The Abbotsford Bar & Restaurant
Edinburgh CAMRA members voted it third-best pub in the city for 2025, behind the Stockbridge Tap and the Jolly Judge.1
Why go
The placing comes from the Edinburgh & South East Scotland branch's own annual members' vote, where a pub has to sell real ale in consistently good condition to be considered at all.1 The house belongs to DM Stewart, the firm that also holds the Guildford Arms round the corner, the Cumberland Bar and Ryries, which is a group with a cask-beer habit rather than a single lucky cellar. The island bar and its dark mahogany gantry have stood since 1902, and CAMRA rates the interior three star, A pub interior of outstanding national historic importance.
2
What locals & experts say
- CAMRA Edinburgh & South East Scotland members, 2025 Pub of the Year:
1st Stockbridge Tap, 2nd Jolly Judge, 3rd Abbotsford Bar
.1 That is a placing and not a win.
Good to know
- Getting there: 3-5 Rose Street, at the east end, a minute from Princes Street.
- Hours: none published anywhere.
- Hygiene: Food Hygiene Information Scheme Pass, inspected 8 April 2024, FHRSID 96000. Twenty-eight months old, past the eighteen-month bound.3
Verdict
could-visit — A Rose Street bar that the local CAMRA branch's members voted third-best pub in Edinburgh for 2025, behind the Stockbridge Tap and the Jolly Judge. That is a real-ale vote by people who drink in the city, which is worth more than a listicle placement and less than a win. It is a DM Stewart house, the same family firm behind the Guildford Arms, the Cumberland Bar and Ryries, which is a group that keeps cask beer seriously. Go for a pint at the island bar. What keeps it off should-visit is the shape of the evidence: no food coverage anywhere, no current hours, and a hygiene pass now over two years old.