down a small alleyway just off the Royal Mile, one might assume that this is perhaps less of a tourist trap than some of the other nearby venues, but it’s reputation nonetheless seems to have spread far and wide, with one American punter being overheard telling someone that it had been highly recommended by a friend back in the States, and that he must visit during his trip to Edinburgh.

It’s a subterranean venue down a flight of stone steps, although there is also some limited seating as the alley opens out in to a sort of courtyard. Decor wise it’s quite traditional, with tartan carpet on the floor and old beams on the ceiling, or, more accurately perhaps, visible joists with no ceiling as such, just the floorboards from the room above. The joists had been painted to give them a mock brick look and the ones above the bar were liberally adorned with an extensive selection of old bank notes. There were some sections exposed stone walling, including a couple of arches that presumably led on to a cellar or something similar at one time. Pale cream wood panelling was on the lower part of the walls, and elsewhere they had been plastered and painted a deep shade of salmon. Seating was mostly low stools with the odd padded bench fitted in to the alcoves and overall it had quite a jovial atmosphere, although it was pretty much full to capacity even on my Tuesday evening visit and I only just managed to squeeze on to a small stool in the corner.

Beers on tap were Tempest Vermont Sessions and Bombon plus Rigg & Furrow’s Run Hop Run, whilst a fourth pump was just coming back on as I was leaving. This is really more of a cider pub though, with the range consisting of Sanford Orchard’s Devon Red and Oliver’s A Pear Drop Explodes on tap, along with an extensive selection of boxes stacked up on the end of the bar with Ascension I Don’t Think, Oliver’s Sheep’s Nose, Weston’s Rosie’s Pig and a trio from Dudda’s Tun with their Disco, Hop Grenade and Cherry. Overall a great pub and well worth taking the very short detour to find it.

On 3^rd May 2024 - rating: 8
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