The Orchard – There's more to pubs than this
Plus an homage to The Percy on Easter Road.
The Orchard in Canonmills has the advantage of being located in an area with few competitors in its immediate surroundings. It’s a shame, therefore, that it doesn’t offer a little more.
Upon entry, the signs are promising: The corner doors are set with handsome stained glass, elegantly proclaiming this as the “Bottle and Jug Department”. These are possibly from the pub’s former iteration as The Northern Bar, designed in 1903 by the same architect who gave us such beauties as The Guildford Arms and Ryrie’s.
But once through these doors, there’s a generic blandness. The walls are beige-grey. Wooden pillars and wainscoting are painted over with a slightly darker beige. It gives the sense that the pub is desperate to rough over any smooth edges, afraid to acknowledge it’s over 100 years old, embarrassed of its history. Even the music is sanitised, seemingly picking tracks from a playlist called “Songs Radio 2 would play”.
I head over to the large central bar, order one of two casks (£5.20), an OK beer served through a sprinkler, and take it to the table. It’s a large pub, with lots of seating and a couple of other rooms at the back. It’s quiet while I’m there, but the place gets busy, especially at the weekend, and patrons spill out on to the roadside tables in good weather. I pick a prime spot by the window. It’s pleasant, sitting with the spring sunshine pouring in.
I don’t want to do it down too much. Given a choice between it being there or not, I of course want it to stay. It’s worth a stop if you’re visiting the Botanic Garden, being situated just along from the East Gate.
I just need to accept that I’m not its target market. I look round; there are a couple of buggies – this is a rare pub which allows children – someone’s tucking into a soup, another has an Old Mout cider. One table is having cappuccinos.
It’s catering to its Canonmills crowd. That’s called good business. But it still feels like a bit of a missed opportunity. There’s nothing egregiously wrong - I will come back - but I can’t help but see it as an off the shelf, identikit version of a pub. It’s Ikea rather than antique shop. Pizza Express rather than local Italian.
If that’s what it takes, than who am I to complain? Radio 2 is the country’s most popular radio station. And what’s the alternative? The Cooper’s Rest (which I wrote about last week) – closed for 10-plus years, only now on the cusp of reopening after multiple attempts to turn it into flats?
Like the toddler in the pram a few tables over complaining “it’s not fair”, I wish the pub looked a little more like the magical, perfect pub I have in my head. Unfortunately, I’m a grown-up. So I finish my Greene King Old Golden Hen and move on.
Where is it?
Where next?
The Orchard is an island in a publess ocean, but if you are walking through the Botanic Gardens, pop out the other end into The Stockbridge Tap.
The chaser – Problems All Left Alone
Talking of the magical, perfect pub, I’m glad to say it exists. And it’s on Easter Road.
When I walk into a near-empty Persevere on a drizzly Leith weekday, its vastness swallows me up like a whale.
Moments later, when I gingerly take my pint of Newbarns Pale Ale to the table and sit in one of the half-boothed banquettes, a feeling of tranquility comes over me. My initial fear of being gulped up by a sea monster, like Ahab or Pinocchio, abates. Instead it feels like I’m resting in a Victorian barque’s cabin, navigating the doldrums.
It was a pleasure to contribute to this article by David Jesudason, on one of the great pubs of this city, The Percy. He captures the intimacy this large pub achieves, and even though it had a full retrofit the early 90s, it feels like it’s been there forever. Its current owners have been in place for 10 years and made this pub a unique spot in Leith, combining a traditional British boozer with classic Polish dishes from their homeland.
Have a read on Pellicle, and when you’re done, perhaps take a look at my piece on Ringwood Brewery from a couple of weeks ago.
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I like the Orchard for food and have enjoyed fast and friendly service every time. But I get just what you mean. It's a bit more cafe/restaurant than the kind of cozy local pub I love. Probably for the reasons you mentioned.
Haven't been to the Percy yet but your review is inspiring me to go!
cappuccinos!