The Bow Bar – Still worth it
A rerun of an early review.
Hello, I’m taking a week off the reviews.
However, I don’t want to leave you short – so here is one of the very first reviews I did. It’s of The Bow Bar on Victoria Street, a gem of a pub among some pretty ropey venues down at Grassmarket. You can read it by clicking the link below.
Thankfully, I’ve had hundreds of new subscribers since I first published the review, so this will be the first time many of you read it. For those who’ve already read it, thank you for being there since the start. And don’t forget you can always recommend this newsletter to your friends if you like what you read.
Scroll down for links to some of the pub-related stuff I’ve read this week. I’ll be back new week with a brand new review.
The chaser
Since first publishing the review, I have learned that despite its classic old pub appearance, The Bow Bar’s interior was actually redesigned in the early 90s by Ian Whyte. He was also responsible for some other tastefully retrofitted Edinburgh pubs, including The Cumberland Bar and The Blue Blazer. Get in touch if you know anything more about Ian Whyte – there’s not a whole lot about him online.
And now, a couple of reading suggestions.
Why bother with a physical pub guide when you can just Google it? Does a recommendation in an actual book count for more than an online review? Read this piece by Boak & Bailey, but don’t think about it too hard, otherwise you might end up unsubscribing from my newsletter.
A few weeks ago, I linked to David Jesudason’s reporting on the alleged treatment of staff at BrewDog Waterloo in London (Brewdog deny the allegations made in the article).
Now, he has done a follow-up with three women who worked at the bar about their experiences. Here is some of the testimony from Rebecca McIlroy, who started working at the bar in 2022.
It was weird and very uncomfortable. It also felt like they only hired very good looking female managers - and the older male managers would be there for two weeks and suddenly they’re promoted. It seemed there were men less experienced than me who would get promoted - it just felt wrong. A friend - who I helped get a job - lasted a month and she left saying: ‘It’s awful. This is hell’.
Again, BrewDog deny allegations made in the article. Jesudason says in his article: “[BrewDog] deny that they were aware of any sexist comments and said ‘it is ridiculous to state misogynist practices exist (or are condoned)’.”
That’s all for this week. Thanks again for being a subscriber, and see you very soon.