The Halfway House

This is one of Edinburgh’s best kept little — and I mean, LITTLE — secrets. Halfway up the stairs from Waverley towards the Royal Mile, the name isn’t just a gimmick. It is literally a halfway house if you need to stop to catch your breath, or more likely, grab a beer.
They have a really nice selection of real ales on tap, a nice line in staff banter, and even a telly for the fitba’ results, which is usually where I come across it. They also serve bar meals, your typical pub lunch fare. Don’t expect gourmet nouvelle Michelin cuisine, and you won’t be disappointed. Booze has tinted my memory slightly, but I remember getting a really nice toastie in here many moons ago…
It is really, really small though. Get in, get a seat and stay if you manage that feat.
It is a great wee pub though. It’s usually a must-​stop place for me either on my way up from or back to the station. On the way from is better as it cuts those horrendous stairs in two, and allows you to tell yourself «I’m stopping for a beer, not for a rest»

Located up Fleshmarket Steps, opposite the Market Street exit to Edinburgh Waverley Railway station, The Halfway House must be the smallest pub in Edinburgh! The décor is unremarkable, but does feature some railway related pictures and other memorabilia. Due to it’s size, the Halfway House has an intimate cosy atmosphere.
There are Real Ales available, and The Halfway House is a former winner of the Edinburgh pub of the year award.
The clientele seems to be an unusual mix of off-​duty railwaymen from nearby Waverley station, and passing tourists!
Worth popping in for a pint.

It was my first haggis, a dish my dad had always described as something of a horror story, but lo and behold, it was quite tasty! It sort of tastes like lamby kasha. I will confess that I just walked straight in off the train starving and sober. I left neither. It might be a tourist trap but I still enjoyed it greatly.

Discovered this spot last weekend and have already been back twice.
Draught beer selection very average (Stella, Tennents etc.) however, they make up for this with their casks. As you may expect from a cask-​marque pub, they have a nice selection with 4 pumps on offer, which considering they can only seat about 30 people is quite a lot.
Despite it’s small size, I have never found myself waiting more than 1 round for a seat. As the crowd is predominantly touristy (but not crass!) most groups are swinging by for a single drink to tick it off their holiday check list so tables become available pretty quickly.
Food was way better than expected. Simple, but really tasty pub grub. The smoked haddock pie, was a real winner. And great stomach lining food! Served with minty mushy peas on top and a scattering of fresh parsley — FINE! However, you’ll need to give it about 20minutes before munchin or you risk losing the roof of your mouth. They should rename them Haddock & Lava pies.
Traditional pub, absolutely ideal for a queit catch up with pals, or the first couple of pints on a night out. I love it and will most definitely be back, yet after 3 visits I still wonder why ‘The Halfway House’?
Answers on a postcard!

Schöner kleiner Pub, ruhig und doch voller Leben. Gutes frisches Guinness. War nicht umsonst Pub of the year. Bietet auch eine kleine Speisekarte mit typischem Pub-​Food.

This pub has won serveral awards but in all honesty, I can’t see why.
Yes, it’s olde worlde and situated up some dark, narrow steps so I can see how it attracts the tourists but inside was nothing spectacular.
The walls are yellow (pre-​smoking ban yellow) and covered with paintings of trains and other railway-​related bits and bobs. There are only a few tables as it’s a teeny tiny old man’s boozer and the bar doesn’t offer anything out of the ordinary.
Now, unless The Halfway House drastically changes into something completely different at night, I’m not going to recommend it to anyone. It’s dark, dingy, cold and dull so for that reason, I’m out.

Unsure if I’m in a tourist trap or a friendly local pub… hard to say.
But the Halfway House is delightful for what it is: a small, cozy pub with friendly service and simple food. I went with the stovies and oatcakes, and my wife had the skink. Neither was exceptional, but they were both hot and filling, and perfect for a windy, rainy Scottish afternoon.
If it weren’t for the location, I wouldn’t go out of my way to try the Halfway House. But you can definitely do worse with the commercialized, over-​sexed pubs a bit higher up the hill. Halfway House is a relaxing respite from all that.
Cash only! Closest ATM I found was in the train station, but there may be one closer…

Fantastic. Great ale. Thank you.

Dicen que este local es el pub más pequeño de Edinburgh…
Y no sólo por su tamaño tiene mucho encanto, es acogedor, con un personal muy atento y amable. Ideal para hacer un descanso después de un largo paseo por Old Town y reponer fuerzas para el resto del día.
Siempre tienen 4 Ales de grifo y van cambiando de entre 20 marcas — así que siempre que vas, puedes ir probando nuevos tipos de cerveza.
Además, ofrecen entre 30 y 40 tipos de Whiskys escoceses, de £2.80 a £4.90…
Quiero destacar la comida — «pub grub» muy sabroso, casero y de buena calidad.
Hay una carta regular con sopa del día y platos típicos escoceses como Cullen Skink, Haggis, Neeps and Tatties, etc.
El Cullen Skink, la tradicional sopa de pescado ahumado, está buenísimo… y de sólo pensar en él, tengo ganas de comerme 5 litros.
Si vas a Edinburgh y no has probado todavía ese plato, pídelo en este pub!
Hay otros platos especiales que van cambiando según temporada y antojos de la cocinera, y postres para morir, también caseros — sólo digo «fruit crumble» y mousse de chocolate negro con whisky…
Quiero volver YA!

This is a small but well stocked tourist trap /​half local — the bar is filled with special (and not so special) whiskies, and the top shelf has the usual spirits to please those not into whisky.
We arrived on a Friday evening around 8:30 and we had no problem finding ourselves a small boot in the back. It filled up quite quickly after that; with tourists and locals alike.
3.45 stars — as the bar is too small to actually enjoy, for longer than a dram or 2. It is better than my usually 3 star places but marginally so. They do their name justice as this is a stopover place on the way to somewhere else. It does it well.
Service is prompt and very friendly.

I will give this pub a five stars it takes some finding and its one of the smallest pubs you will ever visit but its worth it. Four real ales kept very well. And have the cullen skink very nice.

Good cheap pub food with some good Ales and scotch, only a few metres away from the tourist trap Royal Mile

The smallest pub in Edinburgh, and typically these are the types of pubs I love. Though for some reason, this one just does not do it for me. Maybe it is all the homeless people waiting outside, or maybe it is the bartender that spends all his time with the homeless people outside smoking? It has been named CAMRA pub of the year at least once. It is located down a set of stairs off Cockburn St, close to the Royal Mile. A tiny pub, and they proudly advertise this as being the smallest. A tiny bar that sits no more than four people with a few tables and booths scattered about.
They have four cask that are of good quality. It looks like they rotate regularly. When I was there, BrewDog’s Punk IPA (not a fan of BrewDog, but I know a lot of people that do), and several Stewart beers were on. Lots of other good micros rotate in.
I do want to like this place, but it has been one of my least favorite pubs in Edinburgh. The kind of stand offish, and inattentive staff that mingles more with homeless people than customers turned me off. I don’t expect bartenders to be my best friend, but that was a little off putting for me. They do have a small but excellent rotating selection of cask ales though.

The smallest pub in Edinburgh! Or so the legend goes…
A really nice pub with loads of character. When my friend suggested we head here I was a bit dubious (dooby dooby doo a la Strangers in The Night) as it’s such a small place, right off the tourist trail, I assumed it would always be packed. Not so.
It’s difficult to seat a group of 4 or more unless you can get a booth, but otherwise there always seems to be some room.
It is quite ‘Old Man-​ish’ and when we arrived there were some Edinburgh locals a few sheets too many to the wind already. The odd tourist too, obviously, but definitely rarer than anticipated!
Apparently, this is a place for ale lovers, as they have 4 random ales (from a selection of about 20, some local, some not) on tap at any one time. They also have a decently stocked bar and some witty banter from the staff too, which always pushes up my estimation of a place.
It’s the type of place you’d want to camp, rather than drop in for just the one before heading to Electric Circus!

A small pokey extremely charming looking pub, in a most pleasant location on some steps near the train station (but feels like a world away). The walls are covered by old pictures, posters and train receipts. Really a wonderful place my favourite so far in the city! Four rare ales (3 I had never heard of before). I enjoyed Into The Light by Tempest. No disabled access, surely!

The Halfway House is one of Edinburgh’s most well known and at the same time, one of the most secretive bars in the city.
Small in size, the pub has a very limited amount of seating. Luckily, every time I have been in I have always been able to get a seat. The bar dominates this small pub, and it offers your usual spirits, but also provides a limited, but good range of ale’s.
The pub can be quite quiet at times and sometimes it is only the mumbles of the locals that you can hear. The bar is decorated with a lot of items and pictures relating to steam engine trains. The bar also offers a limited range of meals.
Well worth a visit, a very cosy and snug pub, an ideal place to taste a local ale!

This is a stoater of a wee bar — just be sure that you are ‘going down’ to it and not ‘coming up’ — even though the lager would probably hit the spot better if you were coming up; after you’ve caught your breath).
What am I talking about?
Well, this bar is halfway up one of Edinburghs many steep closes of stairs, ‘Fleshmarket Close’ (now there’s a name!)between Waverly Station and the Royal Mile. Inside it’s a little small, but that’s understandable given where it is, however it only adds to the atmosphere of the place.
Inside the walls are covered in train and railway memorabilia and does a good looking little menu of food. I didn’t have time to stop to eat, but I’ll definitely go back to give it a try.
I’d encourage you to stop here if you’re visting Edinburgh, there’s not many other places with a location like this.

The Halfway house located just on the way down (or up) from Waverley Train station through Fleshmarket’s close is a small gem. Hidden in this dark close, and avoiding the awful smell of urine you eventually reach this pub and forget all.
It’s tiny and pays tribute to the good old days of the Railway, as its walls are filled with memorabilia. It’s food is not the best in town but you come here more for the atmosphere rather than the food. It is by no means fancy but is certainly cute, not trying hard to be something it’s not and it’s great for a stop over and a pint before continuing up those steps!

These little closes that lead up to the Royal Mile are among my faourite features of the whole city. Picturesque and shifty at the same time, it can sometimes feel like you’re back in the 17^th century, and the glorious days of the plague, smallpox, and throwing one’s faeces out the window.
It’s probably as much due to it’s location as the pub itself that I’m giving Halfway House top marks, but I’d always recommend that visitors to Edinburgh pop into this unusual and tiny little drinking den at least once. Just don’t expect cocktails, minimalist décor or the beautiful people.

The Halfway House is definitely one of the more interesting places I’ve ever dined! The only access to this place is by taking a stairway that leads up from the base of a hill near Waverly Station to a street up higher on the hill below the Royal Mile… and as the name indicates this pub is halfway up those stairs.
This pub has no more than a dozen seats but it is warm and comfy. They have a limited menu… there is no kitchen on site so they bring in food from a local caterer that features locally grown/​raised foods.
The Halfway House is more of a place to go due to an interesting location than a place for cuisine, but don’t let that (or the stairs) put you off!

A quaint wee pub only a couple of minutes walk (up some steps) from Waverley Station.
First time I had legendary «Stovies»… which here were made form corned beed and came with a slab of butter and a couple of oatcakes! Lovely Scottish fayre. Well worth a visit if you’re waiting for a train or even if you’re just wandering around Edinburgh and fancy a nice drink…
Has tables outside in a little courtyard and can get very crammed in evenings (mainly because it’s tiny).
More than worth a visit-​also has real ales!

A place for ale lovers as well as those who like the wee hauf.
a hidden gem. pity it is not at the other end of the stairs. always need another drink by the time Ive gort to the top of the stairs.