The Cumberland Bar - New Town neighbourhood spot
A cosy interior or a sun trap outside - take your pick.
What’s it about?
A vibrant green weeping willow sweeps the ground outside number one Cumberland Street. It’s the first thing you see as you turn the corner on to this New Town road, lazily peeking out from the row of terraced townhouses. It’s The Cumberland Bar’s statement piece.
The willow’s roots sit in a sunken yard and compete for space with tables and benches in The Cumberland’s beer garden. More tables at street level flank the pub’s entrance beneath the gilded sign. Step inside, and the colour changes from green to a rich red. The walls, the seating, the burnt umber of the wooden bar, the trousers of the New Town clientele – it’s all very elegant. Apart from the red trousers, but that’s not the pub’s fault.
Opposite the bar are a series of nooks with tables perfect for quiet conversation about your basement renovation or the latest editorial in the Telegraph. But I don’t want to give the wrong impression – the cubby holes are a welcome feature on a Friday night when the pub has an animated buzz and you want to catch up with an old friend visiting town.
Further inside, behind a heavy velvet curtain (you can guess the colour), the pub opens up to a spacious room with grand mirrors and tasteful memorabilia on the walls. Groups of mates, of varying ages, rearrange the furniture to fit around tables. Some might be sharing the larger tables. The atmosphere’s lively, it’s friendly and it’s welcoming.
The Cumberland also knows what it’s doing with its beer. At around a fiver for a pint of cask, it doesn’t break the bank. As a sign of the place’s commitment to good beer, one Friday night The Cumberland hosted the friendly boss of Musselburgh’s Newt Brew, who was showcasing some of his products. In fact, he was enjoying his brew enough to accidentally take a sip of my friend’s pint. A mark of quality, I suppose.
A quick glance at some old maps of the area suggest that the pub came into being at some time in the 1880s. It was a popular haunt for the local lawyers and judges, which presumably is what gave it its previous name of The Tilted Wig. These days, it might just as easily be nicknamed The Tilted Willow. Either way, I’m ruling it worth a visit.
The chaser
The Cumberland is a popular location in Alexander McCall Smith’s 44 Scotland Street novels. You can read an extract set in the bar here.
Where is it?
Open every day from midday.
Where next?
The owners of The Cumberland also run three other Edinburgh pubs. Either side of St Andrew’s Square are The Guildford Arms and The Abbotsford, while The Ryrie is next to Haymarket Station. I hope to review them on here in the future - but can recommend them all now.
Agreed with most of your observations on this pub. However a visit to the toilet left a sour note- no hot water. Think this area of the pub requires an upgrade