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CAFES, BARS & CLUBS
Tel. 0131-220-5355
Facebook/elephanthouseuk
21 George IV Bridge
Edinburgh, EH1 1EN
the elephant house
‘The birthplace of Harry Potter’
The Elephant House is a gourmet tea and coffee
shop that’s famous for one thing and one thing
only. Yes, it was here that JK Rowling penned
Harry Potter in the city’s writer-friendly cafe. If
you can see past the Potter-mania that pervades
the characterful cafe, however, you’ll find a
clutch of other reasons to visit – and to linger
way longer than you’d anticipated. Since opening
in the mid ‘90s, The Elephant House has carved
out a reputation as a friendly spot that harks
back to a bygone age, one where the pace of
life moved decidedly slower, and mid-mornings
were made for savouring a pot of tea and warm
homemade scones. Voted Edinburgh’s best
coffee shop by The List, The Elephant House
does a roaring trade all through the year, serving
breakfast, lunch and dinner, tray bakes, wine,
beer and much more.
BIDDY MULLIGANS
0131 220 1246
94-96 Grassmarket
Edinburgh, EH1 2JR
Step inside Biddy Mulligans and, for those who’ve
downed Guinness and enjoyed the craic in Dublin’s
boozers, the verisimilitude is unmistakeable.
Yep, this is the real deal, or at least as real as
it gets short of jumping on a budget airline and
making the short trip across the Irish Sea. Biddy
Mulligans – or Biddy’s as it’s affectionately known
– welcomes a mixed bag of tourists and locals
as well as Edinburgh’s sizeable Irish diaspora.
Biddy’s isn’t the sort of place you go for a quiet
pint at the weekend; it’s a thronged, boisterous
bar. Inside the cosy pub, dubbed Edinburgh’s
Little Ireland, you’ll find a well-stocked bar serving
all the intoxicants one could possibly wish for. It
may be the drink that sets tongues talking and
stomachs glowing, but it’s the live music that gets
the applause ringing. Expect a warm welcome, a
cold drink and a convivial atmosphere every time
you venture inside Biddy Mulligans.
THE ELEPHANT HOUSE
