The Doric Tavern – Train beers, pt. 2
A stone's throw from Waverley, this historic pub is the perfect place to wait for your train.
Last week, I reviewed my favourite pub by Haymarket station. This week I’m at Waverley.
Just outside the Market Street entrance of Waverley, among the youth hostels and tacky tourist traps (I’m looking at you, Edinburgh Dungeon and Brewhemia) is a decent little boozer. The Doric Tavern is a pleasant place to while away a pint or a dram before your next train journey.
Take a moment to look up, and notice the deep red ceiling and the impressive giant lanterns hanging from the ceiling. They’re perhaps a hundred years old, or more. Then peruse the extensive whisky list which stretches over several pages.
While I have treated myself to a special Lagavulin here before, this time round I am feeling slightly more delicate, having come off the train from Durham after a wedding the night before. So I play it safe with a Sunshine on Keith from Spey Valley Brewery. It’s light, well-balanced and crucially has a low ABV. It was one of only two real ales on at the time, the other being a 6.2% stout which would have been a bit of a challenge in the circumstances.
I sit and alternate between sips of ale and tap water. I’m waiting for my mum and grandmother, who have a layover at Waverley on their way through to Stirling. I’ve nabbed a small table by the window which provides plenty of light. A perfect spot to get through a couple of chapters of my book. It’s a Le Carré novel about a double agent who drinks too much.
The pub is not that big, with most tables taken up by quiet groups waiting for their trains, nursing their final pints after a weekend in the city. It feels cosy and is a welcoming respite from the drizzle outside. However, points are taken away for the playlist – a series of pop bangers don’t really fit the relaxed Sunday afternoon vibe. Plus, it’s giving me unfortunate flashbacks to some of the shapes I was throwing on the dancefloor the night before.
The tavern has plenty of etched mirrors and posters advertising old distilleries and breweries. There’s also some more general nostalgia on the walls, including a Bisto ad and one for a luxury Humber eight-seater car. A pub has sat on this site since the 17th Century, though this building was built more recently than that. There’s a bistro upstairs, which means The Doric can claim to be “Edinburgh’s oldest gastro-pub”. I’ve never eaten here, so I cannot comment on the veracity of this. (Either on the age of the pub, or whether the food is of sufficient quality to enter “gastro” territory.) Apparently, the original entrance to Mary King’s Close was right next door.
By the end of the pint, I’m feeling a lot better. It’s time to meet Mum and Granny at the platform. I’m ready to wade through the crowd of backpacks and wheelie bags, back through the Market Street entrance, back into the station.
Where is it?
Where next?
There are two (tiny) pubs up the stairs of Fleshmarket Close: Halfway House and The Jinglin’ Geordie. I wrote about them in my roundup of cosy Christmas pubs.
If you’re not up for another pint, you could spend a few minutes browsing the collections at the City Art Centre next door, Fruitmarket gallery opposite or Stills photography gallery just round the corner. They’re all free, and close enough to the station to make it to your platform in just a few moments.
The chaser
I came across this lovely piece on Substack about British pub signs from writer Agatha A. Come for the lovely collections of quirky signs, stay for the story of a man named Mad Jack Fuller.
And if you want to know more about the stories behind some of our most popular pub names, I wrote a piece last year on that exact subject.