The Doric
One butcher, John Gilmour, supplies the haggis, the sirloin, the burger mince and the lamb for the shepherd's pie, and the haggis arrives under a light Glenkinchie whisky jus.
Why go
The kitchen names where its meat comes from and then leans on it across the menu. Around Gilmour's, the sourcing is specific: Arbroath smoked haddock in the cullen skink, Isle of Mull cheddar in the shepherd's pie mash, haddock fried in a house beer batter.4 Two rooms split the work. The ground-floor bar was refurbished in 2009 and holds fifty single malts and four cask conditioned ales; the first-floor bistro cooks to order.3 The restaurant sends downstairs for its real ale, which is a small thing that tells you the bar came first.2 CAMRA's Edinburgh branch surveyed the downstairs room in February 2025 and describes a wooden floored bar with a corniced ceiling and traditional fixed narrow tables. A large Mackay's mirror and many framed pictures, posters and advertisements decorate the walls.
2 The house calls itself Edinburgh's oldest gastropub, built in the 17th century and adapted in the 18th, and CAMRA prints that as a claim the pub makes about itself. Nobody has verified the date, so read it as a very old building with a long trading history and an unproven superlative sitting on top. Live traditional folk plays in the bar every Friday and Saturday night.3
Order this / avoid
- Order: the haggis, neeps and tatties, which is Gilmour's haggis with mashed potato, mashed turnip and that whisky jus. The cullen skink is the other Scottish one worth the order, a chowder of Arbroath smoked haddock, potatoes, onions and cream.4 Downstairs, take a dram from the fifty-malt shelf or whichever cask is on; the branch record has the guest beers coming from Harviestoun, Orkney and Stewart.2
- Avoid: planning dinner in the downstairs bar. CAMRA records that meals run all day,
but only in the upstairs restaurant in the evening unless the bar is quiet.
2 Book the bistro if you are eating after work. A 10 percent discretionary service charge goes on the table, so read the bill before you tip again.4
What locals & experts say
- Time Out Edinburgh (2014):
the Doric has been a bistro and wine bar for decades but claims a tavern heritage from the 18th century,
and the magazine's verdict on its staying power was that trends come and go whilethis venue just endures.
1 The piece carries no byline, so it is the masthead speaking. - CAMRA, Edinburgh & South East Scotland branch (surveyed February 2025): the room
claims to be Edinburgh's oldest gastro-pub and in operation since the 18th century,
and the branch keeps that as the pub's own claim. Two changing cask beers, a children's menu, and kids welcome until 6pm downstairs and 11pm upstairs.2 - The gap, stated: no named critic has reviewed this kitchen in a source this guide accepts. The Skinny lists it with no description, The List's Edinburgh interiors and distinctive-venues roundups both leave it out, and the only published judgment is twelve years old and unsigned. What holds the entry up is the current menu, where the sourcing is named dish by dish.
Good to know
- Timing: food runs all day, and evening service moves to the first floor.2 Gilmour's roast sirloin is a Sunday-lunch-only dish, 12 to 4pm, and it stops when the joint runs out.4
- Booking: the bistro takes reservations through the venue's own site, which is the sensible move for dinner.
- Dietary: vegetarian, vegan and non-gluten-containing dishes are marked on the menu, and the kitchen will alter some dishes on request.4
- Music: live traditional folk in the bar on Friday and Saturday nights.3
- With kids: a children's menu is provided, and children are welcome until 6pm downstairs and 11pm in the restaurant.2
- Getting there: Market Street runs below the Royal Mile at the back of Waverley station, with the station's Market Street entrance a minute away and Lothian bus routes within 160 metres.2
- Hygiene: Food Hygiene Information Scheme Pass, inspected 8 April 2025. The register lists the premises as The Doric Tavern.5
Jeff's take (his words)
- What holds it up is the sourcing and the format: one named butcher behind four dishes, Arbroath haddock in the skink, and a working bar with fifty malts and cask ale under a bistro that cooks to order, a minute from Waverley.
Verdict
could-visit — A two-floor Old Town pub stands a minute from Waverley, with a bar of fifty malts and cask ale underneath a bistro that names its butcher. The cooking is the Scottish standards done with stated provenance: Gilmour's haggis under a Glenkinchie jus, cullen skink on Arbroath smoked haddock, a Sunday sirloin off the same butcher that stops when the joint is gone. Craft is weighed first and this is real buying, though nobody independent has judged how it eats and the room's claim to be the city's oldest gastropub is unverified. What keeps it off should-visit is the price: haggis at twenty-one pounds and fish and chips at twenty-four, plus ten percent service, is Old Town rates for pub food. Go when you are passing, eat the Scottish half of the menu, and drink downstairs.