Pub of the Week

An idea was floated at the back end of February which seems largely to have passed without notice, shame on my fellow bloggers, so it seems that I am going to have to take some editorial control here. On the 23rd February BondWoman did a piece entitled National Pub Week to which RoadRunner responded with a comment:-

roadrunner said...
Seems to me there is an opportunity here to have a 'pub-of-the-week (month)' slot on Bondbloke's blog... then bloggers could provide an insiders' tour of local hostleries (history, culture, amenity, range of drink, etc.) with a view to providing a much-needed guide for locals and visitors alike!

Now as I said, this excellent idea has been largely ignored by my fellow bloggers (shame on them); however it has been simmering away in the back of my mind, awaiting further action. So, last night I took it upon myself to resurrect the idea and begin the process, thus, with great hardship to myself, I set off out into the freezing night air and visited the first pub to be nominated Pub of the Week here. This great sacrifice just had to be made in the interests of the blog, and I duly rocked up at The Malt and Hops on The Shore in Leith; I am starting off near home you understand, no point in walking too far when there are decent pubs on the doorstep.

This was my first foray into a pub since the smoking ban came into force here in Scotland, and I have to say that it was a very pleasant experience indeed; and it was great to come home and not have to throw all of my clothing into the wash. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised to find that smokers are falling into line in very good grace indeed, every one of them trotting outside to light up when they felt like it; one smoker even said that it was good to be in pubs without the smoke and that it made it "a much better atmosphere" in which to enjoy a pint, he said that it made a change to be able to "actually taste the beer".

But I digress. The Malt and Hops is not a large pub, I suppose cosy would describe it much better; the staff are very friendly and efficient, and the location is stunning, overlooking, as it does, The Shore. Food is not an option here, that is apart from sandwiches and 'toasties', but hey, we're not in here for the food, they have a range of guest beers, usually about five, most of which are very drinkable indeed. Last night I was particularly lucky as there were two of my favourites on tap, Old Speckled Hen and Hobgoblin; oh, the torture I put myself through for the blog... One thing it has in its favour is that there is no Juke Box with music so loud that you have to shout to be heard; the music is unobtrusive and selected by the staff, and thus quite varied and easily blocked out if you don't like it. Personally I highly rate this pub if for nothing else than the range of guest beers, some even from south of the border.