We rated the EUSA bars around campus

We tried the most unfashionable bar crawl in Edinburgh. Forget the famous Rose Street pub crawl, we went to some of EUSA’s bars around campus and rated them on their ambience, decor and drink selection.

JMCC Bar in Pollock

Ambience: 3/10

We were literally the only people in the bar yet we still found it difficult to hear each other speak. Music that you would normally expect to be blared out from the speakers in Silk or Cav gave a pretty weird vibe to the place.

Decor : 4/10 

Although we appreciated the high chairs which gave us a view on the wee freshers enjoying, the chairs in the bar were too big for the tables. That’s just weird.

Drink selection: 8/10

Actually a surprisingly good choice of drinks. There seemed to be a wide range of options for shots behind the bar, and there was a decent selection of beers at a reasonable price. It was nice to buy an affordable pint without only toying between whether to drink Tennants or Carlsbergs.

Pleasance Bar

Ambience: 9/10

Maybe we were lucky that we were in just before a performance, but this felt like a proper pub. It was loud and full of older people who did not look like students.

They had Friends playing on a projector screen which was bizarre but was actually a nice distraction if conversation every got a bit dry.

Decor: 9/10

The chairs and tables were lovely, really suited the atmosphere. The highlight though were the booths, which you could fit a reasonably large group of people in and feel like you’ve got your own separate space.

Drinks: 5/10

It was too busy for us to actually see what drinks they had on offer and we’re marking them down because we were given our beer in plastic cups. Come on, this is a pub not Glastonbury.

Teviot Lounge Bar

Ambience – 10/10

Now this place is classy.

Quiet, secluded and sophisticated. Perfect place to go with a book for a double shot of whiskey on your own.

Decor – 10/10

The huge armchairs really sets the tone for this bar, the place just screams class.

Drink selection – 6/10

Decent, but perhaps a bit underwhelming considering the grandeur of the room. There’s nothing here that you can’t find in any of the other bars.

Teviot Library Bar 

Ambience – 8/10 

Vibrant and busy, you’re normally lucky to find a seat. It feels like the hub of Teviot.

Decor – 7/10

A few very comfortable chairs upstairs, some less comfortable ones downstairs. We’re not really sure what to make of the ridiculously narrow staircase between the two floors. It definitely offers something unique to the bar, but it’s just a disaster waiting to happen when you’re holding three pints whilst trying to avoid someone coming down the other way.

Drink selection – 10/10

An array of all types of beers on offer, something available for everyone at a pretty good price.

Bonus point – For the bar staff’s exceptional patience when one of us threw up in a glass.

Teviot Loft Bar

You’ve probably never been to this one.

Ambience – 6/10

Tucked away at the top of Teviot, it’s a real challenge just to find it. Somehow it’s actually fairly busy, most of the custom coming from postgrads. Definitely the best bar to come to if you want to avoid people you might know.

Decor – 6/10

Pretty standard, it’s pretty much a smaller version of the library bar.

Drink selection – 6/10 

Again very standard. It was pretty disappointing going all the way up there, taking plenty of wrong turns to find what is the bog standard bar that EUSA have got. No thrills here.