Teuchters Landing – Next stop Aberdeen
A versatile waterside pub.
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We have John Rennie to thank for Teuchters Landing. A prodigious engineer and one of the most important figures in the Industrial Revolution, Rennie – a disciple of James Watt – designed bridges, aqueducts and lighthouses around Britain. An East Lothian boy, he helped Leith transform into a coastal trading powerhouse through his design for the enclosed docks. Leith’s harbour was tidal, which limited the type of ship which could dock. Rennie’s 1801 design meant the water level was much more stable which allowed for a wider range of boats to come to and from Leith.
One of these boats was the Leith to Aberdeen steam ship, whose waiting room now makes up part of the Teuchters Landing pub. There have been various iterations of Teuchters venues around Edinburgh since the mid-90s, when it was first set up by two Highlanders (“Teuchter” being a pejorative word for someone from the Highlands). Teuchters Landing has been going since 2008, and has become popular for its food and whisky selection.
The main area of the pub is the former waiting room. As expected, it’s all stone and wood with an old school pub feel. The owners say they are attempting to recreate a Highland pub, which is helped with a cosy wood burner firing away in the winter.
The bar sits in front of an impressive stone wall, on which shelf after shelf of whisky bottles is tastefully lit. It’s the best area of the pub, but is complemented by a conservatory at the back looking out on to the old dock. The walls are decorated with various scenes of Leith, while a ceiling window has a small sill which displays more whisky bottles. Outside, plenty of outdoor seating also overlooks the water, and beyond the outdoor bar is another building – formerly a restaurant – with more seating.
While the music could definitely be a little quieter, there’s a good buzzy atmosphere on the Saturday afternoon I’m there, with most of the tables full with groups of friends catching up, and couples enjoying the traditional Scottish fare (cullen skink, haggis, venison stew). The pub is a popular spot for watching rugby, so expect it to be busy this time of year.
The ale has always been good when I’ve visited – the quality probably helped by a high turnover of customers. The place always seems busy, and benefits from being both a good place to hunker down in winter, and somewhere to gently while away an evening next to the water in summer. There are better pubs in Leith for sure, but Teuchters Landing benefits from having something for everyone, which at the very least makes it worth making a stop at during a pub crawl.
Where is it?
Where next?
You’re less than two minutes walk from Lost in Leith, which is great for craft beer and also has some excellent outdoor space.
The chaser – How do you get the alcohol out of beer?
Congratulations to those who’ve made it this far into Dry January without touching a drop. Perhaps you were aided by the range of alcohol-free beers on offer these days, in which case you may be interested in this little radio item I’ve done for the BBC World Service about how alcohol-free beer is made.
There are three main ways of making alcohol-free beer. Most smaller breweries opt to brew at a low ABV, which means they stop the fermentation early, before alcohol can be produced. Some larger brewers choose vacuum distillation, which means heating the beer at a low pressure in order to get rid of the alcohol.
This piece focuses on the third main method: reverse osmosis. That’s how one of my favourite alcohol-free beers, Adnams’ Ghost Ship, is made. I spoke to Fergus Fitzgerald, production director at Adnams, about why the brewery decided to go with reverse osmosis and how he thinks that benefits the taste.
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I used to work in the Scottish Government building at Victoria Quay so had many a Friday lunch or after-work drink at Teuchters. One particular highlight was the mac and cheese nachos. Perfect for getting yourself into a mid-afternoon cheese coma and having a thoroughly unproductive few hours.
Teuchers is my favorite but the one in Haymarket because they sell the fish pie. For some reason it is not on the menu at Teuchers Landing.